Global InformationPoland information
Republic of Poland Rzeczpospolita Polska (Polish) | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
| Anthem: Mazurek Dąbrowskiego "Poland Is Not Yet Lost" (Dąbrowski's Mazurka) | |
  Location of Poland (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) | |
| Capital and largest city | Warsaw 52°13′N 21°02′E / 52.217°N 21.033°E |
| Official language | Polish[1] |
| Ethnic groups (2011)[2] |
|
| Religion (2021[3]) |
|
| Demonym(s) |
|
| Government | Unitary parliamentary republic |
• President | Andrzej Duda |
• Prime Minister | Donald Tusk |
| Legislature | Parliament |
• Upper house | Senate |
• Lower house | Sejm |
| Formation | |
• Duchy of Poland[a] | c. 960 |
• Baptism of Poland[b] | 14 April 966 |
• Kingdom of Poland | 18 April 1025 |
• Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth | 1 July 1569 |
• Partitions of Poland | 24 October 1795 |
• Second Republic | 11 November 1918 |
• Government-in-exile | 17 September 1939 |
• People's Republic | 22 July 1944 |
• Third Republic | 31 December 1989[6] |
| Area | |
• Total | 312,696 km2 (120,733 sq mi)[7][8] (69th) |
• Water (%) | 1.48 (2015)[9] |
| Population | |
• 2022 census |  38,036,118[10] (38th) |
• Density | 122/km2 (316.0/sq mi) (75th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
• Total |  $1.801 trillion[11] (20th) |
• Per capita | $49,060[11] (39th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | $844.623 billion[11] (21st) |
• Per capita | $23,014[11] (45th) |
| Gini (2020) |  27.2[12]low |
| HDI (2022) | 0.881[13] very high (36th) |
| Currency | Złoty (PLN) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Date format | dd.mm.yyyy (CE) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +48 |
| ISO 3166 code | PL |
| Internet TLD | .pl [a] |
| |
Poland,[c] officially the Republic of Poland,[d] is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative voivodeship provinces, covering an area of 312,696 km2 (120,733 sq mi).[14] Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous member state of the European Union. Warsaw is the nation's capital and largest metropolis. Other major cities include Kraków, Wrocław, Łódź, Poznań, and Gdańsk.
Poland has a temperate transitional climate, and its territory traverses the Central European Plain, extending from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south. The longest Polish river is the Vistula, and Poland's highest point is Mount Rysy, situated in the Tatra mountain range of the Carpathians. The country is bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast,[e] Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to the south, and Germany to the west. It also shares maritime boundaries with Denmark and Sweden.
Prehistoric human activity on Polish soil dates to the Lower Paleolithic, with continuous settlement since the end of the Last Glacial Period. Culturally diverse throughout late antiquity, in the early medieval period the region became inhabited by the tribal Polans, who gave Poland its name. The process of establishing proper statehood, which began in 966, coincided with the conversion of a pagan ruler of the Polans to Christianity, under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church. The Kingdom of Poland emerged in 1025, and in 1569 cemented its long-standing association with Lithuania, thus forming the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. At the time, the Commonwealth was one of the great powers of Europe, with a uniquely liberal political system which adopted Europe's first modern constitution in 1791.
With the passing of the prosperous Polish Golden Age, the country was partitioned by neighbouring states at the end of the 18th century. Poland regained its independence in 1918 as the Second Polish Republic and successfully defended it in the Polish–Soviet War from 1919 to 1921. In September 1939, the invasion of Poland by Germany and the Soviet Union marked the beginning of World War II, which resulted in the Holocaust and millions of Polish casualties. Forced into the Eastern Bloc in the global Cold War, the Polish People's Republic was a founding signatory of the Warsaw Pact. Through the emergence and contributions of the Solidarity movement, the communist government was dissolved and Poland re-established itself as a democratic state in 1989.
Poland is a parliamentary republic, with its bicameral legislature comprising the Sejm and the Senate. It is a developed market and a high-income economy. Considered a middle power, Poland has the sixth-largest economy in the European Union by GDP (nominal) and the fifth-largest by GDP (PPP). It provides a very high standard of living, safety, and economic freedom, as well as free university education and a universal health care system. The country has 17 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 15 of which are cultural. Poland is a founding member state of the United Nations, as well as a member of the World Trade Organization, OECD, NATO, and the European Union (including the Schengen Area).
- ^ Constitution of the Republic of Poland, Article 27.
- ^ Struktura narodowo-etniczna, językowa i wyznaniowa ludności Polski. Narodowy Spis Powszechny Ludności i Mieszkań 2011 [National-ethnic, linguistic and religious structure of Poland. National Census of Population and Housing 2011] (PDF) (in Polish). Central Statistical Office. 2015. p. 36. ISBN 978-83-7027-597-6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- ^ "Final results of the National Population and Housing Census 2021". Statistics Poland.
- ^ "Poland". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2023. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ "Poland". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2023. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
- ^ "The Act of December 29, 1989 amending the Constitution of the Polish People's Republic". Internetowy System Aktów Prawnych. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020. (in Polish)
- ^ GUS. "Powierzchnia i ludność w przekroju terytorialnym w 2023 roku". Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
- ^ "Poland country profile". BBC News. 12 November 2023. Archived from the original on 21 October 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
- ^ "Surface water and surface water change". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
- ^ "Statistical Bulletin No 11/2022". Statistics Poland. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2024 Edition. (Poland)". www.imf.org. International Monetary Fund. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
- ^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income". Eurostat. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
- ^ "Human Development Report 2023/2024". United Nations Development Programme. 19 March 2024. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
- ^ GUS. "Powierzchnia i ludność w przekroju terytorialnym w 2023 roku". Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).