CONSULTON
Krzywickiego 34
02-078 Warsaw, Poland
Phone: +48-22-622-66-55
Fax: +48-22-622-38-72
Krzywickiego 34
02-078 Warsaw, Poland
Phone: +48-22-622-66-55
Fax: +48-22-622-38-72
| Introduction | Poland |
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Background:
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Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived near the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation. In a series of agreements between 1772 and 1795, Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves. Poland regained its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. It became a Soviet satellite state following the war, but its government was comparatively tolerant and progressive. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" that over time became a political force and by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. A "shock therapy" program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe, but Poland currently suffers low GDP growth and high unemployment. Solidarity suffered a major defeat in the 2001 parliamentary elections when it failed to elect a single deputy to the lower house of Parliament, and the new leaders of the Solidarity Trade Union subsequently pledged to reduce the Trade Union"s political role. Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. |
| Geography | Poland |
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Location:
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Central Europe, east of Germany |
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Geographic coordinates:
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52 00 N, 20 00 E |
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Area:
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total: 312,685 sq km water: 8,220 sq km land: 304,465 sq km |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 2,788 km border countries: Belarus 407 km, Czech Republic 658 km, Germany 456 km, Lithuania 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km, Slovakia 444 km, Ukraine 526 km |
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Coastline:
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491 km |
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Maritime claims:
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exclusive economic zone: defined by international treaties territorial sea: 12 NM |
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Climate:
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temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers |
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Terrain:
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mostly flat plain; mountains along southern border |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: near Raczki Elblaskie -2 m highest point: Rysy 2,499 m |
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Natural resources:
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coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt, amber, arable land |
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Land use:
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arable land: 45.91% permanent crops: 1.12% other: 52.97% (2001) |
| People | Poland |
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Population:
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38,635,144 (July 2005 est.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 16.7% (male 3,319,176/female 3,150,859) 15-64 years: 70.3% (male 13,506,153/female 13,638,265) 65 years and over: 13% (male 1,912,431/female 3,108,260) (2005 est.) |
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Median age:
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total: 36.43 years male: 34.52 years female: 38.49 years (2005 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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0.03% (2005 est.) |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 74.74 years male: 70.71 years female: 79.03 years (2005 est.) |
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Nationality:
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noun: Pole(s) adjective: Polish |
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Ethnic groups:
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Polish 96.7%, German 0.4%, Belarusian 0.1%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other and unspecified 2.7% (2002 census) |
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Religions:
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Roman Catholic 89.8% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox 1.3%, Protestant 0.3%, other 0.3%, unspecified 8.3% (2002) |
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Languages:
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Polish 97.8%, other and unspecified 2.2% (2002 census) |
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.8% male: 99.8% female: 99.7% (2003 est.) |
| Government | Poland |
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Country name:
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conventional long form: Republic of Poland conventional short form: Poland local short form: Polska local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska |
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Government type:
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republic |
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Capital:
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Warsaw |
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Administrative divisions:
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16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lodzkie, Lubelskie, Lubuskie, Malopolskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Pomorskie, Slaskie, Swietokrzyskie, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Wielkopolskie, Zachodniopomorskie |
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Independence:
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11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed) |
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National holiday:
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Constitution Day, 3 May (1791) |
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Constitution:
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16 October 1997; adopted by the National Assembly 2 April 1997; passed by national referendum 23 May 1997 |
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Legal system:
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mixture of Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and holdover Communist legal theory; changes being gradually introduced as part of broader democratization process; limited judicial review of legislative acts, but rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are final; court decisions can be appealed to the European Court of Justice in Strasbourg |
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Suffrage:
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18 years of age; universal |
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Executive branch:
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chief of state: President Lech KACZY�KI (since 23 December 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Kazimierz MARCINKIEWICZ (since 31 October 2005); Deputy Prime Minister Ludwik DORN (since 21 November 2005) cabinet: Council of Ministers responsible to the prime minister and the Sejm; the prime minister proposes, the president appoints, and the Sejm approves the Council of Ministers elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 9 and 23 October 2005 (next to be held October 2010); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm election results: Lech KACZYNSKI elected president; percent of popular vote - Lech KACZYNSKI 54%, Donald Tusk 46%; |
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Legislative branch:
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bicameral legislature consisting of an upper house, the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members are elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms), and a lower house, the Sejm (460 seats; members are elected under a complex system of proportional representation to serve four-year terms); the designation of National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe is only used on those rare occasions when the two houses meet jointly elections: Senate - last held 25 September 2005 (next to be held by September 2009); Sejm elections last held September 25 2005 (next to be held by September 2009) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PiS 49, PO 34, LPR 7, SO 3, PSL 2, independents 5; Sejm - percent of vote by party - PiS 27%, PO 24.1%, SO 11.4%, SLD 11.3%, LPR 8%, PSL 7%, other 11.2%; seats by party - PiS 155, PO 133, SO 56, SLD 55, LPR 34, PSL 25, German minorities 2 note: two seats are assigned to ethnic minority parties in the Sejm only |
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Judicial branch:
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Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary for an indefinite period); Constitutional Tribunal (judges are chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms) |
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Political parties and leaders:
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Catholic-National Movement or RKN [Antoni MACIEREWICZ]; Civic Platform or PO [Donald TUSK]; Conservative Peasants Party or KL [Artur BALAZS]; Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Jozef OLEKSY]; Dom Ojczysty (Fatherland Home); Democratic Party or PD [Wladyslaw FRASYNIUK]; German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Henryk KROLL]; Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI]; League of Polish Families or LPR [Marek KOTLINOWSKI]; Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland or ROP [Jan OLSZEWSKI]; Peasant-Democratic Party or PLD [Roman JAGIELINSKI]; Polish Accord or PP [Jan LOPUSZANSKI]; Polish Peasant Party or PSL [Waldemar PAWLAK]; Samoobrona or SO [Andrzej LEPPER]; Social Democratic Party of Poland or SDPL [Marek BOROWSKI]; Social Movement or RS [Krzysztof PIESIEWICZ]; Union of Labor or UP [Izabela JARUGA-NOWACKA] |
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union) [Jan GUZ]; Roman Catholic Church [Cardinal Jozef GLEMP]; Solidarity Trade Union [Janusz SNIADEK] |
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International organization participation:
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ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU (new member), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (member affiliate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC |
| Economy | Poland |
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Economy - overview:
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Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of economic liberalization throughout the 1990s and today stands out as a success story among transition economies. Even so, much remains to be done, especially in bringing down unemployment. The privatization of small and medium-sized state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms has encouraged the development of the private business sector, but legal and bureaucratic obstacles alongside persistent corruption are hampering its further development. Poland"s agricultural sector remains handicapped by surplus labor, inefficient small farms, and lack of investment. Restructuring and privatization of "sensitive sectors" (e.g., coal, steel, railroads, and energy), while recently initiated, have stalled. Reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Further progress in public finance depends mainly on reducing losses in Polish state enterprises, restraining entitlements, and overhauling the tax code to incorporate the growing gray economy and farmers, most of whom pay no tax. The government has introduced a package of social and administrative spending cuts to reduce public spending by about $17 billion through 2007. Additional reductions are under discussion in the legislature but could be trumped by election-year politics in 2005. Poland joined the EU in May 2004, and surging exports to the EU contributed to Poland"s strong growth in 2004, though its competitiveness could be threatened by the zloty"s appreciation. GDP per capita roughly equals that of the three Baltic states. Poland stands to benefit from nearly $13.5 billion in EU funds, available through 2006. Farmers have already begun to reap the rewards of membership via higher food prices and EU agricultural subsidies. |
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GDP - purchasing power parity:
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$463 billion (2004 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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5.6% (2004 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power parity - $12,000 (2004 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 2.9% industry: 31.3% services: 65.9% (2004 est.) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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3.4% (2004 est.) |
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Labor force:
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17.02 million (2004 est.) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture 16.1%, industry 29%, services 54.9% (2002) |
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Unemployment rate:
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19.5% (2004 est.) |
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Budget:
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revenues: $44.52 billion expenditures: $54.93 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
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Industries:
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machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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10% (2004 est.) |
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Electricity - production:
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133.8 billion kWh (2002) |
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel: 98.1% hydro: 1.5% other: 0.4% (2001) nuclear: 0% |
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Electricity - consumption:
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117.4 billion kWh (2002) |
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Agriculture - products:
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potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork |
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Exports:
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$75.98 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
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Exports - commodities:
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machinery and transport equipment 37.8%, intermediate manufactured goods 23.7%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 17.1%, food and live animals 7.6% (2003) |
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Exports - partners:
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Germany 30%, Italy 6.1%, France 6%, UK 5.4%, Czech Republic 4.3%, Netherlands 4.3% (2004) |
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Imports:
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$81.61 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
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Imports - commodities:
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machinery and transport equipment 38%, intermediate manufactured goods 21%, chemicals 14.8%, minerals, fuels, lubricants, and related materials 9.1% (2003) |
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Imports - partners:
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Germany 24.4%, Italy 7.9%, Russia 7.3%, France 6.7%, China 4.6% (2004) |
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Debt - external:
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$99.15 billion (2004 est.) |
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$17 billion in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004-06) |
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Currency:
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zloty (PLN) |
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Currency code:
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PLN |
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Exchange rates:
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zlotych per US dollar - 3.6576 (2004), 3.8891 (2003), 4.08 (2002), 4.0939 (2001), 4.3461 (2000) note: zlotych is the plural form of zloty |
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Fiscal year:
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calendar year |
| Communications | Poland |
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Telephones - main lines in use:
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12.3 million (2003) |
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Telephones - mobile cellular:
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17.401 million (2003) |
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Telephone system:
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general assessment: underdeveloped and outmoded system in the process of being overhauled; partial privatization of the state-owned telephone monopoly is underway; the long waiting list for main line telephone service has resulted in a boom in mobile cellular telephone use domestic: cable, open-wire, and microwave radio relay; 3 cellular networks; local exchanges 56.6% digital international: country code - 48; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat, NA Eutelsat, 2 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) |
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Internet country code:
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.pl |
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Internet users:
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8.97 million (2003) |
| Transportation | Poland |
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Railways:
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total: 23,852 km broad gauge: 629 km 1.524-m gauge standard gauge: 23,223 km 1.435-m gauge (20,555 km operational) (11,962 km electrified) (2004) |
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Highways:
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total: 364,697 km paved: 249,088 km (including 399 km of expressways) unpaved: 115,609 km (2001) |
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Waterways:
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3,997 km (navigable rivers and canals) (2003)) |
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Pipelines:
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gas 13,552 km; oil 1,772 km (2004) |
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Ports and harbors:
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Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin, Swinoujscie |
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Merchant marine:
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total: 7 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 154,710 GRT/228,132 DWT by type: cargo 3, chemical tanker 2, passenger/cargo 1, roll on/roll off 1 registered in other countries: 107 (2005) |
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Airports:
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123 (2004 est.) |
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Airports - with paved runways:
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total: 84 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 30 1,524 to 2,437 m: 40 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways:
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total: 39 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.) |
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Heliports:
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3 (2004 est.) |
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Most of the content of this page was last updated on 1 November, 2005 Source: CIA World Factbook
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Some additional words about Poland ...
The Republic of Poland is the ninth largest country in Europe, with a surface area of approx. 312,683 sq. km and stretching 650 km from north to south. Poland is ideally located at the heart of Europe, with established communication routes to all major European capitals by road, rail, air or sea. Poland shares borders with Germany to the West, the Czech and Slovak Republics to the South, Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the East and Russia to the North.
Poland is in the Central European time zone and is one hour ahead of standard GMT.
2. Administrative division of Poland
Until 1998 Poland had 49 provinces known as voivodships. From 1 January 1999 there are 16 provinces, 373 administrative districts (poviats) and 2,489 municipalities (gmina). The capital of Poland is Warsaw, with an estimated 2.5 million inhabitants, located in the centre of the country on the Vistula river. Other important inland cities include Katowice, Kraków, ?ód?, Wroc?aw and Poznań® �he major seaport cities are Gdańł«¬ Gdynia, Szczecin and ?winouj?cie.
The population of Poland is approximately 38.7 million, which represents about 5% of the total population of Europe. This makes Poland the 8th largest country in Europe and the 29th largest in the world. Over 98% of the population are ethnic Poles. Germans comprise the largest minority of the population, followed by Ukrainians and Belarussians.
The majority of the population lives in cities and towns, with over 45% of all citizens living in one of the 42 largest cities where population exceeds 100,000 inhabitants.
Poland’s work force is one of the youngest in Europe with about 60% of the population of working age in 1998, i.e. approximately 23 million persons. The average age of Poles in 1998 was 19, indicating a growing population. The majority of Poles (90%) are Roman Catholics. The official language is Polish, but most educated Poles speak one or more additional languages. The most commonly spoken foreign languages are English, German and Russian. The working age is 18-64 years for men and 18-59 years for women.
4. Economic Reform ProgramThe economic reforms introduced in 1990 removed price controls, eliminated most subsidies to industry, opened markets to international competition, and imposed strict budgetary and monetary discipline. Poland was the first former centrally planned economy in central Europe to end its recession and return to growth in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the Polish economy has enjoyed an accelerated recovery, although growth has recently slowed. As a result of Poland"s growth and investment-friendly climate, the country has received over $56 billion in direct foreign investment since 1990. The private sector now accounts for over two-thirds of GDP.
5. Economy
The Polish economy grew rapidly in the mid-1990s, but growth has slowed considerably in recent years. The gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.0% in 2000, but in 2001 increased only by about 1.0%, in 2002 GDP grew by 1.3%. Slowing growth has boosted unemployment, which was around 18% at the end of 2002. Tight monetary policy and slow growth have helped temper inflation, which was down to 5.5% in 2001. Likewise, Poland"s current account deficit, which grew rapidly in the late 1990"s, fell to 4.0% of GDP in 2001. VI Foreign Trade With the collapse of the ruble-based COMECON trading bloc in 1990, Poland scrambled to reorient its trade. As early as 1996, 70% of its trade was with EU members, and neighbouring Germany today is Poland"s dominant trading partner. While membership in the EU is Poland"s primary goal, it has fostered regional integration and trade through the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), which includes Hungary, the Czech and Slovak Republics, and Slovenia.
Poland, a member of the World Trade Organization, has been steadily lowering tariffs in line with its WTO and EU commitments. Most products from EU countries now enter Poland duty-free; while Poland will apply the EU"s common external tariff to goods from other countries (including the U.S.) upon EU entry in 2004, it continues to maintain higher tariffs in advance of accession. The Polish government has agreed to lower tariffs on selected U.S. products to address this differential. Most Polish exports to the U.S. receive tariff benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.
6. EU and NATO
Poland promoted its NATO candidacy through participation in the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program and through intensified individual dialogue between Poland and NATO. Poland was invited in the first wave of NATO enlargement at the July 1997 NATO Summit in Madrid and became a full member of NATO in March 1999.
Poland has entered the European Union structures in May 2004.
