Poland

The Republic of Poland, the 69th largest country in the world and 9th in Europe is situated in Central Europe, bordering Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east, and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast to the north. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO and OECD. Warsaw is the capital of Poland.

HISTORY:- The written history of Great Poland (north Poland) began in 966 AD, during the reign of Mieszko I. Little Poland was created in the Southern Poland by some tribes. During the reign of Casimir I the Restorer, Great Poland and Little Poland were unified in 1047. In 1386, Lithuania was merged with Poland. From the 14th century to the 16th century, Knights of the Teutonic Order, the Russians, and the Ottoman Turks were defeated by the Polish-Lithuanian joint forces. The Polish power came to decline and the territory of Poland was divided into Russia, Prussia, and Austria in three partitions in 1772, 1793, and 1795. The traces of Poland were abolished from the world’s map. In 1918, Poland bounced back as the Second Polish Republic. During the World War II, Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union. All of Poland was captured by Germany following the Nazi invasion on USSR in 1941. The Poles established a government in exile, recognized by Soviet Union, in Paris and later in London. In 1944, the Communist-dominated Polish Committee of National Liberation by the Soviet Union replaced the Polish government-in-exile. In 1945, the USSR and Poland delimited Soviet-Polish frontier. Poland lost some of its eastern regions. In 1952, the People's Republic of Poland was declared.

GEOGRAPHY:- Poland is located at 52 00 N, 20 00 E in Central Europe. The total area of the earth under Polish possession is 312,679 sq km in which 304,459 sq km is covered with land mass and 8,220 sq km is covered with internal waters. The coastline is 440 km long along with the Baltic Sea. The lowest point is near Raczki Elblaskie (-2 m) and the highest point is Rysy (2,499 m). The country is mostly formed of flat plains while the southern border is mountainous. 28% is covered with forests. The only desert of Poland is B³êdów Desert, situated in the south.

CLIMATE:- The climate of Poland is temperate, with cold, cloudy, moderately chilling winters with frequent precipitation and mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers.

GOVERNMENT:- Poland is a republic. The constitution was adopted on 2nd April 1997 by the National Assembly, which was passed by a national referendum 25th May and imposed on 17th October 1997. The legal system is based on the Continental civil law and the Communist legal theory. The three major branches of the government are:

Executive branch comprises the President (chief of state), the Prime minister (head of government), the Deputy Prime Ministers, and the Council of Ministers. The president is elected by popular vote on a 5-year term. The prime minister and the deputy prime ministers are appointed by the president after the Sejm’s confirmation. The Council of Ministers is appointed by the President on the nomination of the Prime minister and on the approval of the Sejm.

Legislative branch comprises the bicameral National Assembly, consists of the Senate (100 seats), and the Sejm (460 seats).

Judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court, the provincial and local courts, and the constitutional tribunal.

Political parties to represent in the Parliament are Civic Platform (PO), Law and Justice (PiS), Left and Democrats (LiD) and the Polish People's Party (PSL). Suffrage is universal at the age of 18.

President                                Lech Kaczynski

Prime Minister                         Donald Tusk

Deputy Prime Minister             Waldemar Pawlak

Deputy Prime Minister             Grzegorz Schetyna

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Poland is divided into 16 provinces.

CULTURE:- Both Eastern and Western root are prominent in the Polish culture. Pope John Paul II, Marie Sk³odowska Curie, Kazimierz Pu³aski, Nicolaus Copernicus and Frederic Chopin are some of the great sons of the Polish land. Jan Kochanowski, Adam Mickiewicz, Boles³aw Prus, Juliusz S³owacki, Witold Gombrowicz, Stanis³aw Lem and, Ryszard Kapuœciñski are famous writers of Poland while Henryk Sienkiewicz, W³adys³aw Reymont, Czes³aw Mi³osz, Wis³awa Szymborska won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

ECONOMY:- Poland has one of the richest economies of the post-communist countries. It is transformed from a state-directed economy to a privatized market economy.

GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $620.9 billion; per capita $16,300.

Real growth rate: 6.5%.

Inflation: 2.5%.

Unemployment: 12.8%.

Arable land: 40%.

Agriculture: Potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork, dairy.

Labor force: 17.1 million; agriculture 16.1%, industry 29%, services 54.9% (2007).

Budget:  

Revenues: $85.25 billion

Expenditures: $91.37 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt: 43.1% of GDP (2007 est.)

Debt - external: $169.5 billion (31 December 2007)

Industries: Machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles.

Natural resources: Coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt, amber, arable land.

Exports: $137.9 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and transport equipment 37.8%, intermediate manufactured goods 23.7%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 17.1%, food and live animals 7.6% (2003).

Imports: $150.7 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and transport equipment 38%, intermediate manufactured goods 21%, chemicals 14.8%, minerals, fuels, lubricants, and related materials 9.1% (2003).

Major trading partners: Germany, Italy, France, UK, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Russia, China (2004).

Monetary unit: Zloty

LANGUAGE:- Polish is the official language of Poland spoken by 97.8%.

Other and unspecified 2.2% (2002)

CITIES:- The capital Warsaw is the largest city of Poland. Other major cities are Lodz, Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk.

POPULATION:- Poland is the 33rd most populous country in the world. The estimated population of Poland is 38,518,241 with an average growth rate of 0.0%.

Density per sq mi: 328

Literacy rate: 100% (2003 est.)

RACE:-

Polish 96.7%

German 0.4%

Belarusian 0.1%

Ukrainian 0.1%

Other and unspecified 2.7% (2002)

RELIGION:-

Roman Catholic 89.8% (almost 75% practicing)

Eastern Orthodox 1.3%

Protestant 0.3%

Other 0.3%

Unspecified 8.3% (2002)

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 10.01 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 9.99 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 6.93 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 75.41 years

Total fertility rate: 1.27 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 100 (2001 est.)

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2005): 843

UNICEF:- UNICEF is Poland works on child rights, women rights, child education, basic nutrition etc.

TRANSPORTATION:-

Railways: total: 23,072 km (2006).

Highways: total: 423,997 km; paved: 295,356 km; unpaved: 128,641 km (2004). Waterways: 3,997 km navigable rivers and canals (2006).

Ports and harbors: Gdansk, Gdynia, Gliwice, Kolobrzeg, Szczecin, Swinoujscie, Ustka, Warsaw, Wroclaw.

Airports: 123 (2007).