Country name:

Republic of Poland (Rzeczpospolita Polska)

Climate:

Continental

Situation:

North – South between Baltic Sea and the Beskids mountains, East – West between the Oder and the Neisse rivers and  the river Bug

Size:

312.678 km²

Capital:

Warsaw with approx. 2,4 mln inhabitants

Population:

38.667.000 (December 1998)
Growth: 0,11 % per year, 123 inhabitants per km²

National language:

Polish

Religions/churches:

Catholic (35 millions), Russian Orthodox, Protestants, old Catholic, Jew

National day:

1) 3 May (First Polish Constitution 1791)
2) 11 November (Independence 1918)

System of government:

Parliamentary democracy with parliament of two houses

Head of state:

Alexander Kwasniewski, president, non-party, elected directly on 19.11.1995 for 5 years, acceptance of office 23.12.1995, re-elected on 08.10.2000 for next five years

Head of the government:

Leszek Miller (since 19.10.2001)

Minister of foreign affairs:

Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz (since 19.10.2001)

Parliament:

two houses: Sejm and Senat
S e j m: 460 delegates, mixture of majorityand proportional elective systems, on 23.09.2001 elected for 4 years
S e n a t : 100 senators, majority vote system, legislative period and last election as Sejm;

Government parties:

SLD - UP - PSL

Election results (Sejm, September 2001):

SLD (Alliance of Left-wing Democratic parties): 200 delegates. The following of the discharged social-democratic party of the Republic of Poland " (SdRP) founded in June 1999, left-wing, party chairmen and Prime Minister: Leszek Miller;
UP (Union of Work) 16 delegates, unionized socialistically, chairmen: Marek Pol
PO (Civil Platform): comprise some members of Union of Liberty (UW) in alliance with Solidarnosc (AWS) 65 delegates, liberal-conservative party.
SO (Party of Self-defense): 53 delegates, extreme-populist agency representing the interests of farmers, chairmen: Andrzej Lepper
PiS (Law and Justice): 44 delegates, right-conservative party, chairmen: Lech Kaczynski
PSL (Polish Folk Movement): 42 delegates, former coalition, parliamentary group and party chairman: Jaroslaw Kalinowski
LPR (League of Polish Families): 38 delegates, ultraconservative , nationalist party
 German minority is additionally represented with 2 delegates in Sejm.

Trade unions:

NSZZ "Solidarnosc", OPZZ (All-Polish Trade Union Alliance)
separate trade unions inorganisations of some branches economics (the largest: teachers, railroadmen, miners).

Administrative structure:

Central administration system with elements of regional/local autonomy, since 01.01.1999 – 16 wojewodztwo (main administrative unit), 373 districts and 2489 municipalities

Media:

Television :
National TV: two public channels(TVP 1 and 2), a national program for broadcasting abroad (TV Polonia), private companies: "Polsat" and TVN channels, fee TV: TV Canal plus and RTL 7 (transmitted from Luxembourg) and various entertainment channels (music etc.). Regional TV:  12 channels
Broadcast :
1. Radio: five public channels, private channels Radio Zet and RMF/FM, about 200 regional private stations.
2. Daily papers:
National: "Rzeczpospolita", "Prawo i Gospodarka", "Gazeta Wyborcza", "Zycie", "Trybuna"; Warsaw local newspapers "Zycie Warszawy"
Weekly papers :
"Polityka", "Wprost", "Tygodnik Powszechny", "Tygodnik Solidarnosc", "Newsweek" (Polish version), yellowish newspaper "Nie"

Memberships in international organizations:

ILO, IMF, UN, UNESCO, FAO, UNICEF, WHO, UNHCR, International Telecommunication Union, HOLE, WMO, UPU, OS hp, I.C.A.O., IMO, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNIDO, WIPO, INTERCSputnik, UNEP, IBSFC, HELCOM, OSCE, IFC, World Bank, EBRD, Council of Europe, Baltic Sea Council, CEFTA, OECD, NATO

Gross domestic product:

Estimation for 2000: 160.2 billion USD

per head: Estimation for 2000: 4,143 USD

Firma "Merkury"              Poland 10083 - Olsztyn               NIP/Vat : PL 739-334-73-58

Tel. Hongkong +852 8175 8064    Fax Hongkong +852 3014 5085

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