Poland





The Republic of Poland (in Polish Rzeczpospolita Polska) is a country in
Central Europe, bordering Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and
Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and Lithuania and
Russia (via the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) to its north, as well as the
Baltic Sea. Its location and accessible terrain has meant that the land has
seen many wars fought over it and its borders have shifted considerably over
the centuries.

                                          National motto: B--g, Honor,
                                          Ojczyzna (Polish: God, Honour, Homeland)
History                                   Official
                                          language        Polish
                                          Capital         Warsaw

Poland is an ancient nation that was      President       Aleksander
conceived around the middle of the 10th                   Kwasniewski
century. Its golden age occurred in the   Prime minister  Leszek Miller
16th century when it was united with      Area            Ranked 68th
Lithuania and covered a large area of     Ê- Total        312,685 km2
Europe. During the following century,     Ê- % water      2.6%
the strengthening of the gentry and
internal disorders weakened the nation,   Population
leading to three partitions of Poland     Ê- Total (2000) Ranked 30th
                                                          38,633,912
between Russia, Prussia, and Austria in
1772, 1793 and 1795 that completely       Ê- Density      123.5/km²
dissolved Poland.                         Independence    Regained
                                          Ê- Date         November 11, 1918
During the 19th century most of Poland    Currency        Zloty (PLN)
was ruled by the Russian tsar, but it
regained its independence in November     Time zone       UTC +1
1918 as the Second Polish Republic. This
state lasted until 1939 when it was       National anthem Mazurek
                                                          Dabrowskiego
overrun by Nazi Germany and the Soviet
Union in the start of World War II,       Internet TLD    .PL
during which Poland suffered greatly,     Calling Code    48
see General Government. Among all
nations in the war, Poland lost the highest percentage of citizens. Towards
the end of the war, the Soviet Union turned from liberators to occupiers and
Poland became a Soviet satellite state after the war. Poland border were
shifted westward, eastern border to the Curzon line and western border to
Oder-Neisse line. After the shift Poland were smaller by 76 000 km sq or 20%
of pre-war size. Millions of Polish people were dispossessed westwards into
territory previously held by late Nazi Germany, from which similar amount of
Germans were expulsed from.

The shifting of whole Poland was accompanied by shifting the entire
population, so at the end of the process, populations fit to the borders.

Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union
"Solidarity" that over time became a political force, slowly ending the
dominance of the Communist Party, and by 1989 had swept parliamentary
elections and eventually the presidency. A "shock therapy" program during
the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the
most robust (according to the criteria of neoliberal economics) in Central
Europe, with official unemployment rates at about 20% during the first
decade of the 21st century. Despite the regression in levels of social and
economic human rights standards, there were some improvements in other human
rights standards, and following a massive advertising campaign by the
government in favour of joining the European Union, Polish voters chose yes
in a referendum in June 2003. Poland will officially join the European Union
on 1 May 2004. Poland joined the NATO alliance in 1999.

Politics

Polish government structure consists of a Council of Ministers led by a
prime minister. This cabinet is appointed by the president on a proposal by
the prime minster, typically from a majority coalition in the bicameral
legislature's lower house. The president, elected by popular vote every 5
years, is head of state.

The parliament, the National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe, consisting
of 460 members of the Sejm (lower house) and 100 members of the Senate
(Senat), is elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis to serve
four-year terms. The current constitution dates from 1997, and stipulates
that with the exception of two guaranteed seats for small ethnic parties,
only political parties receiving at least 5% of the total vote can enter
parliament.

The judicial branch plays a minor role in decision making and its major
institutions are the Supreme Court (Sad Najwyzszy) whose judges are
appointed by the president on the recommendation of the National Council of
the Judiciary for an indefinite period, and the Constitutional Tribunal
(Trybunal Konstytucyjny), where judges are chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms.

Voivodships

Poland is divided into 16 administrative regions known as voivodships
(wojew--dztwa, singular - wojew--dztwo):

   * Greater Poland Voivodship (Wielkopolskie)
   * Kujavian-Pomeranian Voivodship (Kujawsko-Pomorskie)
   * Lesser Poland Voivodship (Malopolskie)
   * Lodz Voivodship (Lodzkie)
   * Lower Silesian Voivodship (Dolnoslaskie)
   * Lublin Voivodship (Lubelskie)
   * Lubusz Voivodship (Lubuskie)
   * Masovian Voivodship (Mazowieckie)
   * Opole Voivodship (Opolskie)
   * Subcarpathian Voivodship (Podkarpackie)
   * Podlasie Voivodship (Podlaskie)
   * Pomeranian Voivodship (Pomorskie)
   * Swietokrzyskie Voivodship (Swietokrzyskie)
   * Silesian Voivodship (Slaskie)
   * Warmian-Masurian Voivodship (Warminsko-Mazurskie)
   * West Pomeranian Voivodship (Zachodniopomorskie)

Geography

The Polish landscape consists almost entirely of the lowlands of the North
European Plain at an average height of 173 m, though the Carpathian
Mountains (including the Tatra mountains) and the Sudeten with its part
Karkonosze form the southern border, where one also finds Poland's highest
point, the Rysy, at 2,499 m. The plains are crossed by several large rivers,
such as the Vistula (Wisla), the Odra, the Warta or the (Western) Bug.
Poland also contains over 9,300 lakes, predominantly in the north of the country.

The Polish climate is temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters
with frequent precipitation and mild summers with frequent showers and
thundershowers.

Economy

Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalising the economy and
today stands out as one of the most successful and open transition from
communism to market economy. However, slow progress in recent few years,
combined with other factors, like birth peak 20 years ago, put recently
economy at the edge of recession, with about 18% unemployment and increasing
wealth disparities. GDP growth had been strong and steady in 1993-2000 but
fell back in 2001 with slowdowns in domestic investment and consumption and
the weakening in the global economy. Perspective of closer integration with
European Union put economy back on the route of growth, that is currently
2003 over 3% yearly.

The privatisation of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal
law on establishing new firms have allowed for the rapid development of an
aggressive private sector, but without any development of consumer rights
organisations.

In contrast, from a neoliberal point of view, Poland's large agricultural
sector remains handicapped by structural problems, surplus labour,
inefficient small farms, and lack of investment. Restructuring and
privatisation of "sensitive sectors" (e.g., coal, steel, railroads, and
energy) has begun. Structural 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
privatisation of Poland's remaining state sector.

From popular point of view, reflecting the numerous and consistent street
protests, is that while health care and the education system have suffered
considerable damage from lack of successfull conversion of institutions from
state directed towards modern way of management. People are also afraid of
the possible damage, that Polish agriculture may suffer, as integration into
the European Union proceeds.

Apart from individuals like Jeffrey Sachs, many institutions such as the
Research Triangle Institute have been involved in the shock therapy, which,
for some people, has been positive, while for others, it has been a catastrophe.

The government's determination to enter the EU as soon as possible affected
most aspects of its economic policies. Improving Poland's outsized current
account deficit and reining in inflation are priorities. Warsaw leads the
region in foreign investment and needs a continued large inflow.

Demographics

Poland used to be a country of many languages, cultulres and religious.
However, the outcome World War II and follwing shift westward to the area
between Curzon line and Oder-Neisse line made Poland appear to be
homogenous. Some 98% of today's population considers itself Polish, though
there are several minorities of Germans, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Jews and
Belarussians.

The official language is Polish, a member of the Slavic languages. Most
Poles (95%) adhere to the Roman Catholic faith, though only 75% are
practising Catholics. The remaining 5% consists of Eastern Orthodox and
Protestant religious minorities.

With fall of the comunism, governments adhere to open vision of Polish
culture, where different inheritage has its own place.

Culture

                           Holidays
    Date      English Name           Local Name        Remarks
 January 1  New Year's Day   Nowy Rok
 May 3      Constitution Day ?wi?to Konstytucji 3 Maja
 November 1 All Saints Day   ?wi?to Zmar?ych
 November 11Independence Day ?wi?to Niepodleg?o?ci

International rankings

   * world-wide press freedom index Rank 29 out of 139 countries (2 way tie)