1991 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1991 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
Climate
temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers
Coastline
491 km
Comparative area
slightly smaller than New Mexico
Environment
plain crossed by a few north-flowing, meandering streams; severe air and water pollution in south
Land boundaries
2,980 km total; Czechoslovakia 1,309 km, Germany 456 km, USSR 1,215 km
Land use
arable land 46%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures 13%; forest and woodland 28%; other 12%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Natural resources
coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt
Note
historically, an area of conflict because of flat terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain
Terrain
mostly flat plain, mountains along southern border
Total area
312,680 km2; land area: 304,510 km2
People and Society
Birth rate
14 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate
9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Ethnic divisions
Polish 97.6%, German 1.3%, Ukrainian 0.6%, Belorussian (Byelorussian) 0.5% (1990 est.)
Infant mortality rate
12 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
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)
Language
Polish
Life expectancy at birth
69 years male, 77 years female (1991)
Literacy
98% (male 99%, female 98%) age 15 and over can read and write (1978)
Nationality
noun--Pole(s); adjective--Polish
Net migration rate
- 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Organized labor
trade union pluralism
Population
37,799,638 (July 1991), growth rate 0.1% (1991)
Religion
Roman Catholic 95% (about 75% practicing), Russian Orthodox, Protestant, and other 5%
Total fertility rate
2.1 children born/woman (1991)
Government
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
Capital
Warsaw
Communists
70,000 members in the Communist successor parties (1990)
Constitution
the Communist-imposed Constitution of 22 July 1952 will probably be replaced by a democratic Constitution in 1992
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
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
Executive branch
president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
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
Independence
11 November 1918, independent republic proclaimed
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)
Legal system
mixture of Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Legislative branch
bicameral National Assembly (Zgromadzenie Narodowe) consists of an upper house or Senate (Senat) and a lower house or Diet (Sejm)
Long-form name
Republic of Poland
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
National holiday
Constitution Day, 3 May (1794)
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)
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
Type
democratic state
Economy
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
Budget
revenues $20.9 billion; expenditures $23.4 billion, including capital expenditures of $2.8 billion (1989)
Currency
zloty (plural--zlotych); 1 zloty (Zl) = 100 groszy
Economic aid
donor--bilateral aid to non-Communist less developed countries, $2.2 billion (1954-89)
Electricity
31,530,000 kW capacity; 136,300 million kWh produced, 3,610 kWh per capita (1990)
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)
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)
External debt
$48.5 billion (January 1991)
Fiscal year
calendar year
GNP
$158.5 billion, per capita $4,200; real growth rate - 8.9% (1990 est.)
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)
Industrial production
growth rate - 23% (State sector 1990 est.)
Industries
machine building, iron and steel, extractive industries, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
250% (1990 est.)
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.
Unemployment rate
6.1% (end-December 1990)
Communications
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
Civil air
48 major transport aircraft
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)
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
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
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)
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
Military and Security
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)
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 _%_
Manpower availability
males 15-49, 9,571,708; 7,543,565 fit for military service; 302,000 reach military age (19) annually