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POLAND
Year of EU entry 2004
Political system Republic
Capital city Warsaw
Total area 313,00 km2
Population 38.2 million
Currency Zloty |
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Overview
The north of Poland, stretching to the Baltic Sea, consists almost entirely of lowlands while the Carpathian Mountains (including the Tatra range) form the southern border. The Masuria region forms the largest and most-visited lake district in Poland.
The Polish state is over 1,000 years old. In the 16th century, Poland was one of the most powerful countries in Europe. King Jan III Sobieski of Poland broke the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683, ending the threat of a possible occupation of western Europe.
Poland is rich in natural mineral resources, including rock salt. The Wieliczka salt mine contains an entire town below ground with sanatorium, theatre, church and café! Everything from stairs to chandeliers is made from salt.
Poland's current constitution dates from 1997. The President is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. The 460 members of the lower house of parliament (the Sejm) and the 100 members of the senate are directly elected by a system of proportional representation to serve four-year terms.
Poland's traditional dishes include beetroot soup, cabbage rolls (cabbage leaves stuffed with meat and rice) andpierogi (dumplings stuffed with cabbage and mushrooms, for example).
Famous Poles include the astronomer Copernicus, the composer Chopin, the scientist Maria Curie-Sklodowska, filmmakers Roman Polanski and Krzysztof Kieslowski, and the late Pope, John-Paul II.
Economy
Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of economic liberalisation throughout the 1990s and today stands out as a success story among transition economies. Even so, much remains to be done, especially in bringing down the unemployment rate - currently the highest in the EU. The privatisation 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's agricultural sector remains handicapped by surplus labour, inefficient small farms and lack of investment. Restructuring and privatisation of 'sensitive sectors' (e.g. coal, steel, railroads, and energy), while recently initiated, have stalled. Reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures.
Further progress in public finance depends mainly on reducing losses in Polish state enterprises, restraining entitlements, and overhauling the tax code to incorporate the growing gray economy and farmers, most of whom pay no tax. The previous Socialist-led government introduced a package of social and administrative spending cuts to reduce public spending by about €13bn 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, and Lech Kaczynski won the presidential election in October 2005, running on a state-interventionist fiscal and monetary platform.
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