Poland
Republic of PolandRzeczpospolita Polska
republic
Poland as the 2003 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 126 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.
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Introduction
1 fieldBackground
Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived around 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, until an agreement in 1772 between Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland. 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 is scheduled to accede to the European Union along with nine other states on 1 May 2004.
Geography
Central Europe, east of Germany
18 fieldsLand useshare of 312,685 sq km
Climate
temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers
Environment - current issues
- situation has improved since 1989 due to decline in heavy industry and increased environmental concern by post-Communist 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;
- pollution levels should continue to decrease as industrial establishments bring their facilities up to European Union code, but at substantial cost to business and the government
Environment - international agreements
- party to:
- Air Pollution, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
- signed, but not ratified:
- Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol
Geography - note
historically, an area of conflict because of flat terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain
People
19 fieldsPer 1,000 population(2003 est.)
Male · female
Ethnic groups(1990 est.)
Age structure
- 0-14 years:
- 17.5% (male 3,458,844; female 3,284,995)
- 15-64 years:
- 69.8% (male 13,407,012; female 13,547,728)
- 65 years and over:
- 12.7% (male 1,879,445; female 3,044,636) (2003 est.)
Sex ratio
- 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:
- 0.94 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Government
Republic; President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI (since 23 December 1995); Prime Minister Leszek MILLER (SLD) (since 19 October 2001), Deputy Prime Ministers Marek POL (since 19 October 2001), Jerzy HAUSNER (since 11 June 2003)
18 fieldsPresidential electionpercent of vote
Sejm, 100 seatsone dot, one seat
Percent of vote
Country name
- conventional long form:
- Republic of Poland
- conventional short form:
- Poland
- local short form:
- Polska
- local long form:
- Rzeczpospolita Polska
Administrative divisions
- 16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo);
- Dolnoslaskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lodzkie, Lubelskie, Lubuskie, Malopolskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Pomorskie, Slaskie, Swietokrzyskie, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Wielkopolskie, Zachodniopomorskie
Constitution
- 16 October 1997;
- adopted by the National Assembly 2 April 1997;
- passed by national referendum 23 May 1997
Legal system
- 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
Executive branch
- chief of state:
- President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI (since 23 December 1995)
- elections:
- president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
- election last held 8 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2005);
- prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm
- head of government:
- Prime Minister Leszek MILLER (SLD) (since 19 October 2001), Deputy Prime Ministers Marek POL (since 19 October 2001), Jerzy HAUSNER (since 11 June 2003)
- 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
- election results:
- Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI reelected president;
- percent of popular vote - Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI 53.9%, Andrzej OLECHOWSKI 17.3%, Marian KRZAKLEWSKI 15.6%, Lech WALESA 1%
Legislative branch
bicameral National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe consists of the Sejm (460 seats; members are elected under a complex system of proportional representation to serve four-year terms) and the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members are elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms)
- elections:
- Sejm elections last held 23 September 2001 (next to be held by September 2005); Senate - last held 23 September 2001 (next to be held by September 2005)
- election results:
- Sejm - percent of vote by party - SLD-UP 41%, PO 12.7%, Samoobrona 10.2%, PiS 9.5%, PSL 9%, LPR 7.9%, AWSP 5.6% UW 3.1%, other 1%;
- seats by party (as of 25 April 2003) - SLD 193, PO 57, Samoobrona 39, PiS 43, PSL 39, LPR 28, UP 16, SKL 8, PLD 6, PBL 5, RKN 5, PP 3, ROP 3, German minorities 2, independents 13;
- note - SLD and UP ran together on electoral lists in the 2001 elections, but constitute separate parliamentary clubs in the Sejm;
- several other deputies have left their parties and set up other parliamentary factions;
- Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%;
- seats by party - SLD-UP 75, AWSP (an electoral alliance of some 36 parties) 15, PSL 4, Samoobrona 2, LPR 2, independents 2
note: two seats are assigned to ethnic minority parties
Judicial branch
- 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)
Political parties and leaders
- Catholic-National Movement or RKN [Antoni MACIEREWICZ];
- Citizens Platform or PO [Donald TUSK];
- Conservative Peasants Party or SKL-RNP [Artur BALAZS];
- Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Leszek MILLER];
- Freedom Union or UW [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 Bloc or PBL [Wojciech MOJZESOWICZ];
- Polish Peasant Party or PSL [Jaroslaw KALINOWSKI];
- Samoobrona [Andrzej LEPPER];
- Social Movement or RS [Krzysztof PIESIEWICZ];
- Union of Labor or UP [Marek POL]
Political pressure groups and leaders
- All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union) [Maciej MANICKI];
- Roman Catholic Church [Cardinal Jozef GLEMP];
- Solidarity Trade Union [Janusz SNIADEK]
International organization participation
ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer), IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Przemyslaw GRUDZINSKI
- chancery:
- 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
- FAX:
- [1] (202) 328-6270
- consulate(s) general:
- Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
- telephone:
- [1] (202) 234-3800 through 3802
Diplomatic representation from the US
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Christopher R. HILL
- embassy:
- Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-540 Warsaw P1
- mailing address:
- American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, 5010 Warsaw Place, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch)
- telephone:
- [48] (22) 504-2000
- FAX:
- [48] (22) 504-2951
- consulate(s) general:
- Krakow
Flag description
two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white
Economy
Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of economic liberalization throughout the 1990s and today stands out as a success story among transition economies.
43 fieldsGDP - composition by sector(2000 est.)
Trading partnersexports left, imports right
Electricity
Economy - overview
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. The privatization of small and medium 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 structural problems, 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 due to a lack of political will on the part of the government.
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 privatization of Poland's remaining state sector, the reduction of state employment, and an overhaul of the tax code to incorporate the growing gray economy and farmers most of whom pay no tax.
The government's determination to enter the EU has shaped most aspects of its economic policy and new legislation; in June 2003, 77% of the voters approved membership, now scheduled for May 2004. Improving Poland's export competitiveness and containing the internal budget deficit are top priorities.
Due to political uncertainty, the zloty has recently depreciated in relation to the euro and the dollar while currencies of the other euro-zone aspirants have been appreciating. GDP per capita equals that of the 3 Baltic states.
Industries
machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles
Exports - commodities
machinery and transport equipment 30.2%, intermediate manufactured goods 25.5%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 20.9%, food and live animals 8.5% (1999)
Imports - commodities
machinery and transport equipment 38.2%, intermediate manufactured goods 20.8%, chemicals 14.3%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 9.5% (1999)
Exchange rates
zlotych per US dollar - 3.99 (2002), 4.09 (2001), 4.35 (2000), 3.97 (1999), 3.48 (1998) note: zlotych is the plural form of zloty
Communications
8 fieldsTelephone system
- 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:
- satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat, NA Eutelsat, 2 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region)
Transportation
10 fieldsAirports by runway lengthpaved left, unpaved right
Networkskm
Railways
- 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)
- narrow gauge:
- 1,135 km various gauges including 1.000-m, 0.785-m, 0.750-m, and 0.600-m (2002)
Merchant marine
- total:
- 14 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 199,186 GRT/275,476 DWT
- ships by type:
- bulk 9, cargo 2, chemical tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1, short-sea passenger 1 (2002 est.)
Military
Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Force
7 fieldsTransnational Issues
2 fieldsIllicit drugs
major illicit producer of amphetamine for the international market; minor transshipment point for Asian and Latin American illicit drugs to Western Europe
Cite this entry
Central Intelligence Agency. “Poland.” The World Factbook 2003. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/poland/2003.