Administrative divisions
16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie (Lower Silesia), Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Kuyavia-Pomerania), Lodzkie, Lubelskie (Lublin), Lubuskie (Lubusz), Malopolskie (Lesser Poland), Mazowieckie (Masovia), Opolskie, Podkarpackie (Subcarpathia), Podlaskie, Pomorskie (Pomerania), Slaskie (Silesia), Swietokrzyskie, Warminsko-Mazurskie (Warmia-Masuria), Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland), Zachodniopomorskie (West Pomerania) |
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Capital city > Geographic coordinates
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52 15 N, 21 00 E |
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Constitution
adopted by the National Assembly 2 April 1997; passed by national referendum 25 May 1997; effective 17 October 1997 |
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Corruption
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3.4 |
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[71st of 160]
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Diplomatic representation from the US > Mailing address
American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch) |
Executive branch > 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 |
Executive branch > Chief of state
President Lech KACZYNSKI (since 23 December 2005) |
Flag description
two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white |
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Government type
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republic |
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Independence
11 November 1918 (republic proclaimed) |
Judicial branch
Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary for an indefinite period); Constitutional Tribunal (judges are chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms) |
Legal system
based on a mixture of Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and holdover Communist legal theory; changes being gradually introduced as part of broader democratization process; limited judicial review of legislative acts, but rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are final; court decisions can be appealed to the European Court of Justice in Strasbourg; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
Legislative branch
bicameral legislature consists of an upper house, the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members are elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms), and a lower house, the Sejm (460 seats; members are 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 |
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Parliamentary seats > Female
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13% |
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[39th of 143]
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Political parties and leaders
Civic Platform or PO [Donald TUSK]; Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Grzegorz NAPIERALSKI]; Democratic Party or PD [Janusz ONYSZKIEWICZ]; German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Henryk KROLL]; Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI]; League of Polish Families or LPR [Sylwester CHRUSZCZ]; Left and Democrats or LiD [Wojciech OLEJNICZAK] (a coalition formed by the SLD, PD, SDPL, and UP); Polish People's Party or PSL [Waldemar PAWLAK]; Samoobrona or SO [Andrzej LEPPER]; Social Democratic Party of Poland or SDPL [Bartosz DOMINIK, acting]; Union of Labor or UP [Andrzej SPYCHALSKI] |
Status
democracy |
Suffrage
18 years of age; universal |
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Time required to start a business > days
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31 days
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[99th of 171]
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Trademarks, residents
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13,776
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[12th of 98]
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Transnational Issues > Disputes > International
as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Poland has implemented the strict Schengen border rules to restrict illegal immigration and trade along its eastern borders with Belarus and Ukraine |
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