Poland

Airports

total: 209 usable: 167 with permanent-surface runways: 70 with runway over 3,659 m: 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 47 with runways 1,060-2,439 m: 78 note: a C-130 can land on a 1,060-m airstrip

Highways

total: 360,629 km (excluding farm, factory and forest roads) paved: 220,000 km (220 km of which are limited access expressways) unpaved: 140,629 km (1988)

Inland waterways

3,997 km navigable rivers and canals (1991)

Merchant marine

173 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,327,855 GRT/3,458,445 DWT, bulk 89, cargo 57, chemical tanker 4, container 8, oil tanker 1, passenger 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 8, short-sea passenger 5 note: Poland owns 3 ships operating under Liberian registry

Pipelines

crude oil 1,986 km; petroleum products 360 km; natural gas 4,600 km (1992)

Ports

Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin, Swinoujscie; principal inland ports are Gliwice on Kanal Gliwicki, Wrocaw on the Oder, and Warsaw on the Vistula

Railroads

26,250 km total; 23,857 km 1.435-meter gauge, 397 km 1.520-meter gauge, 1,996 km narrow gauge; 8,987 km double track; 11,510 km electrified; government owned (1991)

Telecommunications

severely underdeveloped and outmoded system; cable, open wire and microwave; phone density is 10.5 phones per 100 residents (October 1990); 3.6 million telephone subscribers; exchanges are 86% automatic (1991); broadcast stations - 27 AM, 27 FM, 40 (5 Soviet repeaters) TV; 9.6 million TVs; 1 satellite earth station using INTELSAT, EUTELSAT, INMARSAT and Intersputnik

Branches

Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Force

Defense expenditures

30.8 trillion zlotych, 1.8% of GNP (1993 est.); note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate could produce misleading results

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 10,046,993; fit for military service 7,856,680; reach military age (19) annually 316,339 (1994 est.)

Agriculture

accounts for 7% of GDP and a much larger share of labor force; 75% of output from private farms, 25% from state farms; productivity remains low by European standards; leading European producer of rye, rapeseed, and potatoes; wide variety of other crops and livestock; major exporter of pork products; normally self-sufficient in food

Budget

revenues: $24.3 billion expenditures: $27.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.5 billion (1993 est.)

Currency

1 zloty (Zl) = 100 groszy

Economic aid

donor: bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries (1954-89), $2.2 billion recipient: Western governments and institutions have pledged $8 billion in grants and loans since 1989, but most of the money has not been disbursed

Electricity

capacity: 31,530,000 kW production: 137 billion kWh consumption per capita: 3,570 kWh (1992)

Exchange rates

zlotych (Zl) per US$1 - 21,080 (January 1994), 18,115 (1993), 13,626 (1992), 10,576 (1991), 9,500 (1990), 1,439.18 (1989)

Exports

$13.5 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.) commodities: machinery 24%, metals 17%, chemicals 12%, fuels and power 11%, food 10% (1992) partners: Germany 31.4%, Netherlands 6.0%, Italy 5.6%, Russia 5.5% (1992)

External debt

$47 billion (1993); note - Poland's Western government creditors promised in 1991 to forgive 30% of Warsaw's $35 billion official debt immediately and to forgive another 20% in 1994; foreign banks agreed in early 1994 to forgive 45% of their $12 billion debt claim

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

illicit producers of opium for domestic consumption and amphetamines for the international market; transshipment point for Asian and Latin American illicit drugs to Western Europe

Imports

$15.6 billion (f.o.b., 1993 est.) commodities: fuels and power 17%, machinery 36%, chemicals 17%, food 8% (1992) partners: Germany 23.9%, Russia 8.5%, Italy 6.9%, UK 6.7% (1992)

Industrial production

growth rate 7% (1993)

Industries

machine building, iron and steel, extractive industries, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

37% (1993)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $180.4 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$4,680 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

4.1% (1993 est.)

Overview

Poland is continuing the difficult transition to a market economy that began on 1 January 1990, when the new democratic government instituted "shock therapy" by decontrolling prices, slashing subsidies, and drastically reducing import barriers. The economy contracted sharply in 1990 and 1991, but in 1992 real GDP grew 1% despite a severe drought. Real GDP expanded about 4% in 1993, the highest rate in Europe except for Albania. About half of GDP now comes from the private sector even though privatization of the large state-owned enterprises is proceeding slowly and most industry remains in state hands. The pattern of industrial production is changing rapidly; output of textiles and construction materials is well above 1990 levels, while output of basic metals remains depressed. Inflation, which had exceeded 50% monthly in late 1989, was down to about 37% for all of 1993, as the government held the budget deficit below 3% of GDP. Unemployment has risen steadily, however, to about 16%. The trade deficit is also a problem, in part due to recession in Western Europe, Poland's main customer. The new government elected in September 1993 is politically to the left of its predecessor but is continuing the reform process.

Unemployment rate

15.7% (December 1993)

Area

total area: 312,680 sq km land area: 304,510 sq km comparative area: slightly smaller than New Mexico

Climate

temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers

Coastline

491 km

Environment

current issues: forest damage due to air pollution; improper means for disposal of large amounts of hazardous and industrial waste; severe water pollution from industrial and municipal sources; severe air pollution results from emissions of sulfur dioxide from coal-fired power plants natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Antarctic Treaty, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

1,000 sq km (1989 est.)

Land boundaries

total 3,114 km, Belarus 605 km, Czech Republic 658 km, Germany 456 km, Lithuania 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) 432 km, Slovakia 444 km, Ukraine 428 km

Land use

arable land: 46% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 13% forest and woodland: 28% other: 12%

Location

Central Europe, between Germany and Belarus

Map references

Asia, Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt

Note

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

Terrain

mostly flat plain; mountains along southern border

Administrative divisions

49 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Biala Podlaska, Bialystok, Bielsko Biala, Bydgoszcz, Chelm, Ciechanow, Czestochowa, Elblag, Gdansk, Gorzow, Jelenia Gora, Kalisz, Katowice, Kielce, Konin, Koszalin, Krakow, Krosno, Legnica, Leszno, Lodz, Lomza, Lublin, Nowy Sacz, Olsztyn, Opole, Ostroleka, Pila, Piotrkow, Plock, Poznan, Przemysl, Radom, Rzeszow, Siedlce, Sieradz, Skierniewice, Slupsk, Suwalki, Szczecin, Tarnobrzeg, Tarnow, Torun, Walbrzych, Warszawa, Wloclawek, Wroclaw, Zamosc, Zielona Gora

Capital

Warsaw

Communist origin or linked

PSL 34, SLD 37

Communist origin or linked

SLD 171, PSL 132 note: 4 seats were won by ethnic Germans

Communist origin or linked

Social Democracy (SDRP, party of Poland), Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI; Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), Waldemar PAWLAK; Democratic Left Alliance, Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI

Constitution

interim "small constitution" came into effect in December 1992 replacing the Communist-imposed Constitution of 22 July 1952; new democratic Constitution being drafted

Diet (Sejm)

elections last held 19 September 1993 (next to be held no later than NA October 1997); seats - (460 total) post-Solidarity bloc: UW 74, UP 41, BBWR 16 non-Communist, non-Solidarity: KPN 22

Digraph

PL

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Jerzy KOZMINSKI chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: (202) 234-3800 through 3802

Executive branch

chief of state: President Lech WALESA (since 22 December 1990); election first round held 25 November 1990, second round held 9 December 1990 (next to be held NA November 1995); results - second round Lech WALESA 74.7%, Stanislaw TYMINSKI 25.3% head of government: Prime Minister Waldemar PAWLAK (since 26 October 1993) cabinet: Council of Ministers; responsible to the president and the Sejm

FAX

(202) 328-6271 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York

FAX

[48] (2) 628-8298 consulate(s) general: Krakow, Poznan

Flag

two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white

Independence

11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

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; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

bicameral National Assembly (Zgromadzenie Narodowe)

Member of

BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, COCOM (cooperating), CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MINURSO, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNDOF, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNOMIG, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Poland conventional short form: Poland local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska local short form: Polska

National holiday

Constitution Day, 3 May (1791)

Other political or pressure groups

powerful Roman Catholic Church; Solidarity (trade union); All Poland Trade Union Alliance (OPZZ), populist program

Political parties and leaders

post-Solidarity parties: Freedom Union (WD; UD and Liberal Democratic Congress merged to form Freedom Union), Tadeusz MAZOWIECKI; Christian-National Union (ZCHN), Wieslaw CHRZANOWSKI; Centrum (PC), Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI; Peasant Alliance (PL), Gabriel JANOWSKI; Solidarity Trade Union (NSZZ), Marian KRZAKLEWSKI; Union of Labor (UP), Ryszard BUGAJ; Christian-Democratic Party (PCHD), Pawel LACZKOWSKI; Conservative Party, Alexander HALL; Nonparty Bloc for the Support of the Reforms (BBWR) non-Communist, non-Solidarity: Confederation for an Independent Poland (KPN), Leszek MOCZULSKI; Polish Economic Program (PPG), Janusz REWINSKI; Christian Democrats (CHD), Andrzej OWSINSKI; German Minority (MN), Henryk KROL; Union of Real Politics (UPR), Janusz KORWIN-MIKKE; Democratic Party (SD), Antoni MACKIEWICZ; Party X, Stanislaw Tyminski

Senate (Senat)

elections last held 19 September 1993 (next to be held no later than NA October 1997); seats - (100 total) post-Solidarity bloc: UW 6, NSZZ 12, BBWR 2 non-Communist, non-Solidarity: independents 7, unaffiliated 1, vacant 1 (to be filled in a 19 June election)

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

democratic state

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Nicholas A. REY embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31, Warsaw mailing address: American Embassy Warsaw, Unit 1340, or APO AE 09213-1340 telephone: [48] (2) 628-3041

Birth rate

13.44 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

9.4 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Polish 97.6%, German 1.3%, Ukrainian 0.6%, Byelorussian 0.5% (1990 est.)

Infant mortality rate

13.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

17.329 million by occupation: industry and construction 32.0%, agriculture 27.6%, trade, transport, and communications 14.7%, government and other 24.6% (1992)

Languages

Polish

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 72.66 years male: 68.64 years female: 76.91 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1978) total population: 98% male: 99% female: 98%

Nationality

noun: Pole(s) adjective: Polish

Net migration rate

-0.52 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

38,654,561 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

0.35% (1994 est.)

Religions

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

Total fertility rate

1.94 children born/woman (1994 est.)