Overview
› Geography
The Republic of Poland is located in central Europe.It borders on Germany in the west, the Czech and Slovak Republics in the south, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine in the east, while its northern border is delimited by the Baltic Sea coast and Russia (Kaliningrad district). Warsaw is Poland's capital and the largest city.
It has a population of over 1,800,000 and is located upon the longest Polish River, the Vistula. Poland is also divided into 16 provinces or wojewodztwos (voivodeships), 314 counties or powiats and 2,478 districts or gminas.
The major Polish cities include Krakow, Gdansk, Lódz, Katowice, Poznan, Szczecin and Wroclaw.
› Emblem and Flag
The flag of Poland consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and the lower one red.The two colors are defined in the Polish constitution as the national colors. A variant of the flag with the national coat of arms in the middle of the white stripe is legally reserved for official use abroad and at sea. The coat of arms of Poland is an image of a crowned white eagle in a red field.
› Anthem
Melody by an unknown composer, words by Jozef Wybicki. The original song had six verses, of which only four are sung today. The “Dabrowski Mazurka” is the most important Polish song.
› Currency
The złoty meaning "golden", is the currency of Poland and it is subdivided into 100 groszy.
› Language
Polish is the language of 46 million people spread throughout the world, making it the 21st most used language on earth.Polish is a Slavic (or Slavonic) language and belongs to the West Slavic subgroup, which also includes Czech, Slovak, Cassubian (or Kashubian; spoken in the Baltic coast region in northern Poland), Sorbian (Saxony and Brandenburg, Germany), and Polabian, now extinct.
› Political System
Poland is a democratic republic, where the Prime Minister is the head of government and of a multi-party system.Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Sejm and the Senate. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Executive power is exercised by the government, which consists of a council of ministers led by the Prime Minister. Its members are typically chosen from a majority coalition in the lower house of parliament (the Sejm), although exceptions to this rule are not uncommon. The government is formally announced by the president, and must pass a motion of confidence in the Sejm within two weeks.
Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, Sejm and Senate. Members of parliament are elected by proportional representation, with the proviso that non-ethnic-minority parties must gain at least 5% of the national vote to enter the lower house. Currently four parties are represented. Parliamentary elections occur at least every four years.
The president, as the head of state, has the power to veto legislation passed by parliament, but otherwise has a mostly representative role. Presidential elections occur every 5 years.