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POLAND
The Republic of Poland, a country in Central
Europe, lies between Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to
the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania
and Russia (in the form of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) to the north. Its
location and accessible terrain has meant that the land has seen many wars
fought over it, and its borders have shifted considerably over the centuries.
Poland used to be a communist state, but democracy was restored in 1990,
after the country became independent from the Soviet Union's sphere of
influence.
Name
Poland's official name in Polish is Rzeczpospolita Polska. The names of the
country, Polska, and of the nationality, the Poles, are of Slavic origin. A
common opinion holds that the name Polska comes from the Slavic Polanie
tribe who established the Polish state in the 10th century (Greater Poland).
Their name may derive from the Slavic word pole (field), or it may come from
the tribal name Goplanie - people living around Lake Goplo - the cradle of
Poland mentioned as Goplanie having 400 strongholds circa 845 (Bavarian
Geographer). Conventional etymology of the ethnic name of the Poles relates
it more widely to the Polish Polanie, "dwellers of the field"; pol, "field",
analogous to Russian polyî, "open land", from Indo-European pelč-, "flat" +
-anie, "inhabitants", analogous to Latin -anus, "originating from". In old
Latin chronicles the terms terra Poloniae (land of Poland) or Regnum
Poloniae (kingdom of Poland) appear. Parallel to this terminology, another
one came into use, thought to derive from the tribe name Ledzianie. It gave
rise to an alternative name for "Pole": Lach in Ruthenian, Lyakh in Russian,
as well as to old German Lechien, Hungarian Lengyel and Lithuanian lenkas.
History
The Polish nation started to form itself into a recognisable unitary
territorial entity around the middle of the 10th century. Poland's golden
age occurred in the 16th century during its union with Lithuania in the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The citizens of Poland took pride in their
ancient freedoms and parliamentary system, though the Szlachta (see "Nobles'
Democracy" article) monopolised the benefits thereof. Since that time Poles
have regarded freedom as their most important value. Poles often call
themselves the Nation of the free people. In mid-17th century a rebellion of
cossacks led by Bohdan Chmielnicki ushered in the turbulent time of The
Deluge. Numerous wars against Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Transylvania and
Brandenburg-Prussia ultimately came to an end in 1699. During the following
80 years, the waning of the central government and deadlock of the
institutions weakened the nation, leading to dependency on Russia. The
Enlightenment in Poland fostered a growing national movement to repair the
state, resulting in the first written constitution in Europe, in 1791. The
process of reforms ceased with the partitions of Poland between Russia,
Prussia, and Austria in 1772, 1793 and 1795; these ultimately completely
dissolved Poland. Poles resented their shrinking freedoms and several times
rebelled against their oppressors ( see List of Polish Uprisings). After the
Napoleonic wars a reconstituted Polish state, the Duchy of Warsaw, ruled by
the Russian tsar as a Congress Kingdom, possessed a liberal constitution.
However, the Russian tsars soon reduced Polish freedoms and Russia
eventually de facto annexed the country. Later in the 19th century, Austrian-ruled
Galicia became the oasis of Polish freedom. During World War I all the
Allies agreed on the restitution of Poland that United States President
Woodrow Wilson proclaimed in point 13 of his Fourteen Points. Shortly after
the surrender of Germany in November 1918, Poland regained its independence
as the Second Polish Republic. A new threat, Soviet aggression, arose in the
1919 (Polish-Soviet War), but Poland succeeded in defending its independence.
The Second Polish Republic lasted until the start of World War II when
Germany and the Soviet Union split the Polish territory between them (September
27, 1939). Poland suffered greatly in this period (see General Government).
Of all the countries involved in the war, Poland lost the highest percentage
of its citizens: over 6 million perished, half of them Polish Jews. Poland's
borders shifted westwards; pushing the eastern border to the Curzon line and
the western border to the Oder-Neisse line. After the shift Poland emerged
smaller by 76 000 km˛ or by 20% of its pre-war size. The shifting of borders
also involved the migration of millions of people – Poles, Germans,
Ukrainians, Jews. Eventually, Poland became, for the first time in history,
an ethnically unified country. The Soviet Union occupation brought a new
communist government to Poland, analogously to much of the rest of Central
Europe. In 1948 a turn towards Stalinism brought in the beginning of the
next period of totalitarian rule. The People's Republic of Poland was
officially proclaimed in 1952. In 1956 the régime became more liberal,
freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal freedoms. Labour
turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union, "Solidarity",
which over time became a political force. It eroded the dominance of the
Communist Party; by 1989 it had triumphed in parliamentary elections, and a
Solidarity candidate eventually won 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. Despite the regression in levels of
social and economic human rights standards, numerous improvements in other
human rights standards occurred (free speech, functioning democracy and the
like). Poland was the first among post-communist countries to regain pre-1989
GDP levels. Poland joined the NATO alliance in 1999. Following a massive
advertising campaign by the government in favour of joining the European
Union, Polish voters voted yes to the EU in a referendum in June 2003.
Poland joined the European Union on 1 May 2004.
Politics
Poland is a democratic republic. Its current constitution dates from 1997.
The government structure centres on the Council of Ministers, led by a prime
minister. The president appoints the cabinet according to the proposals of
the prime minister, typically from the majority coalition in the bicameral
legislature's lower house (the Sejm). The president, elected by popular vote
every 5 years, serves as the head of state. The citizens of Poland elect a
parliament, the National Assembly (Polish Zgromadzenie Narodowe), consisting
of 460 members of the Lower House (Sejm) and 100 members of the Senate (Senat),
chosen by a proportional vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms.
With the exception of ethnic minority parties, only political parties
receiving at least 5% of the total vote can enter the parliament. The
judicial branch plays a minor role in decision-making. Its major
institutions include the Supreme Court (Sad Najwyzszy) (judges appointed by
the president of the republic on the recommendation of the National Council
of the Judiciary for an indefinite period), and the Constitutional Tribunal
(Trybunal Konstytucyjny) (judges chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms).
The Sejm (on approval of the Polish Senate) appoints the Ombudsman or the
Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection (Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich) for a
five-year term. The Ombudsman has the duty of guarding the observance and
implementation of the rights and liberties of the human being and of the
citizen, the law and principles of community life and social justice.
Voivodships
Poland is sub-divided for administrative purposes into 16 administrative
regions known as voivodships (województwa, singular - województwo):
Greater Poland Voivodship (Wielkopolskie)
Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodship (Kujawsko-Pomorskie)
Lesser Poland Voivodship (Malopolskie)
Lodz Voivodship (Lódzkie)
Lower Silesian Voivodship (Dolnoslaskie)
Lublin Voivodship (Lubelskie)
Lubusz Voivodship (Lubuskie)
Masovian Voivodship (Mazowieckie)
Opole Voivodship (Opolskie)
Subcarpathian Voivodship (Podkarpackie)
Podlasie Voivodship (Podlaskie)
Pomeranian Voivodship (Pomorskie)
Swietokrzyskie Voivodship (Swietokrzyskie)
Silesian Voivodship (Slaskie)
Warmian-Masurian Voivodship (Warminsko-Mazurskie)
West Pomeranian Voivodship (Zachodniopomorskie)
Geography
The Polish landscape consists almost entirely of the lowlands of the North
European Plain, at an average height of 173 metres, though the Sudetes (including
the Karkonosze) and the Carpathian Mountains (including the Tatra mountains,
where one also finds Poland's highest point, Rysy, at 2,499 m.) form the
southern border. Several large rivers cross the plains, for instance the
Vistula (Wisla), Oder (Odra), Warta the (Western) Bug. Poland also contains
over 9,300 lakes, predominantly in the north of the country. Masuria (Mazury)
forms the largest and most-visited lake district in Poland. Remains of the
ancient forests survive: see list of forests in Poland. Poland enjoys a
temperate climate, with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with
frequent precipitation and mild summers with frequent showers and
thundershowers.
Economy
Since its return to democracy, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of
liberalising the economy and today stands out as one of the most successful
and open examples of the transition from communism to a market economy. The
privatisation of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on
establishing new firms have allowed for the rapid development of an
aggressive private sector, but without any development of consumer rights
organisations. Restructuring and privatisation of "sensitive sectors" (e.g.,
coal, steel, railroads, and energy) has begun. Poland has a large
agricultural sector of private farms, that can be leading producer of food
in the European Union. Challenges remain, especially under-investment.
Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state
administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures.
Warsaw leads the region of Central Europe in foreign investment and
allegedly needs a continued large inflow. GDP growth had been strong and
steady from 1993 to 2000 with only a short slowdown from 2001 to 2002. The
prospect of closer integration with the European Union has put the economy
back on track, with growth of 3.7% annually (as of 2003), rise from 1.4%
annually in 2002). In 2004 GDP growth is expected to exceed 5% (Q1, 2004 -
6.9%).
Transportation
Poland has a well developed infrastructure of roads, expressways, highways,
waterways, and railroads. Total length of Railways in Poland is 23,420 km.
The total length of Highways/Expressways in Poland is 364,656 km. There are
a total of 9,283,000 registered passenger automobiles in Poland, as well as
1,762,000 registered trucks and busses (2000). Poland has 8 major airports,
a total of 122 airports and airfields, as well as 3 heliports. The total
length of navigable rivers and canals is 3,812 km. The merchant marine of
Poland consists of 114 ships, with additional 100 ships being registered
outside the country. Poland's principal ports and harbours are Gdansk,
Gdynia, Kolobrzeg, Szczecin, Swinoujscie, Ustka, Warsaw, and Wroclaw.
Demographics
Poland formerly played host to many languages, cultures and religions.
However, the outcome of World War II and the following shift westwards to
the area between the Curzon line and the Oder-Neisse line gave Poland an
appearance of homogeneity. 36,983,700 people, or 96.74% of today's
population considers itself Polish (Census 2002), 471,500 (1.23%) declared
other nationality. 774,900 people (2.03%) didn't declare any nationality.
The officially recognized ethnic minorities include: Germans, Ukrainians,
Lithuanians, Jews and Belarusians. The Polish language, a member of the West
Slavic branch of the Slavic languages, functions as the official language of
Poland. Most Poles adhere to the Roman Catholic faith, though only 75% count
as practising Catholics. The rest of the population consists mainly of
Eastern Orthodox and Protestant religious minorities .
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