Poland, officially the
Republic of Poland, is a country in
Central Europe. Poland can also be considered part of
Eastern, and
Northern Europe. Poland is bordered by
Germany to the west; the
Czech Republic and
Slovakia to the south;
Ukraine and
Belarus to the east; and the
Baltic Sea,
Lithuania and
Kaliningrad Oblast, a
Russian
exclave, to the north. The total
area of Poland is 312,679
km² (120,728
sq mi), allowing for the emergence of additional denominations. However, due to pressure from the Polish
Episcopate, exposition of
doctrine has entered public education system as well, drawing criticism from the popular media, as unconstitutional. According to 2007 survey, 72% of respondents were not against the fostering of
catechism in public schools; nevertheless, the alternative courses in ethics have become available only in one percent of the entire public educational system.
Poles (including
Silesians and
Kashubians) make up an overwhelming 99.3% majority of the Polish population. According to the 2002 census, the remainder of the population is made up of small minorities of
Germans (152,897),
Belarusians (c. 49,000), and
Ukrainians (c. 30,000), as well as
Tatars,
Lithuanians,
Roma,
Lemkos,
Russians,
Karaites,
Slovaks, and
Czechs. Among foreign citizens, the
Vietnamese are the largest ethnic group, followed by
Greeks, and
Armenians.
Poland, with 38.5 million inhabitants, has the eighth-largest population in Europe and the sixth-largest in the
European Union. It has a population density of 122 inhabitants per square kilometer (328 per square mile). The number of Poles living abroad is estimated at around 20 million.
History
Prehistory
It was postulated that throughout
Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now known as Poland. The exact
ethnicity and
linguistic affiliation of these groups was hotly debated. Many
Slavic,
Celtic,
Baltic and
Germanic tribes were among the prominent groups. The politically charged discussion on the origins of the Slavs; historically two partially opposing views are held:
allochtonic or
autochtonic. The purely allochtonic view is historic and has no scholar defending it, many scholars now tend toward an autochtonic view, the most radical of which is the theory of Paleolithic continuity.
The most famous archeological find from the
Poland's prehistory is the
Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the
Lusatian culture of the early
Iron Age, around 700 BC.
Piast dynasty
Poland began to form into a recognizable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the tenth century under the
Piast dynasty.
Poland's first historically documented ruler,
Mieszko I,
was baptized in 966, adopting
Catholic Christianity as the nation's new
official religion, to which the bulk of the population converted in the course of the next centuries. In the twelfth century, Poland
fragmented into several smaller states. In 1320,
Władysław I became the King of
a reunified Poland. His son,
Kazimierz III, is remembered as one of the greatest
Polish kings.
Poland was also a centre of migration of peoples and the
Jewish community began to settle and flourish in Poland during this era (see
History of the Jews in Poland). The
Black Death which affected most parts of Europe from 1347 to 1351 didn't reach Poland.
Jagiellon dynasty
Under the
Jagiellon dynasty, Poland forged
an alliance with its neighbour, the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1410 a polish-lithuanian army inflicted decisive defeat to the armies of
Teutonic Knights, both countries main adversary, in the
battle of Grunwald. After
Thirteen Years War the Knights state has been reduced to polish vassal. Polish culture and economy flourished under Jagiellons, and the country produced such figures as astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and poet Jan Kochanowski. Compared to other european nations, Poland was exceptional in its tolerance for religious dissent, allowing the country to avoid religious turmoil that spread over Western Europe in that time.
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
A
golden age ensued during the sixteenth century after the
Union of Lublin which gave birth to the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The
szlachta (nobility) of Poland, far more numerous than in
Western European countries, took pride in
their freedoms and
parliamentary system. During the Golden Age period, Poland expanded its borders to become the largest country in Europe.
In the mid-seventeenth century, a
Swedish invasion (
"The Deluge") and
Cossack's
Chmielnicki Uprising which ravaged the country marked the end of the golden age.
Numerous wars against Russia coupled with government inefficiency caused by the
Liberum Veto, a right which had allowed any member of the parliament to dissolve it and to veto any legislation it had passed, marked the steady deterioration of the Commonwealth from a European power into a near-
anarchy controlled by its neighbours. The reforms, particularly those of the
Great Sejm, which passing of the
Constitution of May 3, 1791, second modern constitution of the world, were thwarted with the three
partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, and 1795) which ended with Poland's being erased from the map and its territories being divided between
Russia,
Prussia, and
Austria.
Partitions of Poland
Poles would resent their fate and
would several times rebel against the partitioners, particularly in the nineteenth century. In 1807
Napoleon recreated a Polish state, the
Duchy of Warsaw, but after the
Napoleonic wars, Poland was again divided in 1815 by the victorious Allies at the
Congress of Vienna. The eastern portion was ruled by the Russian
Czar as a
Congress Kingdom, and possessed
a liberal constitution. However, the Czars soon reduced Polish freedoms and Russia eventually
de facto annexed the country. Later in the nineteenth century, Austrian-ruled
Galicia, particularly the
Free City of Kraków, became a center of Polish cultural life.
Reconstitution of Poland
During
World War I, all the
Allies agreed on the reconstitution 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 (
II Rzeczpospolita Polska). It reaffirmed its independence after
a series of military conflicts, the most notable being the
Polish-Soviet War (1919–1921) when
Poland inflicted a crushing defeat on the
Red Army.
The 1926
May Coup of
Józef Piłsudski turned the reins of the Second Polish Republic over to the
Sanacja movement.
World War II
The
Sanacja movement controlled Poland until the start of
World War II in 1939, when
Nazi Germany invaded on
September 1 and the
Soviet Union followed on
September 17.
Warsaw capitulated on
September 28 1939. As agreed in the
Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, Poland was split into two zones,
one occupied by Germany while the eastern provinces fell under
the control of the Soviet Union.
Of all the countries involved in the war, Poland
lost the highest percentage of its citizens: over six million perished,
half of them Polish Jews. Poland made the fourth-largest troop contribution to the
Allied war effort, after the
Soviets, the
British and the
Americans. At the war's conclusion, Poland's borders
were shifted westwards, pushing the
eastern border to the
Curzon line. Meanwhile, the western border was moved to the
Oder-Neisse line. The new Poland emerged 20% smaller by 77,500 square kilometres (29,900
sq mi). The shift
forced the migration of millions of people, most of whom were
Poles,
Germans,
Ukrainians, and
Jews. The main
Nazi death camps were in Poland. Of a pre-war population of 3,300,000 Polish
Jews, 3,000,000 were killed during the
Holocaust.
Postwar Communist Poland
The
Soviet Union instituted a new
Communist government in Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the
Eastern Bloc. Military alignment within the
Warsaw Pact throughout the
Cold War was also part of this change. The
People's Republic of Poland (
Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa)
was officially proclaimed in 1952. In 1956, the régime of
Władysław Gomułka became temporarily more liberal, freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal freedoms. Similar situation repeated itself in the 1970s under
Edward Gierek, but most of the time persecution of
communist opposition persisted.
Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent
trade union "
Solidarity" ("
Solidarność"), which over time became a political force. It eroded the dominance of the
Communist Party and by 1989
had triumphed in parliamentary elections.
Lech Wałęsa, a Solidarity candidate, eventually
won the presidency in 1990. The Solidarity movement heralded the
collapse of communism across Eastern Europe.
Democratic Poland
A
shock therapy programme of
Leszek Balcerowicz during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into a robust
market economy. Despite temporary slumps in social and economic standards, Poland was the first post-communist country to reach its pre-1989
GDP levels. Most visibly, there were numerous improvements in other
human rights, such as
free speech. In 1991, Poland became a member of the
Visegrad Group and joined the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance in 1999 along with the
Czech Republic and
Hungary. Poles then voted to join the European Union in
a referendum in June 2003, with Poland becoming a full member on
May 1,
2004.
Politics
Poland is a
liberal democracy, with a President as a
Head of State, whose current
constitution dates from 1997. The government structure centres on the
Council of Ministers, led by a
prime minister. The current prime minister is
Jarosław Kaczyński. The president appoints the
cabinet according to the proposals of the prime minister, typically from the majority coalition in the bicameral judicial lower house (the
Sejm). The
president is elected by popular vote every five years. The current president is
Lech Kaczyński, the prime minister Jarosław Kaczyński's identical twin brother.
Polish voters elect a
bicameral parliament consisting of a 460-member lower house
Sejm and a 100-member Senate (
Senat). The
Sejm is elected under
proportional representation according to the
d'Hondt method, a method similar to that used in many parliamentary political systems. The Senate, on the other hand, is elected under a rare
plurality bloc voting method where several candidates with the highest support are elected from each
constituency. With the exception of ethnic minority parties, only candidates of
political parties receiving at least 5% of the total national vote can enter the
Sejm. When sitting in joint session, members of the
Sejm and Senate form the
National Assembly (the
Zgromadzenie Narodowe). The National Assembly is formed on three occasions: when a new President takes the
oath of office; when an indictment against the President of the Republic is brought to the
State Tribunal (
Trybunał Stanu); and when a President's permanent incapacity to exercise his duties due to the state of his health is declared. To date, only the first instance has occurred.
The
judicial branch plays an important role in decision-making. Its major institutions include the
Supreme Court of Poland (
Sąd Najwyższy); the
Supreme Administrative Court of Poland (
Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny); the
Constitutional Tribunal of Poland (
Trybunał Konstytucyjny); and the
State Tribunal of Poland (
Trybunał Stanu). On the approval of the Senate, the
Sejm also 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 Polish
citizens and
residents, of the law and of principles of community life and social justice.
Administrative divisions
Poland's provinces ("voivodeships") are largely based on the country's historic regions, whereas those of the past two decades (till 1998) had been centered on and named for individual cities. The new units range in areas from under 10,000 km² (Opole Voivodeship) to over 35,000 km² (Masovian Voivodeship). Voivodeships are governed by voivod governments, and their legislatures are called
voivodeship sejmiks.
Poland is subdivided into sixteen
administrative regions known as
voivodeships (
województwa, singular
województwo). In turn, the voivodeships are divided into
powiaty (singular
powiat), second-level units of
administration, equivalent to a
county,
district or
prefecture in other countries (
NUTS-4 or rather LAU-1) and then
gminy ("communes", singular
gmina).
Economy
Since the
fall of communism, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of
liberalising the economy and today stands out as a successful example of the transition from a
state-directed economy to a primarily
privately owned market economy.
The
privatisation of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed the development of an aggressive private sector. As a consequence,
consumer rights organisations have also appeared. Restructuring and privatisation of "sensitive sectors" such as
coal,
steel,
railways, and energy has been continuing since 1990. Between 2007 and 2010, the government plans to float twenty public companies on the
Polish stock market, including parts of the coal industry. To date (2007), the biggest privatisations have been the sale of the national
telecoms firm
Telekomunikacja Polska to
France Telecom in 2000, and an issue of 30% of the shares in Poland's largest bank,
PKO Bank Polski, on the Polish stockmarket in 2004.
Poland has a large number of private farms in its
agricultural sector, with the potential to become a leading producer of food in the European Union. However, problems 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
Central Europe in foreign investment.
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 in 2003, a rise from 1.4% annually in 2002. In 2004, GDP growth equaled 5.4%, in 2005 3.3% and in 2006 6.2%. For 2007, the government has set a target for GDP growth at 6.5 to 7.0%.
The long standing head of the
National Bank of Poland,
Leszek Balcerowicz, was replaced by
Sławomir Skrzypek in January 2007. At first the markets reacted sceptically and fell, but since then have stabilized and then risen sharply.
Recent annual growth rates by quarters have been:
| Year |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
| 2007 | 7.4% |
6.7% |
|
|
| 2006 | 5.5% |
5.8% |
6.3% |
6.7%
|
| 2005 | 2.1% |
2.8% |
3.7% |
4.3%
|
| 2004 | 7.0% |
6.1% |
4.8% |
4.9%
|
| 2003 | 2.2% |
3.8% |
4.7% |
4.7%
|
Although the Polish economy is currently undergoing
economic development, there are many challenges ahead. The most notable task on the horizon is the preparation of the economy (through continuing deep structural reforms) to allow Poland to meet the strict economic criteria for entry into the
European Single Currency (Euro). There is much speculation as to just when Poland might be allowed to join the
Eurozone, though this will likely be sometime after 2012 or 2013. For now, Poland is preparing to make the Euro its official currency (though it hasn't joined the
ERM yet), and the
Złoty may eventually be replaced by Euro in the Polish economy.
Since joining the European Union, many Poles have left their country to work in other EU countries (particularly Ireland and the UK) because of high unemployment, which is currently the second-highest in the EU with 10.5% in May 2007 (was 14.2% in May 2006).
Commodities produced in Poland include: clothes, glass, china (
Mikasa,
Waterford), electronics, cars (including the luxurious
Leopard car), buses (
Autosan,
Jelcz SA,
Solaris,
Solbus), helicopters (
PZL Świdnik), transport equipment, locomotives, planes (
PZL Mielec), ships, military engineering (including
tanks,
SPAAG systems), medicines (
Polpharma,
Polfa), food, chemical products and others.
Science, technology and education
Education
The education of Polish society was a goal of rulers as early as the 12th century, and Poland soon became one of the most educated European countries. The library catalogue of the Cathedral Chapter of
Kraków dating back to 1110 shows that already in the early 12th century Polish intellectuals had access to the European literature. In 1364, in
Kraków, the
Jagiellonian University, founded by King
Casimir III, became one of Europe's great early universities. In 1773 King
Stanisław August Poniatowski established his
Commission on National Education (
Komisja Edukacji Narodowej), the world's first state ministry of education.
Current situation
Today, Poland has more than a hundred
tertiary education institutions; traditional
universities to be found in its major cities of
Białystok,
Bydgoszcz,
Gdańsk,
Katowice,
Kraków,
Lublin,
Łódź,
Olsztyn,
Opole,
Poznań,
Rzeszów,
Szczecin,
Toruń,
Warsaw,
Wrocław and
Zielona Góra as well as technical, medical, economic institutions elsewhere, employing around 61,000 workers. There are also around 300 research and development institutes, with about 10,000 more researchers. In total, there are around 91,000 scientists in Poland today.
According to a recent report by the
European Commission, Poland ranks 21st on the list of EU states in the area of
innovation. Conditions for knowledge creation are worsening, particularly because of a decline in business
research and development, from 0.28% of GDP in 1998 to 0.16% in 2003. Public R&D expenditures were 0.43% of GDP in 2003. The share of university R&D funded by the business sector has also declined, indicating that firms have not turned to outsourcing research to make up for declining R&D expenditures. Because of the very low levels of R&D, the process of transition of Poland to a
knowledge economy is slow.
Telecommunication and IT
The share of the
telecom sector in the GDP is 4.4% (end of 2000 figure), compared to 2.5% in 1996. Nevertheless, despite high expenditures for telecom infrastructure (the coverage increased from 78 users per 1000 inhabitants in 1989 to 282 in 2000)
the coverage mobile cellular is over 1000 users per 1000 people (2007)
- Telephones—mobile cellular: 38.7 million (Onet.pl & GUS Report, 2007)
- Telephones—main lines in use: 12.5 million (Telecom Team Report, 2005)
Demographics
Poland
formerly played host to many languages, cultures, and religions. There was
a particularly significant Jewish life in Poland prior to the
Nazi Holocaust when Poland's
Jewish population, estimated at 3 million, was reduced to about 300,000 survivors. The outcomes of
World War II, particularly
the westwards shift of Poland's borders to the area between the
Curzon line and the
Oder-Neisse line coupled with
World War II evacuation and expulsion gave Poland an appearance of homogeneity.
Today 36,983,700 people, or 96.74% of the population considers itself
Polish (
Census 2002), 471,500 (1.23%) declared another nationality. 774,900 people (2.03%) didn't declare any nationality. Nathionalites or an ethnic groups in Poland are
Silesians,
Germans (most in the former
Opole Voivodeship),
Ukrainians,
Lithuanians,
Russians,
Jews and
Belarusians. The
Polish language, a member of the
West Slavic branch of the
Slavic languages, functions as the
official language of Poland. English and German are the most common second languages studied and spoken.
In recent years, Poland's population has decreased because of an increase in emigration and a sharp drop in the birth rate. In 2006, the census office estimated the total population of Poland at 38,536,869, a slight rise on the 2002 figure of 38,230,080. Since Poland's accession to the European Union, a significant number of Polish people have moved to work in Western European countries like the
United Kingdom and
Ireland. Some organisations state people have left primarily due to high
unemployment (10.5%) and better opportunities for work abroad. In April 2007, the Polish population of the
United Kingdom had risen to approximately 300,000 and estimates predict about 65,000 Polish people living in
Ireland.
A Polish minority is still present in neighbouring countries of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania, as well as in other countries (see
Poles for population numbers). The largest number of
ethnic Poles outside of the country can be found in the
United States.
Urban Areas
The largest
metropolitan areas in Poland are the
Upper Silesian Coal Basin centred on
Katowice (3.5 million inhabitants); the capital,
Warsaw (3 million);
Łódź (1.3 million);
Kraków (1.3 million); the “Tricity” of
Gdańsk-
Sopot-
Gdynia in the Vistula delta (1.1 million);
Poznań (0.9 million);
Wrocław (0.9 million); and
Szczecin (0.9 million). For an overview of Polish cities, see
List of cities in Poland.
Culture
Polish culture has been influenced by both
West and
East. Today, these influences are evident in Polish
architecture,
folklore, and
art. Poland is the birthplace of some
world famous people, including
Pope John Paul II,
Marie Skłodowska Curie,
Kazimierz Pułaski,
Nicolaus Copernicus and
Frederic Chopin .
The character of Polish art always reflected world trends. The famous Polish painter,
Jan Matejko included many significant historical events in his paintings. Also, a famous
person in history of Polish art was
Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. He was an example of a Polish
Renaissance Man.
Polish literature dates back to 1100s and includes many famous poets and writers such as
Jan Kochanowski,
Adam Mickiewicz,
Henryk Sienkiewicz (1905 Nobel Prize winner),
Bolesław Prus,
Władysław Reymont (1924 Nobel Prize winner),
Juliusz Słowacki,
Witold Gombrowicz,
Czesław Miłosz (1980 Nobel Prize winner),
Wisława Szymborska (1996 Nobel Prize winner),
Stanisław Lem and,
Ryszard Kapuściński. Many world renowned
Polish movie directors include
Academy Awards winners
Roman Polański,
Andrzej Wajda,
Zbigniew Rybczyński,
Janusz Kamiński and,
Krzysztof Kieślowski. The traditional Polish music composers include world famous pianist
Frederic Chopin as well as
Krzysztof Penderecki,
Karol Szymanowski, and others.
Famous modern singers, musicians and bands from Poland include
Behemoth,
Myslovitz,
SBB,
Riverside,
Edyta Górniak,
Lady Pank,
Anita Lipnicka and
Ich Troje.
Known meals from
Polish cuisine include
Polish sausage,
red beet soup,
duck blood soup,
Polish dumplings,
cabbage rolls,
Polish pork chops,
Polish traditional stew, various
potato dishes, a fast food sandwich
zapiekanka, and many more. Traditional Polish desserts include
Polish doughnuts,
Polish gingerbread and others.
Sports
International rankings
External results
Click here for more details on Poland
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://poland.totallyexplained.com">Poland Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
We see you're using Internet Explorer. Try Firefox, we think you'll like it better.
· Firefox blocks pop-up windows.
· It stops viruses and spyware.
· It keeps Microsoft from controlling the future of the internet.
Click the button on the right to download Firefox. It's free.
NEW: Download the Totally
