Country name
conventional long form : Republic of Poland
conventional short form: Poland
local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska
local short form: Polska

Data code PL

Government type democratic state

National capital Warsaw

Administrative divisions 49 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Biala Podlaska,Bialystok, Bielsko Biala, 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)

National holiday Constitution Day, 3 May (1791)

Constitution interim "small constitution" came into effect in December 1992 supplementingthe heavily amended constitution of 22 July 1952; referendum for a new constitutionto be held 25 May 1997

Legal system mixture of Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and holdover communistlegal theory; changes being gradually introduced as part of broader democratizationprocess; limited judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsoryICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
chief of state : President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI (since 23 December 1995)
head of government: Prime Minister Wlodimierz CIMOSZEWICZ (since 7 February 1996), DeputyPrime Ministers Roman JAGIELINSKI (since 7 March 1995), Marek BELKA (sinceNA February 1997), and Miroslaw PIETRIEWICZ (since 7 February 1996)
cabinet: Council of Ministers responsible to the prime minister and the Sejm;the prime minister appoints and the Sejm approves the Council of Ministers
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election firstround held 5 November 1995, second round held 19 November 1995 (next to beheld NA November 2000); prime minister and deputy prime ministers elected by the Sejm; election last held NA 1996 (next to be held September 1997)
election results: Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI elected president; percent of legislative vote,second round - Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI 51.7%, Lech WALESA 48.3%; WlodimierzCIMOSZEWICZ selected prime minister

Legislative branch bicameral National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe consists of theSenate or Senat (100 seats; members are elected by a majority vote on a provincialbasis to serve four-year terms) and the Sejm (460 seats; members are electedunder a complex system of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 19 September 1993 (next to be held 14 September 1997);Sejm elections last held 19 September 1993 (next to be held 14 September 1997)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - post-communistparties (PSL 34, SLD 37), post-Solidarity parties (UW 6, NSZZ 12, BBWR 2),non-communist, non-Solidarity (independents 7, unaffiliated 1, vacant 1);Sejm - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - post-communist parties(SLD 171, PSL 132), post-Solidarity parties (UW 74, UP 41, BBWR 16), non-communist,non-Solidarity (KPN 22)
note: four seats are constitutionally assigned to ethnic German parties

Judicial branch Supreme Court, judges are appointed by the president on the recommendationof the National Council of Judiciary

Political parties and leaders
post-Communist: Democratic Left Alliance or SLD (Social Democracy of Poland) [JozefOLEKSY]; Polish Peasant Party or PSL [Waldemar PAWLAK]
post-Solidarity parties: Freedom Union or UW (Democratic Union and Liberal Democratic Congressmerged to form Freedom Union) [Leszek BALCEROWICZ]; Christian-National Unionor ZCHN [Marian PILKA]; Center Alliance Party or PC [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI];Peasant Alliance or PL [Gabriel JANOWSKI]; Solidarity Electoral Action orAWS [Marian KRZAKLEWSKI]; Union of Labor or UP [Ryszard BUGAJ]; ConservativeParty or PK [Aleksander HALL]; Nonparty Reform Bloc or BBWR [Jacek LIPINSKI];Nonparty Reform Block United for Elections or BBWR-SW [Jerzy GWIZDZ]
non-Communist, non-Solidarity : Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland or ROP [Jan OLSZEWSKI]; Confederationfor an Independent Poland or KPN [Leszek MOCZULSKI]; German Minority or MN[Gerhardt BARTODZIEJ]; Union of Real Politics or UPR [Janusz KORWIN-MIKKE]

Political pressure groups and leaders powerful Roman Catholic Church; Solidarity (trade union); All PolandTrade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union)

International organization participation Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, EBRD,ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS,IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO,NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UN SecurityCouncil (temporary), UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM,UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNTAES, UPU, WCL, WEU (associate partner),WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission : Ambassador Jerzy KOZMINSKI
chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 234-3800 through 3802
FAX: [1] (202) 328-6271
consulate(s) general : Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Nicholas Andrew REY
embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31, Warsaw
mailing address: American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5010
telephone: [48] (2) 628-30-41
FAX: [48] (2) 628-82-98
consulate(s) general: Krakow

Flag description two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; similar to the flagsof Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white

NOTE: The information regarding Poland on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Poland Government 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Poland Government 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.