Europe > Poland > Government

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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)
Capital city > Geographic coordinates	52 15 N, 21 00 E
Definition: Government > Capital city > Geographic coordinates
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Constitution adopted by the National Assembly 2 April 1997; passed by national referendum 25 May 1997; effective 17 October 1997
Definition: Government > Constitution
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Corruption	3.4		[71st of 160]
Definition: Government > Corruption
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Diplomatic representation from the US > Mailing address American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch)
Definition: Government > Diplomatic representation from the US > Mailing address
Source: Transparency International
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
Definition: Government > Executive branch > Cabinet
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Executive branch > Chief of state President Lech KACZYNSKI (since 23 December 2005)
Definition: Government > Executive branch > Chief of state
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
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
Definition: Government > Flag description
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Government type	republic
Definition: Government > Government type
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Independence 11 November 1918 (republic proclaimed)
Definition: Government > Independence
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
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)
Definition: Government > Judicial branch
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
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
Definition: Government > Legal system
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
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
Definition: Government > Legislative branch
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Parliamentary seats > Female	13%		[39th of 143]
Definition: Government > Parliamentary seats > Female
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
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]
Definition: Government > Political parties and leaders
Source: United Nations World Statistics Pocketbook and Statistical Yearbook
Status democracy
Definition: Government > Status
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Suffrage 18 years of age; universal
Definition: Government > Suffrage
Source: electionworld.org
Time required to start a business > days	31 days		[99th of 171]
Definition: Government > Time required to start a business > days
Source: All CIA World Factbooks 18 December 2003 to 18 December 2008
Trademarks, residents	13,776		[12th of 98]
Definition: Government > Trademarks, residents
Source: World Development Indicators database
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
Definition: Government > Transnational Issues > Disputes > International
Source: World Development Indicators database

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