(CBS)
Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived near the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation.
In a series of agreements between 1772 and 1795, Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves. Poland regained its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. It became a Soviet satellite state following the war, but its government was comparatively tolerant and progressive.
Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" that over time became a political force and by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and 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, but Poland still faces the lingering challenges of high unemployment, underdeveloped and dilapidated infrastructure, and a poor rural underclass.
Solidarity suffered a major defeat in the 2001 parliamentary elections when it failed to elect a single deputy to the lower house of Parliament, and the new leaders of the Solidarity Trade Union subsequently pledged to reduce the Trade Union's political role. Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country largely completed, Poland is an increasingly active member of Euro-Atlantic organizations.
Source: CIA World Fact Book
(AP)
Population: 38,518,241 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 15.5% (male 3,070,388/female 2,906,121)
15-64 years: 71.1% (male 13,639,012/female 13,761,154)
65 years and over: 13.3% (male 1,964,429/female 3,177,137) (2007 est.)
Median age: total: 37.3 years
male: 35.4 years
female: 39.3 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate: -0.046% (2007 est.)
Birth rate: 9.94 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate: 9.94 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.46 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.057 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.991 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.618 male(s)/female
total population: 0.941 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 7.07 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.8 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 6.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 75.19 years
male: 71.18 years
female: 79.44 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.26 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1%; note - no country specific models provided (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 14,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 100 (2001 est.)
Nationality: noun: Pole(s)
adjective: Polish
Ethnic groups: Polish 96.7%, German 0.4%, Belarusian 0.1%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other and unspecified 2.7% (2002 census)
Religions: Roman Catholic 89.8% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox 1.3%, Protestant 0.3%, other 0.3%, unspecified 8.3% (2002)
Languages: Polish 97.8%, other and unspecified 2.2% (2002 census)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.8%
male: 99.8%
(AP)
Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of economic liberalization since 1990 and today stands out as a success story among transition economies. In 2006, GDP grew 5.3%, based on rising private consumption, a 16.7% jump in investment, and burgeoning exports. Poland today has a thriving private sector which created more than 300,000 new jobs during 2006 alone. GDP per capita roughly equals that of the three Baltic states. Consumer price inflation - at 1.3% in 2006 - remains among the lowest in the EU. Since 2004, EU membership and access to EU structural funds has provided a major boost to the economy. Inflows of direct foreign investment exceeded $10 billion in 2006 alone - and more than $100 billion since 1990 - with major investments being announced by foreign firms in computer, consumer electronics, and automobile component production. In early 2006, Poland reached agreement with its EU partners that will permit it to benefit from EU funds totaling nearly $80 billion during 2007-13. Since 2002, even though the zloty appreciated 30%, Poland's exports more than doubled. Despite Poland's successes, more remains to be done. Unemployment, which stood at 15% in December 2006, is still the highest in the EU. An inefficient commercial court system, a rigid labor code, bureaucratic red tape, and persistent corruption keep the private sector from performing to its potential. Agriculture is handicapped by inefficient small farms and inadequate investment. Restructuring and privatization of the remaining state-owned industries, especially "sensitive sectors" such as coal, oil refining, railroads, and energy transmission and generation, have stalled due to concerns about loss of control over critical national assets and lay-offs. Reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have failed so far to reduce the government budget deficit, which was roughly 2.7 percent of GDP in 2006. Further progress in public finance depends mainly on reducing losses in Polish state enterprises, restraining entitlements, and overhauling the tax code. The previous Socialist-led government introduced a package of social and administrative spending cuts to reduce public spending by about $17 billion through 2007, but full implementation of the plan was trumped by election-year politics in 2005. The right-wing Law and Justice party won parliamentary elections in September 2005, and Lech KACZYNSKI won the presidential election in October, running on a state-interventionist fiscal and monetary platform. The new government has proceeded cautiously on economic matters, however, retaining, for example, the corporate income tax cuts initiated by the previous administration and indicating its intention to reduce the top personal income tax rate.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $552.4 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $337 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5.8% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $14,300 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 4.8%
industry: 31.2%
services: 64% (2006 est.)
Labor force: 17.26 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 16.1%
industry: 29%
services: 54.9% (2002)
Unemployment rate: 14.9% (November 2006 est.)
Population below poverty line: 17% (2003 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 26.7% (2002)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 34.1 (2002)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (2006 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 19.2% of GDP (2006 est.)
Budget: revenues: $62 billion
expenditures: $71.25 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)
Public debt: 49% of GDP (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products: potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork, dairy
Industries: machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles
Industrial production growth rate: 10.2% (2006 est.)
Electricity - production: 143.5 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - consumption: 124.1 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - exports: 14.6 billion kWh (2004)
Electricity - imports: 5.3 billion kWh (2004)
Oil - production: 35,880 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - consumption: 445,700 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - exports: 51,780 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports: 480,300 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves: 96.38 million bbl (1 January 2005)
Natural gas - production: 5.957 billion cu m (2004)
Natural gas - consumption: 15.67 billion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 46 million cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 9.963 billion cu m (2004 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 164.8 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)
Current account balance: -$4.548 billion (2006 est.)
Exports: $110.7 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment 37.8%, intermediate manufactured goods 23.7%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 17.1%, food and live animals 7.6% (2003)
Exports - partners: Germany 27.2%, Italy 6.4%, France 6.3%, UK 5.7%, Czech Republic 5.6%, Russia 4.3% (2006)
Imports: $113.2 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment 38%, intermediate manufactured goods 21%, chemicals 14.8%, minerals, fuels, lubricants, and related materials 9.1% (2003)
Imports - partners: Germany 28.8%, Russia 9.6%, Italy 6.3%, Netherlands 5.7%, France 5.4% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $49.69 billion (2006 est.)
Debt - external: $147.3 billion (30 June 2006 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $13.9 billion in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004-06)
Currency (code): zloty (PLN)
Exchange rates: zlotych per US dollar - 3.1032 (2006), 3.2355 (2005), 3.6576 (2004), 3.8891 (2003), 4.08 (2002)
note: zlotych is the plural form of zloty
Fiscal year: calendar year
europe headlines
world headlines
Interactive
Global Terror
Major terrorist organizations, the FBI's most wanted and facts and photos from recent attacks.
Interactive
Soviet Union Breakup
Find out how a coup caused the breakup of one of the world's super powers. Meet the key players, view images of the coup and learn more about how the former Soviet republics are faring today.
More In-depth