POLAND                                                                          
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 312,680 km2; land area: 304,510 km2                                 
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly smaller than New Mexico                              
                                                                                
Land boundaries: 2,980 km total; Czechoslovakia 1,309 km,                       
Germany 456 km, USSR 1,215 km                                                   
Coastline: 491 km                                                               
                                                                                
Maritime claims:                                                                
                                                                                
Territorial sea: 12 nm                                                          
                                                                                
Climate: temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters                 
with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and             
thundershowers                                                                  
                                                                                
Terrain: mostly flat plain, mountains along southern border                     
                                                                                
Natural resources: coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver,                   
lead, salt                                                                      
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 46%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and                      
pastures 13%; forest and woodland 28%; other 12%; includes irrigated            
NEGL%                                                                           
                                                                                
Environment: plain crossed by a few north-flowing, meandering                   
streams; severe air and water pollution in south                                
                                                                                
Note: historically, an area of conflict because of flat terrain                 
and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain                    
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 37,799,638 (July 1991), growth rate 0.1% (1991)                     
                                                                                
Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                    
                                                                                
Net migration rate: - 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                        
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 12 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 77 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 2.1 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Pole(s); adjective--Polish                                   
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: Polish 97.6%, German 1.3%, Ukrainian 0.6%,                    
Belorussian (Byelorussian) 0.5% (1990 est.)                                     
                                                                                
Religion: Roman Catholic 95% (about 75% practicing),                            
Russian Orthodox, Protestant, and other 5%                                      
                                                                                
Language: Polish                                                                
                                                                                
Literacy: 98% (male 99%, female 98%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1978)                                                           
                                                                                
Labor force: 17,104,000; industry and construction 36.1%;                       
agriculture 27.3%; trade, transport, and communications 14.8%; government       
and other 21.8% (1989)                                                          
                                                                                
Organized labor: trade union pluralism                                          
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Republic of Poland                                              
                                                                                
Type: democratic state                                                          
                                                                                
Capital: Warsaw                                                                 
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 49 provinces (wojewodztwa,                            
singular--wojewodztwo); Biala Podlaska, Bialystok, Bielsko,                     
Bydgoszcz, Chelm, Ciechanow, Czestochowa, Elblag, Gdansk,                       
Gorzow, Jelenia Gora, Kalisz, Katowice, Kielce, Konin, Koszalin,                
Krakow, Krosno, Legnica, Leszno, Lodz, Lomza, Lublin,                           
Nowy Sacz, Olsztyn, Opole, Ostroleka, Pila, Piotrkow,                           
Plock, Poznan, Przemysl, Radom, Rzeszow, Siedlce, Sieradz,                      
Skierniewice, Slupsk, Suwalki, Szczecin, Tarnobrzeg, Tarnow,                    
Torun, Walbrzych, Warszawa, Wloclawek, Wroclaw, Zamosc,                         
Zielona Gora                                                                    
                                                                                
Independence: 11 November 1918, independent republic proclaimed                 
                                                                                
Constitution: the Communist-imposed Constitution of 22 July 1952                
will probably be replaced by a democratic Constitution in 1992                  
                                                                                
Legal system: mixture of Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and                 
Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not         
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction                                            
                                                                                
National holiday: Constitution Day, 3 May (1794)                                
                                                                                
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers               
(cabinet)                                                                       
                                                                                
Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly (Zgromadzenie                   
Narodowe) consists of an upper house or Senate (Senat) and a lower house        
or Diet (Sejm)                                                                  
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Supreme Court                                                  
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State--President Lech WALESA (since 22 December                        
1990);                                                                          
                                                                                
Head of Government--Prime Minister Jan Krzysztof BIELECKI (since                
4 January 1991)                                                                 
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders:                                                  
center-right agrarian parties--Polish Peasant Party (PSL), Roman                
BARTOSZCZE, chairman;                                                           
Polish Peasant Party-Solidarity, Gabriel JANOWSKI, chairman;                    
                                                                                
other center-right parties--Center Alliance, Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI,                
chairman;                                                                       
Christian National Union, Wieslaw CHRZANOWSKI, chairman;                        
Christian Democratic Labor Party, Wladyslaw SILA-NOWICKI, chairman;             
Democratic Party, Jerzy JOZWIAK, chairman;                                      
                                                                                
center-left parties--Polish Socialist Party, Jan Jozef LIPSKI,                  
chairman;                                                                       
Democratic Union, Tadeusz MAZOWIECKI, chairman;                                 
ROAD, Wladyslaw FRASYNIUK and Zbigniew BUJAK, chairmen;                         
                                                                                
left-wing parties--Polish Socialist Party-Democratic Revolution,                
Piotr IKONOWICZ;                                                                
                                                                                
other--Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (formerly the                 
Communist party or Polish United Workers' Party/PZPR), Aleksander               
KWASNIEWSKI, chairman;                                                          
Union of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (breakaway              
faction of the PZPR), Tadeusz FISZBACH, chairman                                
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal at age 18                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--first round held 25 November 1990, second round                      
held 9 December 1990 (next to be held November 1995);                           
results--second round Lech WALESA 74.7%, Stanislaw TYMINSKI 25.3%;              
                                                                                
Senate--last held 4 and 18 June 1989 (next to be held late                      
1991);                                                                          
results--percent of vote by party NA;                                           
seats--(100 total) Solidarity 99, independent 1;                                
                                                                                
Diet--last held 4 and 18 June 1989 (next to be held late 1991);                 
results--percent of vote by party NA;                                           
seats--(460 total) Communists 173, Solidarity 161, Polish Peasant               
Party 76, Democratic Party 27, Christian National Union 23; note--rules         
governing the election limited Solidarity's share of the vote to 35%            
of the seats; future elections, which will probably be held before              
late 1991, are to be freely contested                                           
                                                                                
Communists: 70,000 members in the Communist successor parties                   
(1990)                                                                          
                                                                                
Other political or pressure groups: powerful Roman Catholic Church;             
Confederation for an Independent Poland (KPN), a nationalist group;             
Solidarity (trade union); All Poland Trade Union Alliance (OPZZ),               
populist program; Clubs of Catholic Intellectuals (KIKs); Freedom and           
Peace (WiP), a pacifist group; Independent Student Union (NZS)                  
                                                                                
Member of: BIS, CCC, CERN (observer, but scheduled to become                    
a member l July 1991), CSCE, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, IBRD, ICAO,            
ICFTU, IDA, IIB, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN,        
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNDOF, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,          
WTO                                                                             
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Kazimierz DZIEWANOWSKI;                   
Chancery at 2640 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20009;                           
telephone (202) 234-3800 through 3802; there are Polish Consulates              
General in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York;                                  
                                                                                
US--Ambassador Thomas W. SIMONS, Jr.; Embassy at Aleje                          
Ujazdowskie 29/31, Warsaw (mailing address is American Embassy Warsaw,          
c/o American Consulate General (WAW) or APO New York 09213-5010);               
telephone  48  (22) 283041 through 283049; there is a US Consulate              
General in Krakow and a Consulate in Poznan                                     
                                                                                
Flag: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red--a crowned              
eagle is to be added; similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which        
are red (top) and white                                                         
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
Overview: The economy, except for the agricultural sector, had                  
followed the Soviet model of state ownership and control of                     
productive assets. About 75% of agricultural production had come from the       
private sector and the rest from state farms. The economy has presented a       
picture of moderate but slowing growth against a background of underlying       
weaknesses in technology and worker motivation. GNP dropped by 2.0% in          
1989 and by a further 8.9% in 1990. The inflation rate, after falling           
sharply from the 1982 peak of 100% to 22% in 1986, rose to a galloping          
rate of 640% in 1989 and dropped back to 250% in 1990. Shortages of             
consumer goods and some food items worsened in 1988-89. Agricultural            
products and coal are among the biggest hard currency earners, but              
manufactures are increasing in importance. Poland, with its hard currency       
debt of $48.5 billion, is severely limited in its ability to import             
much-needed hard currency goods. The sweeping political changes of 1989         
disrupted normal economic channels and exacerbated shortages. In January        
1990, the new Solidarity-led government adopted a cold turkey program for       
transforming Poland to a market economy. The government moved to                
eliminate subsidies, free prices, make the zloty convertible, and,              
in general, halt the hyperinflation. These financial measures were              
accompanied by plans to privatize the economy in stages. While inflation        
fell to an annual rate of 77.5% by November of 1990, the rise in                
unemployment and the drop in living standards have led to growing popular       
discontent and to a change of government in January 1991. The new               
government is continuing the previous government's economic                     
program, while trying to speed privatization and to better cushion the          
populace from the dislocations associated with reform. Substantial              
outside aid will be needed if Poland is to make a successful transition         
in the 1990s.                                                                   
                                                                                
GNP: $158.5 billion, per capita $4,200; real growth rate - 8.9%                 
(1990 est.)                                                                     
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 250% (1990 est.)                              
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: 6.1% (end-December 1990)                                     
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $20.9 billion; expenditures $23.4 billion,                     
including capital expenditures of $2.8 billion (1989)                           
                                                                                
Exports: $12.9 billion (f.o.b., 1989);                                          
                                                                                
commodities--machinery and equipment 38%; fuels, minerals, and                  
metals 21%; manufactured consumer goods 15%; agricultural and forestry          
products 4% (1989);                                                             
                                                                                
partners--USSR 25%, FRG 14%, UK 6.5%, Czechoslovakia 5.5% (1989)                
                                                                                
Imports: $12.8 billion (f.o.b., 1989);                                          
                                                                                
commodities--machinery and equipment 37%; fuels, minerals, and                  
metals 31%; manufactured consumer goods 17%; agricultural and forestry          
products 5% (1989);                                                             
                                                                                
partners--USSR 18%, FRG 16%, Austria 6%, Czechoslovakia 6% (1989)               
                                                                                
External debt: $48.5 billion (January 1991)                                     
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate - 23% (State sector 1990 est.)               
                                                                                
Electricity: 31,530,000 kW capacity; 136,300 million kWh produced,              
3,610 kWh per capita (1990)                                                     
                                                                                
Industries: machine building, iron and steel, extractive                        
industries, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages,         
textiles                                                                        
                                                                                
Agriculture: accounts for 15% of GNP and 27% of labor force; 75% of             
output from private farms, 25% from state farms; productivity remains           
low by European standards; leading European producer of rye, rapeseed,          
and potatoes; wide variety of other crops and livestock; major exporter         
of pork products; normally self-sufficient in food                              
                                                                                
Economic aid: donor--bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed              
countries, $2.2 billion (1954-89)                                               
                                                                                
Currency: zloty (plural--zlotych); 1 zloty (Zl) =                               
100 groszy                                                                      
                                                                                
Exchange rates: zlotych (Zl) per US$1--11,100.00 (May 1991),                    
9,500 (1990), 1,439.18 (1989), 430.55 (1988), 265.08 (1987), 175.29             
(1986), 147.14 (1985)                                                           
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 27,041 km total; 24,287 km 1.435-meter standard gauge,               
397 km 1.520-meter broad gauge, 2,357 km narrow gauge; 8,987 km double          
track; 11,016 km electrified; government owned (1989)                           
                                                                                
Highways: 299,887 km total; 130,000 km improved hard surface                    
(concrete, asphalt, stone block); 24,000 km unimproved hard surface             
(crushed stone, gravel); 100,000 km earth; 45,887 km other urban roads          
(1985)                                                                          
                                                                                
Inland waterways: 3,997 km navigable rivers and canals (1989)                   
                                                                                
Pipelines: 4,500 km for natural gas; 1,986 km for crude oil;                    
360 km for refined products (1987)                                              
                                                                                
Ports: Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin, Swinoujscie; principal                         
inland ports are Gliwice on Kanal Gliwice, Wroclaw on the Oder, and             
Warsaw on the Vistula                                                           
                                                                                
Merchant marine: 235 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,957,600               
GRT/4,163,820 DWT; includes 5 short-sea passenger, 92 cargo, 3                  
refrigerated cargo, 12 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 9 container, 3 petroleum,        
oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 4 chemical tanker, 107 bulk; Poland          
owns 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) of 6,333 DWT operating under Liberian           
registry                                                                        
                                                                                
Civil air: 48 major transport aircraft                                          
                                                                                
Airports: 160 total, 160 usable; 85 with permanent-surface runways;             
1 with runway over 3,659 m; 35 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 65 with              
runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                           
                                                                                
Telecommunications: phone density is 10.5 phones per 100 residents              
(October 1990); 3.1 million subscribers; exchanges are 86% automatic            
(February 1990); stations--29 AM, 29 FM, 37 (5 Soviet relays) TV;               
9.6 million TVs                                                                 
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: External Front Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense               
Forces, Internal Defense Forces (WOW), Territorial Defense Forces (JOT),        
Border Guards (WOP), Paramilitary Forces, Civil Defense (OC)                    
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 9,571,708; 7,543,565 fit for                
military service; 302,000 reach military age (19) annually                      
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: 22.3 trillion zlotych, NA% of GDP (1991);                 
note--conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the              
official administratively set exchange rate would produce misleading            
results                                                                         
                                                                                
