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Revision as of 14:39, 27 November 2001 by WojPob (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Officially Republic of Poland, in Polish Polska, or Rzeczpospolita
Polska, country lying at the physical centre of the european
continent, approximately between latitudes 49-o and 55-o N and longitudes 14-o
and 24-o E. Except for its southern mountainous regions, the country consists
almost entirely of lowlands within the North European Plain. The total area of
Poland is 120,728 square miles (312,685 square kilometres).
Its capital is Warsaw (Warszawa). Other major cities include
Wroclaw, Poznan, Lodz, Gdansk (formerly Danzig), Elblag,
Gdynia, Szczecin, Katowice and Krakow (Cracow).
Over the past millennium, the name Poland has been applied to a shifting
territorial base. At one time, in the mid-1500s, Poland
was the largest state in Europe. At other times there was no Polish state
at all. Poland gained its independence in the Treaty of Versailles in
1918 only to be overrun by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in
World War II. Its current frontiers, stretching for 2,198 miles (3,538
kilometres), were drawn in 1945; Poland became a Soviet satellite country
following the war, but one that was comparatively tolerant and progressive.
Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of an independent trade union
"Solidarity" Solidarnosc) that over time became a political force and
by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. Complete freedom
came with the implosion of the USSR in 1991. A "shock therapy" program
during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of
the most robust in Central Europe,
boosting hopes for early acceptance to the EU. Poland joined NATO in 1999.
Poland is bordered to the north by the Baltic Sea, to the northeast by
Russia (the Kaliningrad area) and Lithuania, and to the east by
Belarus and Ukraine. To the south the border follows the watershed of
the Beskid, Carpathian, and the Sudeten (Sudety) mountains, which
separate Poland from Slovakia and the Czech Republic, while to the west
the border with Germany is defined by the Neisse (Nysa Luzycka) and
Oder (Odra) rivers.
On geographical as well as historical grounds
Poland is divided in serveral regions : Greater Poland, Lesser Poland,
Upper Silesia, Lower Silesia, Mazowsze, Warmia, Mazury,
Kujawy, West Pomerania, Gdansk Pomerania, Podhale and [[Tatra
Mountains]].
Population: 38.6m Poles.
Form of Government: unitary multiparty republic with two legislative houses (Sejm ; Senat )
Monetary Unit: Zloty(PLN)=100 groszy; 1 USD=4.2 PLN (26/07/2001)
Country code: PL
TLD: .pl
International calling code: 48
- Urzad Ochrony Panstwa -- (Office for State Protection) intelligence agency
Language spoken: Polish (see Polish language).
For the national anthem see Mazurek Dabrowskiego.
Poland is divided into 16 regions or voivodships (Polish: województwo):
Dolnoslaskie (Dolnośl&aogonek;skie), Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lubelskie,
Lubuskie, Lodzkie (&Lstroke;ódzkie), Malopolskie (Małopolskie), Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Pomorskie, Slaskie (Śl&aogonek;skie), Swietokrzyskie (Świ&eogonek;tokrzyskie),
Warminsko-Mazurskie (Warmińsko-Mazurskie), Wielkopolskie,