Country Profile: Poland

Last reviewed: 30 September 2008

Country information

Map of Poland

Area: 312,685 sq. km (120,728 sq. mi)
Population: 38.1m
Capital City: Warsaw (population: 1,618,500)
People: Polish 97.6%, German 1.3%, Ukrainian 0.6%, Byelorussian 0.5%
Languages: Polish
Religion(s): Roman Catholic (95%), Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, and Other (1.5%)
Currency: 1 zloty (PLN) = 100 groszys
Major political parties: Civic Platform (PO), Law & Justice (PiS), Polish Peasant Party (PSL), Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), Social Democracy Poland (SdPL), Democratic Party (PD)
Government: Bicameral parliamentary democracy
President: Lech Kaczynski
Prime Minister: Donald Tusk
Foreign Minister: Radoslaw Sikorski
Membership of international groupings/ organisations: Australia Group, Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) (observer), Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), CCC, Council of Europe (CE), Central European Initiative (CEI), European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Union (EU), Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), International Finance Corporation (IFC), International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Interpol, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), Non Aligned Movement (NAM) (guest), North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Organisation for Co-operation and Security in Europe (OSCE), Partnership for Peace (PfP), United Nations (UN), WCL, Western European Union (WEU) (associate), WFTU, World Health Organisation (WHO), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), World Trade Organization (WTO), World Tourism Organization (WtoO), WtrO

STATE VISIT (5-7 MAY 2004)

Her Majesty The Queen received His Excellency President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland and his wife Madame Jolanta Kwasniewska on 5-7 May. The Visit took place fifteen years after the fall of Communism, nine years after President Kwasniewski's election, and just four days after Poland's long awaited accession to the EU.

HM The Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh visited Poland in 1996.

GENERAL

Poland became the first of the central European countries to overthrow communist rule in 1989. It is the most populous state in central Europe. In 1989 it was on the verge of economic collapse, weighed down by massive foreign debt. Today, it is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and a significant trading partner for the UK. On 13 December 2002 Poland completed negotiations to join the European Union. It signed an Accession Treaty in April 2003 and, following the public support shown in the referendum held on 8 June 2003, became a full member of the European Union on 1 May 2004. It became a member of NATO on 12 March 1999.

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