POLAND. Republic of Poland
A country in Central Europe, with a coastline on the north washed by the Baltic Sea. Area - 322.6 thousand km².
Capital - Warsaw (1 million 618 thousand), largest cities: Łódź (807 thousand), Kraków (741 thousand), Wrocław (638 thousand), Poznań (578 thousand), Gdańsk (459 thousand), Szczecin (417 thousand). Since 1.1.1999, Poland has a three-tier system of administrative-territorial division: voivodeships (a total of 16) - powiats (308 rural and 65 urban) - gminas (several thousand). Population - 38.6 million, ethnically almost homogeneous - Poles. Official data on the number of national minorities are absent; estimates suggest: Germans - over 350 thousand, Belarusians - about 300 thousand, Ukrainians - 250 thousand, Russians - 50 thousand, Lithuanians - 30 thousand. Urban residents make up 61.9%, rural - 38.1%.
The official language is Polish. The dominant religion is Catholicism; other denominations are also represented. The currency is the złoty = 100 groszy.
It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established with the RSFSR in 1921). On May 22, 1992, a Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Poland on friendly and good-neighborly cooperation was signed.
The national holiday is celebrated on May 3 in connection with the anniversary of the constitution of 1791, and November 11 is Independence Day (restoration of Poland's state independence in 1918).
Since October 1997, the constitution adopted as a result of a nationwide referendum has been in effect, proclaiming the Republic of Poland (RP) as a single democratic legal state that implements the principles of social justice. The fundamental law establishes the separation and balance of legislative, executive, and judicial branches of power, proclaims a public market economy based on free economic activity, private property, as well as solidarity, dialogue, and cooperation among social partners. The constitution guarantees the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, proclaims the values of a democratic society, and affirms the commitment of the Polish people to universal and human values, as well as the values of Christianity.
Poland is a parliamentary-presidential republic. The executive power is exercised by the head of state - the president, who is elected by popular vote for a term of 5 years in general direct elections. One person may hold the office of president for no more than 2 consecutive terms. In the presidential elections in October 2005, the representative of the Law and Justice party, L. Kaczyński, won. The legislative body is the parliament, consisting of two chambers - the Sejm and the Senate. Deputies of the Sejm (460 people) and senators (100 people) are elected based on universal equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot for a term of 4 years.
After the parliamentary elections in September 2005, the seats in the Sejm of the RP were distributed as follows: Law and Justice (PiS) - 155, Civic Platform (PO) - 133, Self-Defense - 56, Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) - 35, League of Polish Families (LPR) - 34, Polish Peasant Party (PSL) - 25, German national minority - 2. PiS gained a majority in the Senate - 49 seats; PO - 34, LPR - 7, Self-Defense - 3, PSL - 2, representatives of various electoral committees - 5.
In October 2005, a government was formed headed by K. Marcinkiewicz (PiS).
Poland has more than 60 parties and socio-political organizations. The Democratic Left Alliance was formed in 1999. Most of the leaders of the SLD are former officials of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), the chairman is W. Olejniczak (elected in May 2005). The Polish Peasant Party was formed on May 5, 1990, the chairman is W. Pawlak. Civic Platform is a liberal-conservative party formed in January 2002, the chairman is D. Tusk. Law and Justice is a national-radical party formed in the autumn of 2001, the chairman is L. Kaczyński. Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland is a left-populist party created in 1999, the chairman is A. Lepper. The League of Polish Families is a national-clerical party, the chairman is M. Kotliński.
The All-Poland Agreement of Trade Unions was formed in 1989, uniting more than 100 sectoral organizations, the chairman is J. Guz. The Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity," the chairman of the All-Poland Commission "Solidarity" is J. Śniadek.
The Polish state emerged in the late 10th century, becoming a kingdom in 1025. In 1410, the Teutonic Order was defeated by the combined Polish-Lithuanian forces with the participation of Smolensk regiments. Since 1569, the Union of Lublin united Poland with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, forming the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. As a result of the three partitions of the Commonwealth (1772, 1793, 1795) between Prussia, Austria, and Russia, and the redistribution at the Vienna Congress of 1814-15, most of the Duchy of Warsaw was transferred to Russia (forming the Kingdom of Poland), Prussia received Poznań and retained Silesia and Pomerania, and Austria received Galicia and part of Lesser Poland with Kraków. Polish national liberation uprisings in 1794 (led by T. Kościuszko), 1830-31, 1846, 1848, and 1863-64 were suppressed. In November 1918, Poland restored its statehood and was proclaimed a republic. From 1926 to 1939, the regime of J. Piłsudski was in power.
On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland and occupied it. On September 17, 1939, the Red Army entered the territories of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, which were then within Poland's borders. These areas became part of the Ukrainian SSR and Belarusian SSR. During World War II, Poland lost almost 40% of its national wealth and more than 6 million people, i.e., 1/5 of the population. The Polish people made a significant contribution to the defeat of fascist Germany. In the spring of 1945, the territory of Poland was completely liberated by the Red Army and the Polish Army. About 600 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers died in the battles for the liberation of Poland. After the war, the construction of a socialist society under the leadership of the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) was proclaimed in Poland. On July 22, 1952, the constitution of the Polish People's Republic was adopted. Poland was a member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and the Warsaw Pact until their dissolution.
In the second half of the 1970s, an opposition movement emerged in the country, which took shape after mass nationwide strikes in August 1980 into the independent, self-governing trade union "Solidarity." On December 13, 1981, martial law was declared in Poland, the leaders of "Solidarity" were interned, and the trade union itself was outlawed.
In 1989, with the mediation of the Catholic Church, negotiations were held between representatives of the main political forces in the country, which resulted in parliamentary elections in June 1989, bringing victory to "Solidarity."
On December 31, 1999, the name of the state was changed to the Republic of Poland.
After 1989, power alternated between right-center (1989-93; 1997-2001) and left-center (1993-97; 2001-05) governments. The president of the RP from 1990 to 1995 was the representative of the right-wing forces L. Wałęsa, and from 1995 to 2005 - the representative of the left-wing forces A. Kwaśniewski.
In 1999, Poland joined NATO, and in 2004 - the European Union. Strengthening its positions within these organizations is a priority for the foreign policy of the RP. Poland is also a member of the UN, the Council of Europe, the Visegrad Group, the Central European Initiative, the Council of Baltic Sea States, the WTO, the OECD, has observer status in the Barents/Euro-Arctic Council and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, and has established ongoing cooperation with the IMF, the World Bank, and the EBRD.
A significant part of the country's economic potential is based on the processing of mineral raw materials: Poland occupies one of the leading places in Europe in the extraction of coal, sulfur, silver, and steel production. It also has significant reserves of copper, zinc, lead, salt, and other minerals.
Leading sectors of the economy: machine engineering, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical, textile, and garment industries.
In addition to grains, sugar beets, potatoes, cabbage, and fruit-berry crops are grown. Livestock sectors include pig farming, dairy-meat cattle breeding, and poultry farming.
The modern economy of Poland is characterized by high growth rates. GDP growth in 2004 reached 5.3%, industrial production in 2004 increased by 11.6%, and investments rose by more than 7%. There is an increase in the production of vehicles, medical, optical, and precision instruments, and metallurgy and machine engineering are developing dynamically. GDP per capita amounts to 7.3 thousand dollars.
In recent years, the volume of Poland's foreign trade has significantly increased. In 2004, exports of goods exceeded 67 billion dollars, and imports amounted to 80.2 billion dollars. About 80% of Polish exports go to EU countries, primarily
Germany, France, and Italy, while 7% go to CIS countries (in imports, 68% - EU, 9% - CIS). The main foreign trade partner of Poland among CIS countries is Russia. The volume of Russian-Polish trade reached 8 billion dollars.
The average salary in Poland is about 2700 zlotys (900 dollars) per month. The unemployment rate is 19%. External debt exceeds 92 billion euros, and servicing it costs 6-7 billion euros annually.
The number of tourists visiting Poland is increasing every year, with particular popularity in the mountainous regions (Tatras, Beskids, Sudetes) and the Baltic Sea coast.
The Polish education system includes primary schools, gymnasiums, secondary educational institutions (lyceums, technical schools, specialized schools), and higher educational institutions. Education is free (in state schools), universal, and compulsory until reaching adulthood (up to 18 years of age). Currently, there are about 500 research institutes and 89 higher education institutions in Poland.
Poland has 2 national information agencies - the Polish Press Agency (PAP) and the Polish Information Agency (PIA), and several private agencies operate.
Among the main periodicals, the largest are the daily newspapers "Gazeta Wyborcza" (600 thousand copies), "Rzeczpospolita" (260 thousand), "Super Express" (450 thousand); weekly publications "Nie" (750 thousand), "Wprost" (300 thousand), "Polityka" (260 thousand).