Poland

democratic state

Poland as the 1991 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 69 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

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CapitalWarsaw
Area312,680 km2
1991

Every edition of Poland

Populationas each edition published it
37.8 million July 1991 · 37.78m in 1990
Population growth% a year
Not in this edition 0.35% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 36 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 72.2 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
2.1 children per woman 1991 · 2.1 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
12 deaths per 1,000 live births 1991 · 13 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
Not in this edition $4,400 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
Not in this edition 2% in 1993

Geography

10 fields
Total area
312,680km2
land area: 304,510 km2Comparative area: slightly smaller than New Mexico
Land boundaries
2,980km total
Czechoslovakia 1,309 km, Germany 456 km, USSR 1,215 km

Coastline

491 km Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate

temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers

Terrain

mostly flat plain, mountains along southern border

Natural resources

coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt

Land use

  • arable land 46%;
  • permanent crops 1%;
  • meadows and pastures 13%;
  • forest and woodland 28%;
  • other 12%;
  • includes irrigated NEGL%

Environment

plain crossed by a few north-flowing, meandering streams; severe air and water pollution in south

Note

historically, an area of conflict because of flat terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain

People

14 fields
Population
37,799,638
(July 1991), growth rate 0.1% (1991)

Per 1,000 population(1991)

Birth
14Death
9

Ethnic divisions(1990 est.)

Polish 97.6%German 1.3%Ukrainian 0.6%Belorussian (Byelorussian) 0.5% (1990 est.)
Literacy
98%
(male 99%, female 98%) age 15 and over can read and write (1978)

Net migration rate

- 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Infant mortality rate

12 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Life expectancy at birth

69 years male, 77 years female (1991)

Total fertility rate

2.1 children born/woman (1991)

Nationality

noun--Pole(s); adjective--Polish

Religion

Roman Catholic 95% (about 75% practicing), Russian Orthodox, Protestant, and other 5%

Language

Polish

Labor force

  • 17,104,000;
  • industry and construction 36.1%;
  • agriculture 27.3%;
  • trade, transport, and communications 14.8%;
  • government and other 21.8% (1989)

Organized labor

trade union pluralism

Government

Democratic state

17 fields

Senate, 100 seats, elected 4 and 18 June 1989one dot, one seat

Solidarity 99independent 1

Long-form name

Republic of Poland

Type

democratic state

Capital

Warsaw

Administrative divisions

49 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular--wojewodztwo); Biala Podlaska, Bialystok, Bielsko, Bydgoszcz, Chelm, Ciechanow, Czestochowa, Elblag, Gdansk, Gorzow, Jelenia Gora, Kalisz, Katowice, Kielce, Konin, Koszalin, Krakow, Krosno, Legnica, Leszno, Lodz, Lomza, Lublin, Nowy Sacz, Olsztyn, Opole, Ostroleka, Pila, Piotrkow, Plock, Poznan, Przemysl, Radom, Rzeszow, Siedlce, Sieradz, Skierniewice, Slupsk, Suwalki, Szczecin, Tarnobrzeg, Tarnow, Torun, Walbrzych, Warszawa, Wloclawek, Wroclaw, Zamosc, Zielona Gora

Independence

11 November 1918, independent republic proclaimed

Constitution

the Communist-imposed Constitution of 22 July 1952 will probably be replaced by a democratic Constitution in 1992

National holiday

Constitution Day, 3 May (1794)

Executive branch

president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Legislative branch

bicameral National Assembly (Zgromadzenie Narodowe) consists of an upper house or Senate (Senat) and a lower house or Diet (Sejm)

Judicial branch

  • Supreme Court Chief of State--President Lech WALESA (since 22 December 1990);
  • Head of Government--Prime Minister Jan Krzysztof BIELECKI (since 4 January 1991) center-right agrarian parties--Polish Peasant Party (PSL), Roman BARTOSZCZE, chairman;
  • Polish Peasant Party-Solidarity, Gabriel JANOWSKI, chairman;
  • other center-right parties--Center Alliance, Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI, chairman;
  • Christian National Union, Wieslaw CHRZANOWSKI, chairman;
  • Christian Democratic Labor Party, Wladyslaw SILA-NOWICKI, chairman;
  • Democratic Party, Jerzy JOZWIAK, chairman;
  • center-left parties--Polish Socialist Party, Jan Jozef LIPSKI, chairman;
  • Democratic Union, Tadeusz MAZOWIECKI, chairman;
  • ROAD, Wladyslaw FRASYNIUK and Zbigniew BUJAK, chairmen;
  • left-wing parties--Polish Socialist Party-Democratic Revolution, Piotr IKONOWICZ;
  • other--Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (formerly the Communist party or Polish United Workers' Party/PZPR), Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI, chairman;
  • Union of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (breakaway faction of the PZPR), Tadeusz FISZBACH, chairman

Suffrage

  • universal at age 18 President--first round held 25 November 1990, second round held 9 December 1990 (next to be held November 1995);
  • results--second round Lech WALESA 74.7%, Stanislaw TYMINSKI 25.3%;
  • Senate--last held 4 and 18 June 1989 (next to be held late 1991);
  • results--percent of vote by party NA;
  • seats--(100 total) Solidarity 99, independent 1;
  • Diet--last held 4 and 18 June 1989 (next to be held late 1991);
  • results--percent of vote by party NA;
  • seats--(460 total) Communists 173, Solidarity 161, Polish Peasant Party 76, Democratic Party 27, Christian National Union 23;
  • note--rules governing the election limited Solidarity's share of the vote to 35% of the seats;
  • future elections, which will probably be held before late 1991, are to be freely contested

Communists

70,000 members in the Communist successor parties (1990)

Other political or pressure groups

  • powerful Roman Catholic Church;
  • Confederation for an Independent Poland (KPN), a nationalist group;
  • Solidarity (trade union);
  • All Poland Trade Union Alliance (OPZZ), populist program;
  • Clubs of Catholic Intellectuals (KIKs);
  • Freedom and Peace (WiP), a pacifist group;
  • Independent Student Union (NZS)

Member of

BIS, CCC, CERN (observer, but scheduled to become a member l July 1991), CSCE, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IIB, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNDOF, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation

  • Ambassador Kazimierz DZIEWANOWSKI;
  • Chancery at 2640 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20009;
  • telephone (202) 234-3800 through 3802;
  • there are Polish Consulates General in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York;
  • US--Ambassador Thomas W. SIMONS, Jr.;
  • Embassy at Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31, Warsaw (mailing address is American Embassy Warsaw, c/o American Consulate General (WAW) or APO New York 09213-5010);
  • telephone [48] (22) 283041 through 283049;
  • there is a US Consulate General in Krakow and a Consulate in Poznan

Flag

two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red--a crowned eagle is to be added; similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white

Economy

The economy, except for the agricultural sector, had followed the Soviet model of state ownership and control of productive assets.

16 fields
Unemployment rate
6.1%
(end-December 1990)
External debt
$48.5billion
(January 1991)

Budget

Revenues
$20.9 billionExpenditures
$23.4 billion
expenditures, including capital expenditures of $2.8 billion (1989)

Overview

The economy, except for the agricultural sector, had followed the Soviet model of state ownership and control of productive assets. About 75% of agricultural production had come from the private sector and the rest from state farms. The economy has presented a picture of moderate but slowing growth against a background of underlying weaknesses in technology and worker motivation.

GNP dropped by 2.0% in 1989 and by a further 8.9% in 1990. The inflation rate, after falling sharply from the 1982 peak of 100% to 22% in 1986, rose to a galloping rate of 640% in 1989 and dropped back to 250% in 1990. Shortages of consumer goods and some food items worsened in 1988-89.

Agricultural products and coal are among the biggest hard currency earners, but manufactures are increasing in importance. Poland, with its hard currency debt of $48.5 billion, is severely limited in its ability to import much-needed hard currency goods. The sweeping political changes of 1989 disrupted normal economic channels and exacerbated shortages.

In January 1990, the new Solidarity-led government adopted a cold turkey program for transforming Poland to a market economy. The government moved to eliminate subsidies, free prices, make the zloty convertible, and, in general, halt the hyperinflation. These financial measures were accompanied by plans to privatize the economy in stages.

While inflation fell to an annual rate of 77.5% by November of 1990, the rise in unemployment and the drop in living standards have led to growing popular discontent and to a change of government in January 1991. The new government is continuing the previous government's economic program, while trying to speed privatization and to better cushion the populace from the dislocations associated with reform. Substantial outside aid will be needed if Poland is to make a successful transition in the 1990s.

GNP

$158.5 billion, per capita $4,200; real growth rate - 8.9% (1990 est.)

Exports

  • $12.9 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
  • commodities--machinery and equipment 38%;
  • fuels, minerals, and metals 21%;
  • manufactured consumer goods 15%;
  • agricultural and forestry products 4% (1989);
  • partners--USSR 25%, FRG 14%, UK 6.5%, Czechoslovakia 5.5% (1989)

Imports

  • $12.8 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
  • commodities--machinery and equipment 37%;
  • fuels, minerals, and metals 31%;
  • manufactured consumer goods 17%;
  • agricultural and forestry products 5% (1989);
  • partners--USSR 18%, FRG 16%, Austria 6%, Czechoslovakia 6% (1989)

Industrial production

growth rate - 23% (State sector 1990 est.)

Electricity

31,530,000 kW capacity; 136,300 million kWh produced, 3,610 kWh per capita (1990)

Industries

machine building, iron and steel, extractive industries, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles

Agriculture

  • accounts for 15% of GNP and 27% of labor force;
  • 75% of output from private farms, 25% from state farms;
  • productivity remains low by European standards;
  • leading European producer of rye, rapeseed, and potatoes;
  • wide variety of other crops and livestock;
  • major exporter of pork products;
  • normally self-sufficient in food

Economic aid

donor--bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries, $2.2 billion (1954-89)

Currency

zloty (plural--zlotych); 1 zloty (Zl) = 100 groszy

Exchange rates

zlotych (Zl) per US$1--11,100.00 (May 1991), 9,500 (1990), 1,439.18 (1989), 430.55 (1988), 265.08 (1987), 175.29 (1986), 147.14 (1985)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Merchant marine, 235 ships by type

short-sea passenger 5cargo 92refrigerated cargo 3roll-on/roll-off cargo 12container 9petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker 3chemical tanker 4bulk; Poland owns 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) of 6,333 DWT operating under Liberian registry 107235 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,957,600 GRT/4,163,820 DWT

Airports, 160 total, 160 usable

permanent-surface runways
85runway over 3,659 m
1runways 2,440-3,659 m
35runways 1,220-2,439 m
65

Networkskm

Highways
299,887 (1985)Railroads
27,041 (1989)Pipelines
4,500 (1987)
Highways: ; 130,000 km improved hard surface (concrete, asphalt, stone block); 24,000 km unimproved hard surface (crushed stone, gravel); 100,000 km earth; 45,887 km other urban roads · Railroads: ; 24,287 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 397 km 1.520-meter broad gauge, 2,357 km narrow gauge; 8,987 km double track; 11,016 km electrified; government owned · Pipelines: ; 1,986 km for crude oil; 360 km for refined products

Railroads

  • 27,041 km total;
  • 24,287 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 397 km 1.520-meter broad gauge, 2,357 km narrow gauge;
  • 8,987 km double track;
  • 11,016 km electrified;
  • government owned (1989)

Highways

  • 299,887 km total;
  • 130,000 km improved hard surface (concrete, asphalt, stone block);
  • 24,000 km unimproved hard surface (crushed stone, gravel);
  • 100,000 km earth;
  • 45,887 km other urban roads (1985)

Inland waterways

3,997 km navigable rivers and canals (1989)

Pipelines

  • 4,500 km for natural gas;
  • 1,986 km for crude oil;
  • 360 km for refined products (1987)

Ports

Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin, Swinoujscie; principal inland ports are Gliwice on Kanal Gliwice, Wroclaw on the Oder, and Warsaw on the Vistula

Civil air

48 major transport aircraft

Telecommunications

  • phone density is 10.5 phones per 100 residents (October 1990);
  • 3.1 million subscribers;
  • exchanges are 86% automatic (February 1990);
  • stations--29 AM, 29 FM, 37 (5 Soviet relays) TV;
  • 9.6 million TVs

Defense Forces

External Front Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Internal Defense Forces (WOW), Territorial Defense Forces (JOT), Border Guards (WOP), Paramilitary Forces, Civil Defense (OC)

3 fields
Defense expenditures
22.3trillion zlotych
NA% of GDP (1991); note--conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading results

Branches

External Front Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces, Internal Defense Forces (WOW), Territorial Defense Forces (JOT), Border Guards (WOP), Paramilitary Forces, Civil Defense (OC)

Manpower availability

  • males 15-49, 9,571,708;
  • 7,543,565 fit for military service;
  • 302,000 reach military age (19) annually

Central Intelligence Agency. “Poland.” The World Factbook 1991. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/poland/1991.

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