Poland Location:
Physical. Poland is located in Central Europe, east of Germany. It is slightly smaller than New Mexico. The climate is temperate with cold, cloudy winters and mild summers, both with frequent precipitation. The terrain consists mostly of a flat plain with mountains along the southern border. Natural resources include coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt, amber and arable land.
Poland Geography:
Geography
Area: 312,685 sq km
Capital: Warsaw (2.76 million)
Environmental concerns: the decline in heavy industry and increased environmental concern has improved conditions but air pollution is serious due to coal-fired power plants, and acid rain has caused forest damage; water pollution and disposal of hazardous waste are problems;
Geographical features: mostly flat plain with mountains along southern border
Climate: temperate with frequent precipitation during cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters and mild summers
Poland People:
People. With a declining population, still more than 38.5 million people now live in Poland. Polish is the official language. The population is overwhelmingly Polish (97%), with less than 1% each German, Ukranian and Belarussian ethnic minorities. The major religion is Roman Catholic (90% with 75% practicing), along with Eastern Orthodox and Protestants and other (2%). About 8% of the population did not specify a religion.
38,537,000 (July 2006 est.) Polish (97%), German, Belarusian, Ukrainian, less than 1% each, other and unspecified (2.7%) (2002 census)
Annual growth rate: -0.05% (2006 est.)
Major language is Polish (98%)
Religions: Roman Catholic (90% - about 75% practicing), will smaller numbers of Eastern Orthodox and Protestants, unspecified (8.3%)
Poland Government:
Government. The country is officially known as the Republic of Poland. Its capital, Warsaw, is in the eastern central region of the country. Poland’s golden age was in the 16th century. Since then it has had periods of independence between being partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria and overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union. Poland celebrates its independence on November 11 (1918). During the 1980s, the trade union Solidarity was formed and came to power, sweeping the elections of 1990. Its current constitution was passed by national referendum on May 23, 1997. The country is a democratic state with a president elected to a five-year term by popular vote. The prime minister is appointed by the president. With a dismal showing in the 2001 parliamentary elections, Solidarity’s leadership has pledge to reduce the trade union’s political involvement.
Poland is a republic.
The chief of state is President Lech Kaczynski (since 23 December 2005) and the head of government is Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz (since 31 October 2005).
Universal suffrage 18 years of age
Poland Communication:
Communication and transportation
12,292,500 (2003) main telephone lines in use
10.6 million (2005) Internet users
423,997 km of roadways
23,852 km railroads
123 (2005) airports
3.93 million motor vehicles (2004)
Poland Economy:
Economy. As the largest economy in ex-Soviet eastern Europe, the fate of Poland was and is central to that of the whole region. The economic contribution of the agricultural sector declined steadily throughout the 1990s and now accounts for less than 3% of GDP; however agriculture remains an important employer with 27% of the workforce. Livestock and meat are major export earners. Rye, wheat, oats, sugar beets and potatoes are the main crops. The coal mining industry has been scaled down in recent years. The main industries are shipbuilding, textiles, steel, cement, chemicals and food processing. The gross domestic product (GDP) is comprised of: agriculture (3%), industry (32%), and services (66%).
Currency: zloty
Per capita GDP: $13,300 (2005 est.)
GDP: $514 billion (2005 est.)
GDP growth rate: 3.2% (2005 est.)
Inflation rate: 2.1% (2005 est.)
Labor force: agriculture (16%), industry (29%) services (55%) (2002)
Poland More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/poland
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pltoc.html | 
