Poland

• 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 EU code, but at substantial cost to business and the government

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 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 (2006 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

name:

Warsaw

geographic coordinates:

52 15 N, 21 00 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

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

• 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;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

chief of state:

President Lech KACZYNSKI (since 23 December 2005)

head of government:

• Prime Minister Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI (since 10 July 2006);
• Deputy Prime Ministers Ludwik DORN (since 23 November 2005), Roman GIERTYCH (since 5 May 2006), Zyta GILOWSKA (since 22 September 2006), Andrzej LEPPER (since 16 October 2006)

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 (eligible for a second term);
• election last held 9 and 23 October 2005 (next to be held October 2010);
• prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm

election results:

Lech KACZYNSKI elected president; percent of popular vote - Lech KACZYNSKI 54%, Donald Tusk 46%

• bicameral legislature consisting of an upper house, the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members are elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms), and a lower house, the Sejm (460 seats; members are elected under a complex system of proportional representation to serve four-year terms);
• the designation of National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe is only used on those rare occasions when the two houses meet jointly

elections:

Senate - last held 25 September 2005 (next to be held by September 2009); Sejm elections last held 25 September 2005 (next to be held by September 2009)

election results:

• Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%;
• seats by party - PiS 49, PO 34, LPR 7, SO 3, PSL 2, independents 5;
• Sejm - percent of vote by party - PiS 27%, PO 24.1%, SO 11.4%, SLD 11.3%, LPR 8%, PSL 7%, other 11.2%;
• seats by party - PiS 155, PO 133, SO 56, SLD 55, LPR 34, PSL 25, German minorities 2

note: two seats are assigned to ethnic minority parties in the Sejm only

• 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)

• Catholic-National Movement or RKN [Antoni MACIEREWICZ];
• Civic Platform or PO [Donald TUSK];
• Conservative Peasants Party or SKL [Artur BALASZ];
• Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Wojciech OLEJNICZAK];
• Democratic Party or PD [Wladyslaw FRASYNIUK];
• Dom Ojczysty (Fatherland Home);
• German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Henryk KROLL];
• Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI];
• League of Polish Families or LPR [Marek KOTLINOWSKI];
• Peasant-Democratic Party or PLD [Roman JAGIELINSKI];
• Polish Accord or PP [Jan LOPUSZANSKI];
• Polish Peasant Party or PSL [Waldemar PAWLAK];
• Ruch Patriotyczny or RP [Jan OLSZEWSKI];
• Samoobrona or SO [Andrzej LEPPER];
• Social Democratic Party of Poland or SDPL [Marek BOROWSKI];
• Social Movement or RS [Krzysztof PIESIEWICZ];
• Union of Labor or UP [Andrzej SPYCHALSKI]

• All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union) [Jan GUZ];
• Roman Catholic Church [Cardinal Jozef GLEMP];
• Solidarity Trade Union [Janusz SNIADEK]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Janusz REITER

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, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Victor ASHE

embassy:

Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-540 Warsaw

mailing address:

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

telephone:

[48] (22) 504-2000

FAX:

[48] (22) 504-2688

consulate(s) general:

Krakow

agriculture:

16.1%

industry:

29%

services:

54.9% (2002)

lowest 10%:

3.1%

highest 10%:

26.7% (2002)

general assessment:

• modernization of the telecommunications network has accelerated with market based competition finalized in 2003;
• fixed-line service, dominated by the former state-owned company, is dwarfed by the growth in wireless telephony

domestic:

• wireless service, available since 1993 (GSM service available since 1996) and provided by three nation-wide networks, has grown rapidly in response to the weak fixed-line coverage;
• third generation UMTS service available in urban areas;
• cellular coverage is generally good with more gaps in the east;
• fixed-line service is growing slowly and still lags in rural areas

international:

• country code - 48;
• international direct dialing with automated exchanges;
• satellite earth station - 1 (Intelsat, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik)

total:

23,072 km

broad gauge:

629 km 1.524-m gauge

standard gauge:

22,443 km 1.435-m gauge (20,555 km operational; 11,910 km electrified) (2005)

total:

423,997 km

paved:

295,356 km (including 405 km of expressways)

unpaved:

128,641 km (2004)

total:

11 ships (1000 GRT or over) 55,701 GRT/45,082 DWT

by type:

cargo 6, chemical tanker 2, passenger/cargo 1, roll on/roll off 1, vehicle carrier 1

foreign-owned:

1 (Nigeria 1)

registered in other countries:

106 (Antigua and Barbuda 3, Bahamas 15, Belize 2, Cyprus 20, Liberia 14, Malta 27, Norway 2, Panama 15, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Slovakia 2, Vanuatu 5) (2006)

• 17 years of age for compulsory military service after January 1st of the year of 18th birthday;
• 17 years of age for voluntary military service;
• in 2005, Poland plans to shorten the length of conscript service obligation from 12 to 9 months;
• by 2008, plans call for at least 60% of military personnel to be volunteers;
• only soldiers who have completed their conscript service are allowed to volunteer for professional service;
• as of April 2004, women are only allowed to serve as officers and noncommissioned officers (2004)

males age 17-49:

9,681,703

females age 17-49:

9,480,641 (2005 est.)

males age 17-49:

7,739,472

females age 17-49:

7,859,165 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

275,446

females age 17-49:

265,164 (2005 est.)