Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Poland
conventional short form:
Poland
local long form:
Rzeczpospolita Polska
local short form:
Polska
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name:
Warsaw
geographic coordinates:
52 15 N, 21 00 E
time difference:
UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
daylight saving time:
+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Administrative divisions:
16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie (Lower Silesia), Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Kuyavia-Pomerania), Lodzkie (Lodz), Lubelskie (Lublin), Lubuskie (Lubusz), Malopolskie (Lesser Poland), Mazowieckie (Masovia), Opolskie (Opole), Podkarpackie (Subcarpathia), Podlaskie, Pomorskie (Pomerania), Slaskie (Silesia), Swietokrzyskie (Holy Cross), Warminsko-Mazurskie (Warmia-Masuria), Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland), Zachodniopomorskie (West Pomerania)
Independence:
11 November 1918 (republic proclaimed); notable earlier dates: 966 (adoption of Christianity, traditional founding date), 1 July 1569 (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth created)
National holiday:
Constitution Day, 3 May (1791)
Constitution:
several previous; latest adopted 2 April 1997, approved by referendum 25 May 1997, effective 17 October 1997; amended 2006, 2009 (2013)
Legal system:
civil law system; changes gradually being introduced as part of broader democratization process; limited judicial review of legislative acts, but rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are final
International law organization participation:
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]
:
chief of state:
President Bronislaw KOMOROWSKI (since 6 August 2010)
head of government:
Prime Minister Donald TUSK (since 16 November 2007); Deputy Prime Ministers Janusz PIECHOCINSKI (since 6 December 2012) and Elzbieta BIENKOWSKA (since 27 November 2013)
cabinet:
Council of Ministers responsible to the prime minister and the Sejm; the prime minister proposes, the president appoints, and the Sejm approves the Council of Ministers
elections:
president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 20 June and 4 July 2010 (next to be held in 2015); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm
election results:
Bronislaw KOMOROWSKI elected president; percent of popular vote - Bronislaw KOMOROWSKI 53%, Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI 47%
Legislative branch:
bicameral legislature consists of an upper house, the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms), and a lower house, the Sejm (460 seats; members elected under a complex system of proportional representation to serve four-year terms); the designation of National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe is only used on those rare occasions when the two houses meet jointly
elections:
Senate - last held on 9 October 2011 (next to be held by October 2015); Sejm - last held on 9 October 2011 (next to be held by October 2015)
election results and current seat distribution:
Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PO 63, PiS 29, PSL 2, SP 2, independents 4; as of 25 January 2014 - PO 62, PiS 30, PSL 2, SP 2, independents 4; Sejm - percent of vote by party - PO 39.2%, PiS 29.9%, RP 10%, PSL 8.4%, SLD 8.2%, other 4.3%; seats by party - PO 206, PiS 137, RP 43, PSL 28, SLD 25, SP 19, independent 1, German minority 1; as of 25 January 2014 - PO 203, PiS 136, TR 36, PSL 33, SLD 26, SP 17, independent 8, German Minority 1
note:
the German minority is exempt from the 5% threshold requirement for seats to the Sejm
Judicial branch:
highest court(s):
Supreme Court or Sad Najwyzszy (consists of the president of the Supreme Court and 116 judges organized in criminal, civil, labor and social insurance, and military chambers)
judge selection and term of office:
president of the Supreme Court nominated by the General Assembly of the Supreme Court and selected by the president of Poland; other judges nominated by the 25-member National Judiciary Council, and appointed by the president of Poland; judges appointed until retirement, normally at age 65, but tenure can be extended
subordinate courts:
Constitutional Tribunal; regional and appellate courts subdivided into military, civil, criminal, labor, and family courts
Political parties and leaders:
Civic Platform or PO [Donald TUSK, chairman; Rafal GRUPINSKI, parliamentary caucus leader]
Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Leszek MILLER, chairman, parliamentary caucus leader]
Democratic Party or PD [Andrzej CELINSKI, chairman]
Democratic Party or SD [Pawel PISKORSKI, chairman]
German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Ryszard GALLA, representative]
Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI, chairman; Mariusz BLASZCZAK, parliamentary caucus leader]
League of Polish Families or LPR [Witold BALAZAK, chairman]
Poland Comes First or PJN [Pawel KOWAL, chairperson]
Poland Together or PR [Jaroslaw GOWIN, chairman]
Polish People's Party or PSL [Janusz PIECHOCINSKI, chairman; Jan BURY, parliamentary caucus leader]
Social Democratic Party of Poland or SDPL [Wojciech FILEMONOWICZ, chairman]
Union of Labor or UP [Waldemar WITKOWSKI, chairman]
United Poland or SP [Zbigniew ZIOBRO, chairperson; Arkadiusz MULARCZYK, parliamentary caucus leader]
Your Movement or TR [Janusz PALIKOT, chairman, parliamentary caucus leader] (formerly Palikot's Your Movement)
Political pressure groups and leaders:
All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union) [Jan GUZ]
Roman Catholic Church [Cardinal Stanislaw DZIWISZ, Archbishop Jozef MICHALIK]
Independent and Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" [Piotr DUDA]
International organization participation:
Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Ryszard SCHNEPF (since 28 September 2012)
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, New York
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Stephen MULL (since 24 October 2012)
embassy:
Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-540 Warsaw
mailing address:
American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch)
telephone:
[48] (22) 504-2000
FAX:
[48] (22) 504-2688
consulate(s) general:
Krakow
Flag description:
two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; colors derive from the Polish emblem - a white eagle on a red field
note:
similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white
National symbol(s):
white eagle
National anthem:
name:
"Mazurek Dabrowskiego" (Dabrowski's Mazurka)
lyrics/music: Jozef WYBICKI/traditional
note: adopted 1927; the anthem, commonly known as "Jeszcze Polska nie zginela" (Poland Has Not Yet Perished), was written in 1797; the lyrics resonate strongly with Poles because they reflect the numerous occasions in which the nation's lands have been occupied