Poland

agricultural land:

48.2%;

• arable land 36.2%;
• permanent crops 1.3%;
• permanent pasture 10.7%

forest:

30.6%

other:

21.2% (2011 est.)

• decreased emphasis on heavy industry and increased environmental concern by post-communist governments has improved environment;
• air pollution remains serious because of 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

noun:

Pole(s)

adjective:

Polish

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.9 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.64 male(s)/female

total population:

0.94 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

vectorborne disease:

tickborne encephalitis (2016)

conventional long form:

Republic of Poland

conventional short form:

Poland

local long form:

Rzeczpospolita Polska

local short form:

Polska

etymology:

• name derives from the Polanians, a west Slavic tribe that united several surrounding Slavic groups (9th-10th centuries A.D.) and who passed on their name to the country;
• the name of the tribe likely comes from the Slavic "pole" (field or plain), indicating the flat nature of their country

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

• several previous;
• latest adopted 2 April 1997, approved by referendum 25 May 1997, effective 17 October 1997;
• amended 2006, 2009, 2015 (2016)

• civil law system;
• judicial review of legislative, administrative, and other governmental acts;
• constitutional law rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are final

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

both parents must be citizens of Poland

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

President Andrzej DUDA (since 6 August 2015)

head of government:

• Prime Minister Beata SZYDLO (since 16 November 2015);
• Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage Piotr GLINSKI (since 16 November 2015), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Higher Education Jaroslaw GOWIN (since 16 November 2015), and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Mateusz MORAWIECKI (since 16 November 2015)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, appointed by the president, and approved by the Sejm

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 10 and 24 May 2015 (next to be held in 2020);
• prime minister, deputy prime ministers, and Council of Ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm

election results:

Andrzej DUDA elected president; percent of vote in runoff - Andrzej DUDA 51.5%, Bronislaw KOMOROWSKI (independent) 48.5%

description:

• bicameral legislature consists of the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms) and the Sejm (460 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms);
• note - the designation National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe is only used on those rare occasions when the two houses meet jointly

note: the German minority is exempt from the 5% threshold requirement for seats to the Sejm

elections:

Senate - last held on 25 October 2015 (next to be held in October 2019); Sejm - last held on 25 October 2015 (next to be held in October 2019)

election results:

• Senate - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - PiS 62, PO 33, PSL 1, independents 4;
• Sejm - percent of vote by party - PiS 37.6%, PO 24.1%, K15 8.8%, N 7.6%, PSL 5.1% other 16.8%;
• seats by party - PiS 234, PO 138, K15 40, N 29, PSL 16, independent 2, German minority 1

highest court(s):

Supreme Court or Sad Najwyzszy (consists of the president of the Supreme Court and 116 judges organized in criminal, civil, labor and social insurance, and military chambers)

judge selection and term of office:

• president of the Supreme Court nominated by the General Assembly of the Supreme Court and selected by the president of Poland;
• other judges nominated by the 25-member National Judiciary Council, and appointed by the president of Poland;
• judges appointed until retirement, usually at age 65, but tenure can be extended

subordinate courts:

Constitutional Tribunal; regional and appellate courts subdivided into military, civil, criminal, labor, and family courts

• Civic Platform or PO [Grzegorz SCHETYNA, chairperson; Slawomir NEUMANN, parliamentary caucus leader]
• Congress of the New Right or KNP [Michal MARUSIK, chairman]
• Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Wlodzimierz CZARZASTY, chairman]
• German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Ryszard GALLA, representative]
• Kukiz 15 [Pawel KUKIZ; chairman, parliamentary caucus leader]
• Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI, chairman; Ryszard TERLECKI, parliamentary caucus leader]
• Nowoczesna ("Modern") or N [Ryszard PETRU; chairman, parliamentary caucus leader]
• Polish People's Party or PSL [Wladyslaw KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ; chairman, parliamentary caucus leader]
• Razem (Together) [no party chair, led by nine-member management board]

• All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ [Jan GUZ] (trade union)
• Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" [Piotr DUDA]
• Roman Catholic Church [Archbishop Wojciech POLAK, Archbishop Stanislaw GADECKI]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Ryszard SCHNEPF (since 28 September 2012)

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 Paul JONES (since 7 October 2015)

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

name:

"Mazurek Dabrowskiego" (Dabrowski's Mazurka)

lyrics/music:

Jozef WYBICKI/traditional

note: adopted 1927; the anthem, commonly known as "Jeszcze Polska nie zginela" (Poland Has Not Yet Perished), was written in 1797; the lyrics resonate strongly with Poles because they reflect the numerous occasions in which the nation's lands have been occupied

agriculture:

12.6%

industry:

30.4%

services:

57% (2012)

lowest 10%:

3.3%

highest 10%:

25.6% (2012 est.)

general assessment:

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

domestic:

• several nation-wide networks provide mobile-cellular service;
• coverage is generally good;
• fixed-line service lags in rural areas

international:

• country code - 48;
• international direct dialing with automated exchanges;
• satellite earth station - 1 with access to Intelsat, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik (2015)

• state-run public TV operates 2 national channels supplemented by 16 regional channels and several niche channels;
• privately owned entities operate several national TV networks and a number of special interest channels;
• many privately owned channels broadcasting locally;
• roughly half of all households are linked to either satellite or cable TV systems providing access to foreign television networks;
• state-run public radio operates 5 national networks and 17 regional radio stations;
• 2 privately owned national radio networks, several commercial stations broadcasting to multiple cities, and many privately owned local radio stations (2007)

number of registered air carriers:

6; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 92

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

4,841,128

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

120,016,466 mt-km (2015)

total:

19,837 km

broad gauge:

395 km 1.524-m gauge

standard gauge:

19,442 km 1.435-m gauge (11,899 km electrified) (2014)

country comparison to the world: 16

total:

412,035 km

paved:

280,719 km (includes 2,418 km of expressways)

unpaved:

131,316 km (2012)

country comparison to the world: 16

total:

9

by type:

cargo 7, chemical tanker 1, passenger/cargo 1

registered in other countries:

106 (Antigua and Barbuda 2, Bahamas 34, Cyprus 24, Liberia 13, Malta 21, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3, Vanuatu 9) (2010)

country comparison to the world: 118

major seaport(s):

Gdansk, Gdynia, Swinoujscie

river port(s):

Szczecin (River Oder)

LNG terminal(s) (import):

Swinoujscie

• 18-28 years of age for male and female voluntary military service;
• conscription phased out in 2009-12;
• service obligation shortened from 12 to 9 months in 2005;
• women only allowed to serve as officers and noncommissioned officers (2013)

refugees (country of origin):

12,304 (Russia) (2015); 71,302 applicants for forms of legal stay other than asylum (Ukraine) (2015)

stateless persons:

10,825 (2015)

• despite diligent counternarcotics measures and international information sharing on cross-border crimes, a major illicit producer of synthetic drugs for the international market;
• minor transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and Latin American cocaine to Western Europe