top of pageBackground: Poland's history as a state began near the middle of the 10th century. By the mid-16th century the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ruled a vast tract of land in Central and Eastern Europe. During the 18th century internal disorders weakened the nation and in a series of agreements between 1772 and 1795 Russia Prussia and Austria partitioned Poland among themselves. 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 with over 10 million members. Free elections in 1989 and 1990 won Solidarity control of the parliament and the presidency bringing the communist era to a close. A 'shock therapy' program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe. Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004. With its transformation to a democratic market-oriented country largely completed and with large investments in defense energy and other infrastructure Poland is an increasingly active member of Euro-Atlantic organizations.
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
GeographyNote: historically an area of conflict because of flat terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain
top of pageEthnic groups: Polish 96.9% Silesian 1.1% German 0.2% Ukrainian 0.1% other and unspecified 1.7%
Note: represents ethnicity declared first
Languages: Polish (official) 98.2% Silesian 1.4% other 1.1% unspecified 1.3%
Note: data represents the language spoken at home; shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census; Poland ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2009 recognizing Kashub as a regional language Czech Hebrew Yiddish Belarusian Lithuanian German Armenian Russian Slovak and Ukrainian as national minority languages and Karaim Lemko Romani and Tatar as ethnic minority languages (2011 est.)
Religions: Catholic 87.2% (includes Roman Catholic 86.9% and Greek Catholic Armenian Catholic and Byzantine-Slavic Catholic .3%) Orthodox 1.3% (almost all are Polish Autocephalous Orthodox) Protestant 0.4% (mainly Augsburg Evangelical and Pentacostal) other 0.4% (includes Jehovah's Witness Buddhist Hare Krishna Gaudiya Vaishnavism Muslim Jewish Mormon) unspecified 10.8% (2012 est.)
Population distribution: population concentrated in the southern (Krakow) and central (Warsaw Lodz) areas with an extension to the northern coastal city of Gdansk
EnvironmentCurrent issues: 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
International agreements party to: Air Pollution Antarctic-Environmental Protocol Antarctic-Marine Living Resources Antarctic Seals Antarctic Treaty Biodiversity Climate Change Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Desertification Endangered Species Environmental Modification Hazardous Wastes Law of the Sea Marine Dumping Ozone Layer Protection Ship Pollution Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants Air Pollution-Sulfur 94
Drinking water source:
urban: 99.3% of population
rural: 96.9% of population
total: 98.3% of population
urban: 0.7% of population
rural: 3.1% of population
total: 1.7% of population (2015 est.)
Sanitation facility access:
urban: 97.5% of population
rural: 96.7% of population
total: 97.2% of population
urban: 2.5% of population
rural: 3.3% of population
total: 2.8% of population (2015 est.)
top of pageAdministrative divisions: 16 provinces (wojewodztwa singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie (Lower Silesia) Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Kuyavia-Pomerania) Lodzkie (Lodz) Lubelskie (Lublin) Lubuskie (Lubusz) Malopolskie (Lesser Poland) Mazowieckie (Masovia) Opolskie (Opole) Podkarpackie (Subcarpathia) Podlaskie Pomorskie (Pomerania) Slaskie (Silesia) Swietokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Warminsko-Mazurskie (Warmia-Masuria) Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland) Zachodniopomorskie (West Pomerania)
Independence: 11 November 1918 (republic proclaimed); notable earlier dates: 966 (adoption of Christianity traditional founding date) 1 July 1569 (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth created)
Constitution: several previous; latest adopted 2 April 1997 approved by referendum 25 May 1997 effective 17 October 1997; amended 2006 2009 2015 (2016)
Legal system: civil law system; judicial review of legislative administrative and other governmental acts; constitutional law rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are final
Executive branchChief of state: President Andrzej DUDA
Head of government: Prime Minister Beata SZYDLO ; 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
Electionsappointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year 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 48.5%
Legislative branchDescription: bicameral legislature consists of the Senate or Senat 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 ; 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
Judicial branchHighest court: Supreme Court or Sad Najwyzszy
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
International organization participation: Arctic Council (observer) Australia Group BIS BSEC (observer) CBSS CD CE CEI CERN EAPC EBRD ECB EIB ESA EU FAO IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC (national committees) ICCt ICRM IDA IEA IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITSO ITU ITUC (NGOs) MIGA MONUSCO NATO NEA NSG OAS (observer) OECD OIF (observer) OPCW OSCE PCA Schengen Convention UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNMIL UNMISS UNOCI UNWTO UPU WCO WFTU (NGOs) WHO WIPO WMO WTO ZC
Flag description: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; colors derive from the Polish emblem - a white eagle on a red field
Note: similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red and white
National anthemName: 'Mazurek Dabrowskiego'
Lyrics and music: Jozef WYBICKI/traditional
Note: adopted 1927; the anthem commonly known as 'Jeszcze Polska nie zginela' 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
top of pageEconomy overview:
Poland has pursued a policy of economic liberalization since 1990 and Poland's economy was the only EU country to avoid a recession through the 2008-09 economic downturn. Although EU membership and access to EU structural funds have provided a major boost to the economy since 2004 GDP per capita remains significantly below the EU average and the unemployment rate is now below the EU average.
The government of Prime Minister Donald TUSK steered the Polish economy through the economic downturn by skillfully managing public finances and adopting controversial pension and tax reforms to further shore up public finances. While the Polish economy has performed well over the past five years growth slowed in 2013 and picked back up in 2014-15. Poland’s new center-right Law and Justice government plans to introduce expansionary economic policies to spur long-term growth but social spending programs are expected to lead to increased deficit spending over the medium term.
Poland faces several challenges which include addressing some of the remaining deficiencies in its road and rail infrastructure business environment rigid labor code commercial court system government red tape and burdensome tax system especially for entrepreneurs. Additional long-term challenges include diversifying Poland’s energy mix and sources of supply strengthening investments in innovation research and development and as well as stemming the outflow of educated young Poles to other EU member states especially in light of a coming demographic contraction due to emigration persistently low fertility rates and the aging of the Solidarity-era baby boom generation.
Industries: machine building iron and steel coal mining chemicals shipbuilding food processing glass beverages textiles
Public debt:
45% of GDP (2015 est.)
43.9% of GDP (2014 est.)
Note: data cover general government debt and includes debt instruments issued by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities the data include subnational entities as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds such as for retirement medical care and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions
Rank: 99
Exports:
$190.8 billion (2015 est.)
$210.7 billion (2014 est.)
Rank: 24
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment 37.8% intermediate manufactured goods 23.7% miscellaneous manufactured goods 17.1% food and live animals 7.6% (2012 est.)
Partners: Germany 27.1% UK 6.8% Czech Republic 6.6% France 5.5% Italy 4.8% Netherlands 4.4% (2015)
Imports:
$188.4 billion (2015 est.)
$215 billion (2014 est.)
Rank: 24
Commodities: machinery and transport equipment 38% intermediate manufactured goods 21% chemicals 15% minerals fuels lubricants and related materials 9% (2011 est.)
Partners: Germany 27.6% China 7.5% Russia 7.2% Netherlands 5.9% Italy 5.2% France 4.1% (2015)
Debt external:
$332.2 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$338.6 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
Rank: 32
Exchange rates:
zlotych (PLN) per US dollar -
3.7721 (2015 est.)
3.1538 (2014 est.)
3.1538 (2013 est.)
3.26 (2012 est.)
2.9639 (2011 est.)
top of pagetop of pageTelephone systemGeneral 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
Broadcast media: 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)
top of pageMilitary expenditures:
2% of GDP (2016)
2.27% of GDP (2015)
1.95% of GDP (2014)
1.95% of GDP (2013)
1.91% of GDP (2012)
1.83% of GDP (2011)
Rank: 44
Military service age and obligation: 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)
top of pagePipelines: gas 14,198 km; oil 1374 km; refined products 777 km (2013)
Poland - Transnational issues 2016
top of pageDisputes international: as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border Poland has implemented the strict Schengen border rules to restrict illegal immigration and trade along its eastern borders with Belarus and Ukraine
Illicit drugs: 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
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