Background: Poland gained its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. It became a Soviet satellite country following the war but one that 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 boosting hopes for acceptance to the EU. Poland joined the NATO alliance in 1999.

Geographic coordinates: 52 00 N 20 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 312,685 km²
Land: 304,465 km²
Water: 8,220 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than New Mexico

Land boundaries
Total: 2,888 km
Border countries: (6) 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
Extremes 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: 1000 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Geography
Note: historically an area of conflict because of flat terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain

Population: 38,633,912 (July 2001 est.)
Growth rate: -0.03% (2001 est.)
Below poverty line: 18.4% (2000 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Pole
Adjective: Polish

Ethnic groups: Polish 97.6% German 1.3% Ukrainian 0.6% Byelorussian 0.5% (1990 est.)

Languages: Polish

Religions: Roman Catholic 95% (about 75% practicing) Eastern Orthodox Protestant and other 5%

Age structure
0-14 years: 18.39% (male 3,640,451; female 3,463,604)
15-64 years: 69.17% (male 13,288,471; female 13,434,753)
65 years and over: 12.44% (male 1,836,816; female 2,969,817) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.03% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 10.2 births/1000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 9.98 deaths/1000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.49 migrant(s)/1000 population (2001 est.)

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
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
International agreements signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male/female
Total population: 0.94 male/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 9.39 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 73.42 years
Male: 69.26 years
Female: 77.82 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.37 children born/woman (2001 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.07% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: NA
Deaths: less than 100 (1999 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99%
Male: 99%
Female: 98% (1978 est.)

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 Jerzy BUZEK - Solidarity Electoral Union - (since 31 October 1997), Deputy Prime Ministers Janusz STEINHOFF (since 12 June 2000), 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 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
Elections: Sejm elections last held 21 September 1997 (next to be held by NA September 2001); Senate - last held 21 September 1997 (next to be held by NA September 2001)
Election results: Sejm - percent of vote by party - AWS 33.8%, SLD 27.1%, UW 13.4%, PSL 7.3%, ROP 5.6%, MNSO 0.4%, other 12.4%; seats by party - AWS 201, SLD 164, UW 60, PSL 27, ROP 6, MNSO 2; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - AWS 51, SLD 28, UW 8, ROP 5, PSL 3, independents 5; note - seats by party in the Sejm as of February 2001: AWS 175, SLD 161, UW 49, PSL 26, PP 6, KdP 7, ROP-PC 4, independents 31, one seat vacant
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: Coalition for Poland or KdP [first name unknown GRABOWSKI]; Confederation for an Independent Poland-Patriotic Camp or KPN-OP (KPN-Fatherland or KPN-O is a small group within the KPN-OP) [Michal JANISZEWSKI]; 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]; Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland or ROP-PC [Jan OLSZEWSKI]; Polish Accord or PP [Jan LOPUSZANSKI]; Polish Peasant Party or PSL [Jaroslaw KALINOWSKI]; Polish Socialist Party or PPS [Piotr IKONOWICZ]; Solidarity Electoral Action or AWS (includes RS-AWS and Solidarity) [Marian KRZAKLEWSKI]; Social Movement-Solidarity Electoral Action or RS-AWS [Jerzy BUZEK]

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
In the us chancery: 2,640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20,009
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 234-3,800 through 3,802
In the us fax: [1] (202) 328-6,271
In the us consulates general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Christopher R. HILL
From the us embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-054, Warsaw P1
From the us mailing address: American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20,521-5,010 (pouch)
From the us telephone: [48] (22) 628-30-41
From the us fax: [48] (22) 628-82-98
From the us consulates 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 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.

Real gdp growth rate: 4.8% (2000 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,500 (2000 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 3.8%
Industry: 36.6%
Services: 59.6% (1999)

Agriculture products: potatoes fruits vegetables wheat; poultry eggs pork

Industries: machine building iron and steel coal mining chemicals shipbuilding food processing glass beverages textiles

Industrial production growth rate: 4.3% (1999)

Labor force: 17.2 million (1999 est.)
By occupation industry: 22.1%
By occupation agriculture: 27.5%
By occupation services: 50.4% (1999)

Unemployment rate: 12% (1999)

Population below poverty line: 18.4% (2000 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3%
Highest 10: 26.3% (1996)

Budget
Revenues: $49.6 billion
Expenditures: $52.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 10.2% (2000 est.)

Exports: $28.4 billion (f.o.b. 2000)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment 30.2% intermediate manufactured goods 25.5% miscellaneous manufactured goods 20.9% food and live animals 8.5% (1999)
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)
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment 38.2% intermediate manufactured goods 20.8% chemicals 14.3% miscellaneous manufactured goods 9.5% (1999)
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)

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)

Electricity
Production: 134.351 billion kWh (1999)
Production by source fossil fuel: 96.43%
Production by source hydro: 3.16%
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Production by source other: 0.41% (1999)
Consumption: 120.007 billion kWh (1999)
Exports: 8.43 billion kWh (1999)
Imports: 3.491 billion kWh (1999)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 8.07 million (1998)
Mobile cellular: 1.78 million (1998)

Telephone system
General assessment: underdeveloped and outmoded system; government aimed to have 10 million telephones in service by 2000; the process of partial privatization of the state-owned telephone monopoly has begun; in 1998 there were over 2 million applicants on the waiting list for telephone service
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)

Internet
Country code: .pl
Service providers isps: 19 (2000)
Users: 2.8 million (2000)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $3.17 billion (FY00)
Percent of gdp: 1.95% (FY00)

Airports: 122 (2000 est.)
With paved runways total: 83
With paved runways over 3047 m: 3
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 29
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 42
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 6
With paved runways under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 39
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 4
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 13
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 21 (2000 est.)

Heliports: 3 (2000 est.)

Pipelines: crude oil and petroleum products 2,280 km; natural gas 17,000 km (1996)

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; 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)

Waterways: 3,812 km (navigable rivers and canals) (1996)

Merchant marine
Total: 46 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 943,540 GRT/1,532,694 DWT
Ships by type: bulk 41, cargo 2, chemical tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1, short-sea passenger 1 (2000 est.)

Disputes international: none