Poland

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{{Infobox Country|native_name = Rzeczpospolita Polska|conventional_long_name = Republic of Poland|common_name = Poland|flag_border = Flag of Poland corrected.svg|image_flag = Flag_of_Poland.svg‎|image_coat = Coat of arms of Poland-official3.png|image_map = EU location POL.png|map_caption = |national_anthem = Mazurek Dąbrowskiego(Polish language)Dąbrowski's Mazurek]²|capital = Warsaw|demonym = [Poles|government_type = Parliamentary republic|leader_title2 = [Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland|leader_name1 = Lech Kaczyński|accessionEUdate = [May 1 2004-->|percent_water = 3.07|population_estimate = 38,518,241 |population_estimate_year = 2007|population_estimate_rank = 33rd|population_census = 38,530,080|population_census_year = 2002|population_density_km2 = 122|population_density_sq_mi = 319.9 4|established_event2 = Second Polish Republic|established_date1 = April 14 966 [1918|currency_code = PLN|time_zone = [Central European Time|utc_offset = +1|time_zone_DST = Central European Summer Time|utc_offset_DST = +2|cctld = .pl5].
² Although not official languages, Kashubian language, Lithuanian language and German language are used in 17 Gmina offices.
³ The area of Poland according to the administrative division, as given by the Central Statistical Office, amounts to 312,679 Square kilometre: land area (311 888 km²) and part of internal waters (791 km²) cut by the coast line. The area of Poland's territory, including all internal waters and the territorial sea, is 322 575 km².
4 The adoption of Christianity in Poland is seen by many Poles, regardless of their religious affiliation, as one of the most significant national historical events; the new religion was used to unify the tribes in the region.
5 Also .eu, as Poland is a member of the European Union.-->Poland (), officially the Republic of Poland (), is a country in Central Europe. Poland can also be considered part of Eastern Europe, and Northern Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine and Belarus to the east; and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 Square kilometre (120,728 Square mile), making it the List of countries and outlying territories by total area in the world and 5th in Europe. Poland's population is over 38.5 million people, concentrated mainly in urban areas.

The first Polish state was Baptism of Poland in 966, within territory similar to the present boundaries of Poland. Poland became Kingdom of Poland (1025–1138) in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a long Polish-Lithuanian Union with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by Union of Lublin to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Partitions of Poland in 1795. Poland Second Polish Republic in 1918 after World War I but lost it again in World War II, occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, emerging several years later as a People's Republic of Poland within the Eastern bloc under the control of the Soviet Union. In 1989, Communism rule fall of communism and Poland became what is informally known as the "Third Polish Republic." Poland is the 33rd most populous country in the world. Poland is a unitary state made up of sixteen Voivodeships of Poland (). Poland is also a member of NATO, OECD and the EU.

Geography Poland’s territory extends across five geographical regions. In the northwest is the Baltic Sea seacoast, which extends from the Bay of Pomerania to the Gulf of Gdansk. This coast is marked by several spit (landform), coastal lakes (former bays that have been cut off from the sea), and dunes. The largely straight coastline is indented by the Szczecin Lagoon, the Bay of Puck, and the Vistula Lagoon. The centre and parts of the north lie within the Northern European Lowlands. Rising gently above these lowlands is a geographical region comprising the four hilly districts of moraines and Moraine-dammed lake formed during and after the Pleistocene ice age. These lake districts are the Pomeranian Lake District, the Greater Polish Lake District, the Kashubian Lake District, and the Masurian Lake District. The Masurian Lake District is the largest of the four and covers much of northeastern Poland. The lake districts form part of the Baltic Ridge, a series of moraine belts along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. South of the Northern European Lowlands lie the regions of Silesia and Masovia, which are marked by broad ice-age river valleys. Farther south lies the Polish mountain region, including the Sudetes, the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, and the Carpathian Mountains, including the Beskids. The highest part of the Carpathians is the Tatra Mountains, along Poland’s southern border.

The major historical regions of Poland include Pomerania, Greater Poland, Silesia, Lesser Poland, Masovia, Warmia, Masuria, and Podlachia.

Rivers of the Narew and the Vistula at Modlin (village)

The longest rivers are the Vistula, 1,047 km (678 miles) long; the Oder River—which forms part of Poland’s western border—854 km (531 miles) long; its tributary, the Warta River, 808 km (502 miles) long; and the Western Bug —a tributary of the Vistula—772 km (480 miles) long. The Vistula and the Oder flow into the Baltic Sea, as do numerous smaller rivers in Pomerania. The Łyna and the Angrapa River flow by way of the Pregolya to the Baltic, and the Czarna Hańcza flows into the Baltic through the Neman River. While the great majority of Poland’s rivers drain into the Baltic Sea, Poland’s Beskids are the source of some of the upper tributaries of the Orava River, which flows via the Váh and the Danube to the Black Sea. The eastern Beskids are also the source of some streams that drain through the Dniester to the Black Sea.

Poland’s rivers have been used since early times for navigation. The Vikings, for example, traveled up the Vistula and the Oder in their longships. In the Middle Ages and in early modern times, when Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the breadbasket of Europe, the shipment of grain and other agricultural products down the Vistula toward Gdańsk and onward to western Europe took on great importance. For an overview of the most important rivers in Poland, see the :Category:Rivers of Poland.

Geology

The geological structure of Poland has been shaped by the continental collision of Europe and Africa over the past 60 million years, on the one hand, and the Quaternary glaciations of northern Europe, on the other. Both processes shaped the Sudetes and the Carpathians. The moraine landscape of northern Poland contains soils made up mostly of sand or loam, while the ice-age river valleys of the south often contain loess. The Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, the Pieniny, and the Western Tatras consist of limestone, while the High Tatras, the Beskids, and the Karkonosze are made up mainly of granite and basalts. The Kraków-Częstochowa Upland is one of the oldest mountain ranges on earth.

Mountains and topography in the Carpathians

Poland has 21 mountains over 2,000 metres (6,561 ft) in elevation, all in the High Tatras. The Polish Tatras, which consist of the High Tatras and the Western Tatras, is the highest mountain group of Poland and of the entire Carpathian range. In the High Tatras lies Poland’s highest point, the northwestern peak of Rysy, 2,499 metres (8, 199 ft) in elevation. At its foot lies the mountain lake, the Morskie Oko. The second-highest mountain group in Poland is the Beskids, whose highest peak is Babia Góra, at 1,725 metres (5,659 ft). The next highest mountain group is the Karkonosze, whose highest point is Śnieżka, at 1,602 metres (5,256 ft). Among the most beautiful mountains of Poland are the Bieszczady Mountains in the far southeast of Poland, whose highest point in Poland is Tarnica, with an elevation of 1,346 metres (4,416 ft). Tourists also frequent the Gorce Mountains in Gorce National Park, with elevations around 1,300 metres (4,300 ft), and the Pieniny in Pieniny National Park, with elevations around 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). The lowest point in Poland—at 2 metres (7 ft) below sea level—is at Raczki Elbląskie, near Elbląg in the Vistula Delta. For a list of the most important mountain ranges of Poland, see the :Category:Mountain ranges of Poland.

Lakes

With almost ten thousand closed bodies of water covering more than one hectare (2.6 acres) each, Poland has one of the highest numbers of lakes in the world. In Europe, only Finland has a greater density of lakes. The largest lakes, covering more than 100 square kilometers (62 square miles), are Śniardwy and Lake Mamry in Masuria, as well as Łebsko Lake and Drawsko in Pomerania. In addition to the lake districts in the north (in Masuria, Pomerania, Kashubia, Lubuskie, and Greater Poland), there is also a large number of mountain lakes in the Tatras, of which the Morskie Oko is the largest in area. The lake with the greatest depth—of more than 100 metres (330 ft)—is Hańcza in the Wigry Lake District, east of Masuria in Podlaskie Voivodship.

Among the first lakes whose shores were settled are those in the Greater Polish Lake District. The stilt house settlement of Biskupin, occupied by more than one thousand residents, was founded before the seventh century BC by people of the Lusatian culture. The ancestors of today’s Poles, the Polanie, built their first fortresses on islands in these lakes. The legendary Prince Popiel is supposed to have ruled from Kruszwica on Gopło. The first historically documented ruler of Poland, Duke Mieszko I of Poland, had his palace on an island in the Warta River in Poznań.

For the most important lakes of Poland, see the :Category:Lakes of Poland.

The coast

The Polish Baltic coast is 528 kilometres (328 miles) long and extends from Świnoujście on the islands of Usedom and Wolin in the west to Krynica Morska on the Vistula Spit in the east. For the most part, Poland has a smooth coastline, which has been shaped by the continual movement of sand by currents and winds from west to east. This continual erosion and deposition (geology) has formed cliffs, dunes, and spits, many of which have migrated landwards to close off former lagoons, such as Łebsko Lake in Słowiński National Park. The largest spits are Hel Peninsula and the Vistula Spit. The largest Polish Baltic island is Wolin. The largest port cities are Gdynia, Gdańsk, Szczecin, and Świnoujście. The main coastal resorts are Sopot, Międzyzdroje, Kołobrzeg, Łeba, Władysławowo, and the Hel Peninsula.

Land use

:Category:Forests of Poland cover 28% of Poland’s land area. More than half of the land is devoted to agriculture. While the total area under cultivation is declining, the remaining farmland is more intensively cultivated.

More than 1% of Poland’s area—3,145 square kilometres (1,214 square miles)—is protected within 23 List of National Parks of Poland. In this respect, Poland ranks first in Europe. Three more national parks are projected for Masuria, the Cracow-Częstochowa Upland, and the eastern Beskids. Most Polish national parks are located in the southern part of the country. In addition, wetlands along lakes and rivers in central Poland are legally protected, as are coastal areas in the north. There are also many areas designated as Landscape Park (Poland), and numerous nature reserves.

Flora and fauna in the Białowieża Forest

Many animals that have since died out in other parts of Europe still survive in Poland, such as the wisent in the ancient woodland of the Białowieża Forest and in Podlachia. Other such species include the brown bear in Białowieża, in the Tatras, and in the Beskids, the gray wolf and the Eurasian lynx in various forests, the moose in northern Poland, and the beaver in Masuria, Pomerania, and Podlachia. In the forests, one also encounters game animals, such as red deer, roe deer, and boars. In eastern Poland there are a number of ancient woodlands, like Białowieża, that have never been cleared by people. There are also large forested areas in the mountains, Masuria, Pomerania, and Lower Silesia.

, a national bird in Poland.

Poland is the most important breeding ground for European migratory birds. Out of all of the migratory birds who come to Europe for the summer, one quarter breed in Poland, particularly in the lake districts and the wetlands along the Biebrza, the Narew, and the Warta, which are part of nature reserves or national parks. In Masuria, there are villages in which storks outnumber people.

Climate The climate is mostly temperate throughout the country. The climate is Oceanic climate in the north and west and becomes gradually warmer and Continental climate as one moves south and east. Summers are generally warm, with average temperatures between 20 °C (68 °F) and 27 °C (80,6 °F). Winters are cold, with average temperatures around 3 °C (37,4 °F) in the northwest and –8 °C (17,6 °F) in the northeast. Precipitation falls throughout the year, although, especially in the east; winter is drier than summer. The warmest region in Poland is Lesser Poland Voivodeship located in Southern Poland where temperatures in the summer average between 23 °C (73,4 °F) and 30 °C (86 °F) but can go as high as 32 °C (89,6 °F) to 38 °C (100,4 °F) on some days in the warmest month of the year July. The coldest region of Poland is in the Northeast in the Podlachian Voivodeshipnear the border of Belarus. The climate is efficient due to cold fronts which come from Scandinavia and Siberia. The average temperature in the winter in Podlachian ranges from -15 °C (5 °F) to -4 °C ( 24,8 °F).

Ethnicity and religion In terms of ethnicity, Poland has been a homogeneous state since the end of World War II. This is a major departure from much of Polish history. Due to the Holocaust and the Flight and expulsion of Germans during and after WWII and Operation Wisła populations, Poland has become almost uniformly Roman Catholic Church. Catholics make up about 90% of the population (94.8% according to church baptism statistics) with 46% as practising Catholics (according to opinion polls). Despite a sharp drop in religious observance in recent years, Poland remains one of the most devoutly religious countries in Europe. Religious minorities include Polish Orthodox Church (1.3% or about 509,500), Jehovah’s Witnesses (0.3% or about 123,034), Eastern Catholic Churches (0.2%), Lutheranism (0.2%), and smaller minorities of Mariavite Church, Polish National Catholic Church, Pentecostalism, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Polish Jews, Islam in Poland (including the Tatars of Białystok) and various Protestants (about 86,880 in the largest Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland, plus about as many in smaller churches). Resulting from the socio-political emancipation of the county, freedom of religion has become guaranteed by the 1989 statute of the Polish constitution, Dr Zbigniew Pasek, Jagiellonian University, Further reading: Ustawa o gwarancjach wolności sumienia i wyznania z dnia 17 V 1989 z najnowszymi nowelizacjami z 1997 roku. allowing for the emergence of additional denominations. Michał Tymiński, However, due to pressure from the Polish Episcopate, exposition of doctrine has entered public education system as well, drawing criticism from the popular media, as unconstitutional. Dr. Paweł Borecki, Wirtualna Polska, Wiadomości. According to 2007 survey, 72% of respondents were not against the fostering of catechism in public schools; nevertheless, the alternative courses in ethics have become available only in one percent of the entire public educational system. Olga Szpunar,

Poles (including Silesians and Kashubians) make up an overwhelming 99.3% majority of the Polish population. According to the 2002 census, the remainder of the population is made up of small minorities of German minority in Poland (152,897), Belarusians (c. 49,000), and Ukrainians (c. 30,000), as well as Tatars, Lithuanians, Romani people, Lemkos, Russians, Karaite Judaism, Slovaks, and Czechs. Among foreign citizens, the Vietnamese people are the largest ethnic group, followed by Greeks, and Armenians.

Poland, with 38.5 million inhabitants, has the eighth-largest population in Europe and the sixth-largest in the European Union. It has a population density of 122 inhabitants per square kilometer (328 per square mile). The number of Poles living abroad is estimated at around 20 million.

History Prehistory It was postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now known as Poland. The exact ethnicity and linguistic affiliation of these groups was hotly debated. Many Slavs, Celts, Balts and Germanic tribes were among the prominent groups. The politically charged discussion on the origins of the Slavs; historically two partially opposing views are held: Slavic peoples#Allochthonic theory or Slavic peoples#Autochthonic theory. The purely allochtonic view is historic and has no scholar defending it, many scholars now tend toward an autochtonic view, the most radical of which is the theory of Paleolithic continuity.Interdisciplinary and linguistic evidence for Palaeolithic continuity ofIndo-European, Uralic and Altaic populations in Eurasia, with an excursus on Slavic ethnogenesis by Mario Alinei url: http://www.continuitas.com/interdisciplinary.pdf

The most famous archeological find from the prehistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, around 700 BC.

Piast dynasty Poland began to form into a recognizable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the tenth century under the Piast dynasty. Rulers of Poland, Mieszko I of Poland, Baptism of Poland in 966, adopting Catholicism as the nation's new official religion, to which the bulk of the population converted in the course of the next centuries. In the twelfth century, Poland Fragmentation of Poland. In 1320, Władysław I the Elbow-high became the King of Kingdom of Poland (1320–1385). His son, Casimir III of Poland, is remembered as one of the greatest Polish kings.

Poland was also a centre of migration of peoples and the Jewish community began to settle and flourish in Poland during this era (see History of the Jews in Poland). The Black Death which affected most parts of Europe from 1347 to 1351 did not reach Poland.Teeple, J. B. (2002). Timelines of World History. Publisher: DK Adult.

Jagiellon dynasty Under the Jagiellon dynasty, Poland forged Polish-Lithuanian Union with its neighbour, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1410 a polish-lithuanian army inflicted decisive defeat to the armies of Teutonic Knights, both countries main adversary, in the battle of Grunwald. After Thirteen Years War the Knights state has been reduced to polish vassal. Polish culture and economy flourished under Jagiellons, and the country produced such figures as astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and poet Jan Kochanowski. Compared to other european nations, Poland was exceptional in its tolerance for religious dissent, allowing the country to avoid religious turmoil that spread over Western Europe in that time.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth A Polish Golden Age ensued during the sixteenth century after the Union of Lublin which gave birth to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The szlachta (nobility) of Poland, far more numerous than in Western European countries, took pride in Golden Liberty and Sejm. During the Golden Age period, Poland expanded its borders to become the largest country in Europe.

In the mid-seventeenth century, a Sweden invasion (The Deluge (Polish history)) and Cossack's Chmielnicki Uprising which ravaged the country marked the end of the golden age. Polish-Russian War coupled with government inefficiency caused by the Liberum Veto, a right which had allowed any member of the parliament to dissolve it and to veto any legislation it had passed, marked the steady deterioration of the Commonwealth from a European power into a near-anarchy controlled by its neighbours. The reforms, particularly those of the Great Sejm, which passing of the Constitution of May 3, 1791, second modern constitution of the world, were thwarted with the three partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, and 1795) which ended with Poland's being erased from the map and its territories being divided between Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

Partitions of Poland Poles would resent their fate and List of Polish uprisings, particularly in the nineteenth century. In 1807 Napoleon recreated a Polish state, the Duchy of Warsaw, but after the Napoleonic wars, Poland was again divided in 1815 by the victorious Allies at the Congress of Vienna. The eastern portion was ruled by the Russian Czar as a Congress Kingdom, and possessed Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland. However, the Czars soon reduced Polish freedoms and Russia eventually de facto annexed the country. Later in the nineteenth century, Austrian-ruled Galicia (Central Europe), particularly the Free City of Kraków, became a center of Polish cultural life.

Reconstitution of Poland During World War I, all the Allies agreed on the reconstitution of Poland that United States President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed in Point 13 of his Fourteen Points. Shortly after the surrender of Germany in November 1918, Poland regained its independence as the Second Polish Republic (II Rzeczpospolita Polska). It reaffirmed its independence after List of Polish wars, the most notable being the Polish-Soviet War (1919–1921) when battle of Warsaw (1920) on the Red Army.

The 1926 May Coup of Józef Piłsudski turned the reins of the Second Polish Republic over to the Sanacja movement.

World War II The Sanacja movement controlled Poland until the start of World War II in 1939, when Nazi Germany Invasion of Poland (1939) on September 1 and the Soviet Union Soviet invasion of Poland (1939) on September 17. Siege of Warsaw (1939) on September 28 1939. As agreed in the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, Poland was split into two zones, Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany while the eastern provinces fell under Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union.

World War II casualties, Poland Treatment of Polish citizens by occupiers: over six million perished, Holocaust in Poland Polish Jews. Poland made the fourth-largest troop contribution to the Allies of World War II war effort, after the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. At the war's conclusion, Poland's borders Territorial changes of Poland after World War II, pushing the Eastern Borderlands to the Curzon line. Meanwhile, the western border was moved to the Oder-Neisse line. The new Poland emerged 20% smaller by 77,500 square kilometres (29,900 square mile). The shift World War II evacuation and expulsion, most of whom were Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, and Jews. The main Nazi death camps were in Poland. Of a pre-war population of 3,300,000 Polish Jews, 3,000,000 were killed during the Holocaust.

Postwar Communist Poland The Soviet Union instituted a new Communist state government in Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the Eastern Bloc. Military alignment within the Warsaw Pact throughout the Cold War was also part of this change. The People's Republic of Poland (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa) Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland. In 1956, the régime of Władysław Gomułka became temporarily more liberal, freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal freedoms. Similar situation repeated itself in the 1970s under Edward Gierek, but most of the time persecution of Anti-communist resistance in Poland persisted.

Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" ("Solidarność"), which over time became a political force. It eroded the dominance of the Polish United Workers' Party and by 1989 Polish parliamentary election, 1989. Lech Wałęsa, a Solidarity candidate, eventually Polish presidential election, 1990. The Solidarity movement heralded the fall of communism.

Democratic Poland A Shock therapy (economics) programme of Leszek Balcerowicz during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into a robust market economy. Despite temporary slumps in social and economic standards, Poland was the first post-communist country to reach its pre-1989 Gross domestic product levels. Most visibly, there were numerous improvements in other human rights, such as free speech. In 1991, Poland became a member of the Visegrad Group and joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance in 1999 along with the Czech Republic and Hungary. Poles then voted to join the European Union in Polish referenda in June 2003, with Poland becoming a full member on May 1, 2004.

Politics shakes hands with United States President George W. Bush in June 2007; Poland and America are global partnersPoland is a liberal democracy, with a President as a Head of State, whose current Constitution of Poland dates from 1997. The government structure centres on the Council of Ministers of Poland, led by a Prime Ministers of Poland. The current prime minister is Jarosław Kaczyński. The president appoints the Cabinet (government) according to the proposals of the prime minister, typically from the majority coalition in the bicameral judicial lower house (the Sejm). The Presidents of Poland is elected by popular vote every five years. The current president is Lech Kaczyński, the prime minister Jarosław Kaczyński's identical twin brother.

Polish voters elect a bicameral parliament consisting of a 460-member lower house Sejm and a 100-member Senate (Senate of Poland). The Sejm is elected under proportional representation according to the d'Hondt method, a method similar to that used in many parliamentary political systems. The Senate, on the other hand, is elected under a rare plurality bloc voting method where several candidates with the highest support are elected from each constituency. With the exception of ethnic minority parties, only candidates of Political parties in Poland receiving at least 5% of the total national vote can enter the Sejm. When sitting in joint session, members of the Sejm and Senate form the National Assembly of Poland (the Zgromadzenie Narodowe). The National Assembly is formed on three occasions: when a new President takes the oath of office; when an indictment against the President of the Republic is brought to the State Tribunal of Poland (Trybunał Stanu); and when a President's permanent incapacity to exercise his duties due to the state of his health is declared. To date, only the first instance has occurred.

The Judiciary plays an important role in decision-making. Its major institutions include the Supreme Court of Poland (Sąd Najwyższy); the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland (Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny); the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland (Trybunał Konstytucyjny); and the State Tribunal of Poland (Trybunał Stanu). On the approval of the Senate, the Sejm also appoints the Polish Ombudsman or the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection (Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich) for a five-year term. The Ombudsman has the duty of guarding the observance and implementation of the rights and liberties of Polish Citizenship and residency, of the law and of principles of community life and social justice.

Administrative divisions Poland's provinces ("voivodeships") are largely based on the country's historic regions, whereas those of the past two decades (till 1998) had been centered on and named for individual cities. The new units range in areas from under 10,000 km² (Opole Voivodeship) to over 35,000 km² (Masovian Voivodeship). Voivodeships are governed by voivod governments, and their legislatures are called voivodeship sejmiks.

Poland is subdivided into sixteen administrative regions known as voivodeships (województwa, singular województwo). In turn, the voivodeships are divided into powiaty (singular powiat), second-level units of Local government, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or rather LAU-1) and then Gmina ("communes", singular gmina).s marked in different colors.{| style="width:420px; background:transparent;"|{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; font-size:95%;"!colspan="2"| Voivodeship !!rowspan="2"]| Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship || Kujawsko-Pomorskie|style="font-size:90%;"| Bydgoszcz / Toruń || Wielkopolskie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Poznań || Małopolskie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Kraków || Łódzkie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Łódź || Dolnośląskie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Wrocław || Lubelskie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Lublin || Lubuskie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Gorzów Wielkopolski / Zielona Góra || Mazowieckie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Warsaw (National Capital)] || Opolskie ||style="font-size:90%;"| Opole || Podlaskie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Białystok || Pomorskie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Gdańsk || Śląskie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Katowice || Podkarpackie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Rzeszów || Świętokrzyskie ||style="font-size:90%;"| [Kielce || Warmińsko-Mazurskie|style="font-size:90%;"| [Olsztyn || Zachodniopomorskie|style="font-size:90%;"| [Szczecin|}|-||}

Economy note

, Poland's capital and largest city's Town Square in the night's Old Town coast in Słowiński National ParkSince the fall of communism, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of neoliberalism the economy and today stands out as a successful example of the transition from a state-directed economy to a primarily privately owned market economy.

The Privatization of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed the development of an aggressive private sector. As a consequence, consumer rights organisations have also appeared. Restructuring and privatisation of "sensitive sectors" such as coal, steel, railways, and energy has been continuing since 1990. Between 2007 and 2010, the government plans to float twenty public companies on the Polish stock market, including parts of the coal industry. To date (2007), the biggest privatisations have been the sale of the national Telecommunication firm Telekomunikacja Polska to France Telecom in 2000, and an issue of 30% of the shares in Poland's largest bank, PKO Bank Polski, on the Polish stockmarket in 2004.

Poland has a large number of private farms in its Agriculture sector, with the potential to become a leading producer of food in the European Union. However, problems remain, especially under-investment. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Warsaw leads Central Europe in foreign investment." Poland in the Lead," The Warsaw Voice, September 2002. Retrieved August 11, 2007. Gross Domestic Product growth had been strong and steady from 1993 to 2000 with only a short slowdown from 2001 to 2002. The prospect of closer integration with the European Union has put the economy back on track, with growth of 3.7% annually in 2003, a rise from 1.4% annually in 2002. In 2004, GDP growth equaled 5.4%, in 2005 3.3% and in 2006 6.2%. For 2007, the government has set a target for GDP growth at 6.5 to 7.0%.

The long standing head of the National Bank of Poland, Leszek Balcerowicz, was replaced by Sławomir Skrzypek in January 2007. At first the markets reacted sceptically and fell, but since then have stabilized and then risen sharply.

Recent annual growth rates by quarters have been:{], there are many challenges ahead. The most notable task on the horizon is the preparation of the economy (through continuing deep structural reforms) to allow Poland to meet the strict economic criteria for entry into the Euro (Euro). There is much speculation as to just when Poland might be allowed to join the Eurozone, though this will likely be sometime after 2012 or 2013.Jan Cienski, " Poland Alters Stance on Euro," in the Financial Times, July 26, 2007. Retrieved August 11, 2007. For now, Poland is preparing to make the Euro its official currency (though it has not joined the ERM yet), and the Złoty may eventually be replaced by Euro in the Polish economy.

Since joining the European Union, many Poles have left their country to work in other EU countries (particularly Ireland and the UK) because of high unemployment, which is currently the second-highest in the EU with 10.5% in May 2007 (was 14.2% in May 2006). Eurostat May 2007 - Euro area and EU27 unemployment down to 7.0%, July 3, 2007

Commodities produced in Poland include: clothes, glass, china (Mikasa, Waterford crystal), electronics, cars (including the luxurious Leopard (car)), buses (Autosan, Jelcz SA, Solaris Bus & Coach, Solbus), helicopters (PZL Świdnik), transport equipment, locomotives, planes (PZL Mielec), ships, military engineering (including PT-91, PZA Loara), medicines (Polpharma, Polfa), food, chemical products and others.

Science, technology and education Education The education of Polish society was a goal of rulers as early as the 12th century, and Poland soon became one of the most educated European countries. The library catalogue of the Cathedral Chapter of Kraków dating back to 1110 shows that already in the early 12th century Polish intellectuals had access to the European literature. In 1364, in Kraków, the Jagiellonian University, founded by King Casimir III of Poland, became one of Europe's great early universities. In 1773 King Stanisław August Poniatowski established his Commission on National Education (Komisja Edukacji Narodowej), the world's first state ministry of education.

Current situation Today, Poland has more than a hundred tertiary education institutions; traditional universities to be found in its major cities of Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Olsztyn, Opole, Poznań, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Toruń, Warsaw, Wrocław and Zielona Góra as well as technical, medical, economic institutions elsewhere, employing around 61,000 workers. There are also around 300 research and development institutes, with about 10,000 more researchers. In total, there are around 91,000 scientists in Poland today.

According to a recent report by the European Commission, Poland ranks 21st on the list of EU states in the area of innovation. Conditions for knowledge creation are worsening, particularly because of a decline in business research and development, from 0.28% of GDP in 1998 to 0.16% in 2003. Public R&D expenditures were 0.43% of GDP in 2003. The share of university R&D funded by the business sector has also declined, indicating that firms have not turned to outsourcing research to make up for declining R&D expenditures. Because of the very low levels of R&D, the process of transition of Poland to a knowledge economy is slow.

Telecommunication and IT The share of the telecom sector in the GDP is 4.4% (end of 2000 figure), compared to 2.5% in 1996. Nevertheless, despite high expenditures for telecom infrastructure (the coverage increased from 78 us

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