POLAND : General Information

The Republic of Poland is a country located at the center of the European continent, with an area of 312,683 sq/km. It has a frontier of 3,582 km, including 528 km of coastline. Poland borders 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. Poland is a flat country with an average height above sea level of 173 in (568 ft). Over 75% of the country lies below 200 m (650 ft). It is divided into 16 provinces. In addition to the capital and major ports, the country's major cities include Bialystok , Bydgoszcz , Bytom , Czestochowa , Gdansk , Gliwice , Katowice , Kraków , Lódz , Lublin , Poznan , Radom , Tarnowskie Góry , and Wroclaw .

Poland   has considerable ethnic homogeneity as a result of World War II, of the 1945 boundary treaty with the USSR, and of the emigration of most of the German-speaking population, Nearly the entire population is Polish-speaking and the vast majority of those affiliated with any creed are Roman Catholic. There are universities at Gdansk, Katowice, Kraków, Lódz, Lublin, Poznan, Torun, Warsaw, and Wroclaw. Nowadays 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 Polish government has followed a policy of economic liberalization throughout the 1990s , so that today Polands economy stands out as a success story among transition economies although much remains to be done, especially in bringing down unemployment. The privatization of small and medium-sized state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms has encouraged the development of the private business sector, but legal and bureaucratic obstacles alongside persistent corruption are hampering its further development.   Poland joined the EU in May 2004, and surging exports to the EU contributed to Poland's strong growth in 2004, though its competitiveness could be threatened by the zloty's appreciation. GDP per capita roughly equals that of the three Baltic states. Poland stands to benefit from nearly $13.5 billion in EU funds, available through 2006. Farmers have already begun to reap the rewards of membership via higher food prices and EU agricultural subsidies.

© Epa Photo Epa Janek Skarzynski Europa Enlargement