Poland

• situation has improved since 1989 due to decline in heavy industry and increased environmental concern by postcommunist governments;
• air pollution nonetheless remains serious because of sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, and the resulting acid rain has caused forest damage;
• water pollution from industrial and municipal sources is also a problem, as is disposal of hazardous wastes

0-14 years:

19% (male 3,767,454; female 3,587,822)

15-64 years:

69% (male 13,201,825; female 13,352,950)

65 years and over:

12% (male 1,809,839; female 2,926,133) (2000 est.)

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.62 male(s)/female

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

noun:

Pole(s)

adjective:

Polish

conventional long form:

Republic of Poland

conventional short form:

Poland

local long form:

Rzeczpospolita Polska

local short form:

Polska

• 16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo);
• Dolnoslaskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lodzkie, Lubelskie, Lubuskie, Malopolskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Pomorskie, Slaskie, Swietokrzyskie, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Wielkopolskie, Zachodniopomorskie

• 16 October 1997;
• adopted by the National Assembly on 2 April 1997;
• passed by national referendum 23 May 1997

• 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 although under the new constitution, the Constitutional Tribunal ruling will become final as of October 1999;
• court decisions can be appealed to the European Court of Justice in Strasbourg

chief of state:

President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI (since 23 December 1995)

head of government:

Prime Minister Jerzy BUZEK (since 31 October 1997), Deputy Prime Ministers Leszek BALCEROWICZ (since 31 October 1997), Longin KOMOLOWSKI (since 19 October 1999)

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 first round held 5 November 1995, second round held 19 November 1995 (next to be held NA November 2000);
• prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm

election results:

Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI elected president; percent of popular vote, second round - Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI 51.7%, Lech WALESA 48.3%

• 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

• Center Alliance Party or PC [Antoni TOKARCZUK];
• Christian National Union or ZCHN [Marian PILKA];
• Confederation for an Independent Poland or KPN [Leszek MOCZULSKI];
• Confederation for an Independent Poland-Patriotic Camp or KPN-OP (KPN-Fatherland or KPN-O is a small group within the KPN-OP) [Adam SLOMKA];
• Conservative Peasant Party or SKL [Miroslaw STYCZEN];
• Democratic Left Alliance or SLD (Social Democracy of Poland) [Leszek MILLER];
• Freedom Union or UW [Leszek BALCEROWICZ];
• German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Henryk KROLL];
• Labor Party or PP [leader NA];
• Labor Union or UP [Marek POL];
• Movement of Polish Working People or RLP [leader NA];
• Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland or ROP [Jan OLSZEWSKI];
• Polish Christian Democrats or PPChD [Antoni TOKARCZUK];
• Polish Peasant Party or PSL [Jaroslaw KALINOWSKI];
• Polish Socialist Party or PPS [Piotr IKONOWICZ];
• Realpolitik Union or UPR [Janusz KORWIN-MIKKE];
• Solidarity Electoral Action or AWS (includes RS-AWS and Solidarity) [Marek KOTLARSKI];
• Social Movement-Solidarity Electoral Action or RS-AWS [Jerzy BUZEK]

note: post-Communist - SLD and PSL; post-Solidarity - UW, Freedom Union, ZCHN, PC, PL, RS AWS, UP, and PK; non-Communist, non-Solidarity - ROP, KPN, MN, and UPR

• All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union);
• Roman Catholic Church;
• Solidarity (trade union)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jerzy KOZMINSKI

chancery:

2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 234-3800 through 3802

FAX:

[1] (202) 328-6271

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Daniel FRIED

embassy:

Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-054, Warsaw P1

mailing address:

American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch)

telephone:

[48] (22) 628-30-41

FAX:

[48] (22) 625-67-31

consulate(s) general:

Krakow

lowest 10%:

4%

highest 10%:

22.1% (1992)

• underdeveloped and outmoded system;
• government aims to have 10 million telephones in service by 2000;
• the process of partial privatization of the state-owned telephone monopoly has begun

domestic:

• cable, open wire, and microwave radio relay;
• 3 cellular networks;
• local exchanges 56.6% digital

international:

satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat, NA Eutelsat, 2 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)

total:

23,420 km

broad gauge:

646 km 1.524-m gauge

standard gauge:

21,639 km 1.435-m gauge (11,626 km electrified; 8,978 km double track)

narrow gauge:

1,135 km various gauges including 1.000-m, 0.785-m, 0.750-m, and 0.600-m (1998)

total:

381,046 km

paved:

249,966 km (including 268 km of expressways)

unpaved:

131,080 km (1998 est.)

total:

57 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,120,165 GRT/1,799,569 DWT

ships by type:

bulk 50, cargo 2, chemical tanker 2, roll-on/roll-off 1, short-sea passenger 2 (1999 est.)

• major illicit producer of amphetamines for the international market;
• minor transshipment point for Asian and Latin American illicit drugs to Western Europe [Country Listing] [ The World Factbook Home]