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Geography
Location:
Central Europe, east of Germany
Geographic coordinates: 52 00 N, 20 00 E
Map references: Europe
Area: total: 312,685 sq km
land: 304,465 sq km
water: 8,220 sq km
Area
- comparative: slightly smaller than New Mexico
Land boundaries: total: 2,888 km
border countries: Belarus 605 km, Czech Republic 658 km, Germany
456 km, Lithuania 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km, Slovakia
444 km, Ukraine 428 km
Coastline:
491 km
Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: defined by international
treaties
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
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Raczki Elblaskie -2 m
highest point: Rysy 2,499 m
Natural resources: coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead,
salt, arable land
Land use: arable land: 47%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 13%
forests and woodland: 29%
other: 10% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 1,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: NA
Environment - current issues: 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
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources,
Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
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
Government
Country
name:
conventional long form: Republic of Poland
conventional short form: Poland
local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska
local short form: Polska
Government type: republic
Capital: Warsaw
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
Independence: 11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed)
National holiday: Constitution Day, 3 May (1791)
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 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
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch
- chief
of state: President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI (since 23 December
1995)
- head
of government: Prime Minister Leszek MILLER - Democratic Left
Alliance (SLD) - (since 19 October 2001), Deputy Prime Ministers
Marek POL (since 19 October 2001), Jaroslaw KALINOWSKI (since
19 October 2001), Marek BELKA (since 19 October 2001)
- 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
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
- election
results: Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI reelected president; percent
of popular vote - Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI 53.9%, Andrzj 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 25 September 2001 (next to be held
by NA September 2005); Senate - last held 25 September 2001
(next to be held by NA 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 - SLD-UP 216, PO 65, Samoobrona 53,
PiS 44, PSL 42, LPR 38, German minorities 2; note - SLD-UP have
split: SLD has 200 deputies and UP has 16; Senate - percent
of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - SLD-UP 75, Senate Block
2001 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: Citizens Platform or PO [Maciej PLAZYNSKI];
Democratic Left Alliance or SLD (Social Democracy of Poland) [Leszek
MILLER]; Freedom Union or UW [Bronislaw GEREMEK]; German Minority
of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Henryk KROLL]; Law and Justice or PiS
[Lech KACZYNSKI]; League of Polish Families or LPR [Marek KOTLINOWSKI];
Polish Accord or PP [Jan LOPUSZANSKI]; Polish Peasant Party or PSL
[Jaroslaw KALINOWSKI]; Samoobrona [Andrzej LEPPER]; Solidarity Electoral
Action of the Right or AWSP [Marian KRZAKLEWSKI]; Social Movement-Solidarity
Electoral Action or RS-AWS [Jerzy BUZEK]; Union of Labor or UP [Marek
POL]
Political
pressure groups and leaders: All Poland Trade Union Alliance or
OPZZ (trade union); Roman Catholic Church; Solidarity (trade union)
International organization participation: ACCT (observer), Australia
Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD,
ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA,
IEA (observer), IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
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, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WToO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Przemyslaw GRUDZINSKI
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
- overview: Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalizing
the economy and today stands out as one of the most successful and
open transition economies. GDP growth has been strong and steady
since 1992 - the best performance in the region. The privatization
of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing
new firms has allowed for the rapid development of a vibrant private
sector. In contrast, Poland's large 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) has begun. 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 government's determination to enter the EU as soon as possible
affects most aspects of its economic policies. Improving Poland's
outsized current account deficit and reining in inflation are priorities.
Warsaw leads the region in foreign investment and needs a continued
large inflow.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $327.5 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.8% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,500 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 3.8%
Economy
Economy
- overview: Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalizing
the economy and today stands out as one of the most successful and
open transition economies. GDP growth has been strong and steady
since 1992 - the best performance in the region. The privatization
of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing
new firms has allowed for the rapid development of a vibrant private
sector. In contrast, Poland's large 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) has begun. 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 government's determination to enter the EU as soon as possible
affects most aspects of its economic policies. Improving Poland's
outsized current account deficit and reining in inflation are priorities.
Warsaw leads the region in foreign investment and needs a continued
large inflow.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $327.5 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.8% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,500 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 3.8%
industry: 36.6%
services: 59.6% (1999)
Population below poverty line: 18.4% (2000 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 26.3% (1996)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 10.2% (2000 est.)
Labor force: 17.2 million (1999 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: industry 22.1%, agriculture 27.5%,
services 50.4% (1999)
Unemployment rate: 12% (1999)
Budget: revenues: $49.6 billion
expenditures: $52.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1999)
Industries: machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals,
shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles
Industrial production growth rate: 4.3% (1999)
Electricity - production: 134.351 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source
fossil fuel: 96.43%
hydro: 3.16%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0.41% (1999)
Electricity - consumption: 120.007 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports: 8.43 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports: 3.491 billion kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products: potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry,
eggs, pork
Exports: $28.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
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)
Exports - partners: Germany 36.1%, Italy 6.5%, Netherlands 5.3%,
France 4.8%, UK 4.0%, Czech Republic 3.8% (1999)
Imports: $42.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment 38.2%,
intermediate manufactured goods 20.8%, chemicals 14.3%, miscellaneous
manufactured goods 9.5% (1999)
Imports - partners: Germany 25.2%, Italy 9.4%, France 6.8%, Russia
5.8%, UK 4.6%, Netherlands 3.7% (1999)
Debt - external: $57 billion (2000)
Economic aid - recipient: $NA
Currency: zloty (PLN)
Currency code: PLN
Exchange rates: zlotych per US dollar - 4.3126 (December 2000),
4.3461 (2000), 3.9671 (1999), 3.4754 (1998), 3.2793 (1997), 2.6961
(1996)
Fiscal year: calendar year
(figures
reproduced from The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
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