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NAVIGATION
Republic of Poland
Rzeczpospolita Polska
GOVERNMENT
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Country name:
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conventional long form: Republic of Poland
conventional short form: Poland local short form: Polska local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska |
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Government type:
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republic |
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Capital:
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Warsaw |
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Administrative divisions:
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16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lodzkie, Lubelskie, Lubuskie, Malopolskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Pomorskie, Slaskie, Swietokrzyskie, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Wielkopolskie, Zachodniopomorskie |
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Independence:
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11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed) |
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National holiday:
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Constitution Day, 3 May (1791) |
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Constitution:
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16 October 1997; adopted by the National Assembly 2 April 1997; passed by national referendum 23 May 1997 |
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Legal system:
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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 |
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Suffrage:
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18 years of age; universal |
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Executive branch:
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chief of state: President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI (since 23 December 1995)
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last 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 head of government: Prime Minister Leszek MILLER (SLD) (since 19 October 2001), Deputy Prime Ministers Marek POL (since 19 October 2001), Jaroslaw KALINOWSKI (since 19 October 2001), Grzegorz KOLODKO (since 8 July 2002) 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 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% |
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Legislative branch:
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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 23 September 2001 (next to be held by September 2005); Senate - last held 23 September 2001 (next to be held by 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 has split: SLD has 200 deputies and UP has 16; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - SLD-UP 75, AWSP (an electoral alliance of some 36 parties) 15, PSL 4, Samoobrona 2, LPR 2, independents 2 note: two seats are assigned to ethnic minority parties |
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Judicial branch:
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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) |
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Political parties and leaders:
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Citizens Platform or PO [Maciej PLAZYNSKI]; Democratic Left Alliance or SLD (Social Democracy of Poland) [Leszek MILLER]; Freedom Union or UW [Wladyslaw FRASYNIUK]; 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] |
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union); Roman Catholic Church; Solidarity (trade union) |
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International organization participation:
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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, 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 |
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Diplomatic representation in the US:
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chief of mission: Ambassador Przemyslaw GRUDZINSKI
chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 FAX: [1] (202) 328-6271 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York telephone: [1] (202) 234-3800 through 3802 |
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Diplomatic representation from the US:
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chief of mission: Ambassador Christopher R. HILL
embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-540 Warsaw P1 mailing address: American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch) telephone: [48] (22) 628-30-41 FAX: [48] (22) 628-82-98 consulate(s) general: Krakow |
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Flag description:
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two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white |
ECONOMY
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Economy - overview:
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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 had been strong and steady in 1993-2000 but fell back in 2001-02 with slowdowns in domestic investment and consumption and the persistent weakness in the European economy. The privatization of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed for the vibrant development of a private business 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) have 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 foreign trade deficit and containing the internal budget deficit are top priorities. Warsaw leads the region in foreign investment and needs a continued large inflow. |
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GDP:
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purchasing power parity - $368.1 billion (2002 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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1.2% (2002 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power parity - $9,500 (2002 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 4%
industry: 35% services: 61% (2000 est.) |
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Population below poverty line:
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18% (2000 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 25% (1998) |
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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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32 (1998) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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2.5% (2002 est.) |
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Labor force:
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17.6 million (2000 est.) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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industry 22%, agriculture 28%, services 50% (1999) |
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Unemployment rate:
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17% (2002 est.) |
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Budget:
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revenues: $49.6 billion
expenditures: $52.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999) |
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Industries:
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machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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4.3% (1999) |
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Electricity - production:
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135.16 billion kWh (2000) |
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel: 98%
hydro: 2% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0% |
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Electricity - consumption:
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119.33 billion kWh (2000) |
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Electricity - exports:
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9.663 billion kWh (2000) |
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Electricity - imports:
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3.29 billion kWh (2000) |
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Agriculture - products:
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potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork |
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Exports:
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$32.4 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
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Exports - commodities:
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machinery and transport equipment 30.2%, intermediate manufactured goods 25.5%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 20.9%, food and live animals 8.5% (1999) |
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Exports - partners:
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Germany 34.3%, Italy 5.4%, France 5.4%, UK 5.0% (2001) |
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Imports:
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$43.4 billion f.o.b. (2002) |
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Imports - commodities:
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machinery and transport equipment 38.2%, intermediate manufactured goods 20.8%, chemicals 14.3%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 9.5% (1999) |
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Imports - partners:
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Germany 23.9%, Russia 8.8%, Italy 8.2%, France 6.8% (2001) |
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Debt - external:
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$64 billion (2000) |
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$NA |
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Currency:
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zloty (PLN) |
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Currency code:
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PLN |
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Exchange rates:
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zlotych per US dollar - 4.0144 (December 2001), 4.0939 (2001), 4.3461 (2000), 3.9671 (1999), 3.4754 (1998), 3.2793 (1997)
note: zlotych is the plural form of zloty |
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Fiscal year:
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calendar year |