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Compare Lesotho (2007) - Poland (2003)
Compare Lesotho (2007) z Poland (2003)
| Lesotho (2007) | Poland (2003) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | 16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lodzkie, Lubelskie, Lubuskie, Malopolskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Pomorskie, Slaskie, Swietokrzyskie, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Wielkopolskie, Zachodniopomorskie |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 35.7% (male 382,308/female 377,303)
15-64 years: 59.3% (male 613,979/female 645,818) 65 years and over: 5% (male 42,621/female 63,233) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 17.5% (male 3,458,844; female 3,284,995)
15-64 years: 69.8% (male 13,407,012; female 13,547,728) 65 years and over: 12.7% (male 1,879,445; female 3,044,636) (2003 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork |
| Airports | 28 (2007) | 150 (2002) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007) |
total: 88
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 30 1,524 to 2,437 m: 39 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 9 (2002) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 25
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 21 (2007) |
total: 62
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 43 (2002) |
| Area | total: 30,355 sq km
land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 312,685 sq km
land: 304,465 sq km water: 8,220 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly smaller than New Mexico |
| Background | Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. The Basuto National Party ruled for the first two decades. King MOSHOESHOE was exiled in 1990, but returned to Lesotho in 1992 and reinstated in 1995. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 7 years of military rule. In 1998, violent protests and a military mutiny following a contentious election prompted a brief but bloody intervention by South African and Botswanan military forces under the aegis of the Southern African Development Community. Constitutional reforms have since restored political stability; peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002. | Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived around the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation, until an agreement in 1772 between Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland. Poland regained its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. It became a Soviet satellite state following the war, but its government was comparatively tolerant and progressive. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" that over time became a political force and by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. A "shock therapy" program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe, but Poland currently suffers low GDP growth and high unemployment. Solidarity suffered a major defeat in the 2001 parliamentary elections when it failed to elect a single deputy to the lower house of Parliament, and the new leaders of the Solidarity Trade Union subsequently pledged to reduce the Trade Union's political role. Poland joined NATO in 1999 and is scheduled to accede to the European Union along with nine other states on 1 May 2004. |
| Birth rate | 24.72 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 10.47 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $995.8 million
expenditures: $763.2 million (2006 est.) |
revenues: $49.6 billion
expenditures: $52.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999) |
| Capital | name: Maseru
geographic coordinates: 29 19 S, 27 29 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Warsaw |
| Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 491 km |
| Constitution | 2 April 1993 | 16 October 1997; adopted by the National Assembly 2 April 1997; passed by national referendum 23 May 1997 |
| Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho local long form: Kingdom of Lesotho local short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form: Republic of Poland
conventional short form: Poland local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska local short form: Polska |
| Currency | - | zloty (PLN) |
| Death rate | 22.49 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 9.96 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Debt - external | $652 million (2006 est.) | $64 billion (2002) |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador June Carter PERRY
embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section) mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho telephone: [266] 22 312666 FAX: [266] 22 310116 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Christopher R. HILL
embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-540 Warsaw P1 mailing address: American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, 5010 Warsaw Place, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch) telephone: [48] (22) 504-2000 FAX: [48] (22) 504-2951 consulate(s) general: Krakow |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Molelekeng E. RAPOLAKI
chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536 FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Przemyslaw GRUDZINSKI
chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-3800 through 3802 FAX: [1] (202) 328-6270 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York |
| Disputes - international | none | small boundary changes made with Slovakia in 2003 |
| Economic aid - recipient | $68.82 million (2005) | EU structural adjustment funds |
| Economy - overview | Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho relies on remittances from miners employed in South Africa and customs duties from the Southern Africa Customs Union for the majority of government revenue. However, the government has recently strengthened its tax system to reduce dependency on customs duties. Completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 now permits the sale of water to South Africa and also generates royalties for Lesotho. Lesotho produces about 90% of its own electrical power needs. As the number of mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several years, a small manufacturing base has developed based on farm products that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries, as well as a rapidly expanding apparel-assembly sector. The latter has grown significantly mainly due to Lesotho qualifying for the trade benefits contained in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. The economy is still primarily based on subsistence agriculture, especially livestock, although drought has decreased agricultural activity. The extreme inequality in the distribution of income remains a major drawback. Lesotho has signed an Interim Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF. | Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of economic liberalization throughout the 1990s and today stands out as a success story among transition economies. Even so, much remains to be done. The privatization of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms has encouraged the development of the private business sector, but legal and bureaucratic obstacles alongside persistent corruption are hampering its further development. Poland's agricultural sector remains handicapped by structural problems, surplus labor, inefficient small farms, and lack of investment. Restructuring and privatization of "sensitive sectors" (e.g., coal, steel, railroads, and energy), while recently initiated, have stalled due to a lack of political will on the part of the government. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger than expected fiscal pressures. Further progress in public finance depends mainly on privatization of Poland's remaining state sector, the reduction of state employment, and an overhaul of the tax code to incorporate the growing gray economy and farmers most of whom pay no tax. The government's determination to enter the EU has shaped most aspects of its economic policy and new legislation; in June 2003, 77% of the voters approved membership, now scheduled for May 2004. Improving Poland's export competitiveness and containing the internal budget deficit are top priorities. Due to political uncertainty, the zloty has recently depreciated in relation to the euro and the dollar while currencies of the other euro-zone aspirants have been appreciating. GDP per capita equals that of the 3 Baltic states. |
| Electricity - consumption | 338.5 million kWh (2005) | 118.8 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2005) | 11.04 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - imports | 13 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2005) | 4.306 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production | 350 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2005) | 135 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 98.1%
hydro: 1.5% nuclear: 0% other: 0.4% (2001) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m
highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m |
lowest point: near Raczki Elblaskie -2 m
highest point: Rysy 2,499 m |
| Environment - current issues | population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion; desertification; Highlands Water Project controls, stores, and redirects water to South Africa | situation has improved since 1989 due to decline in heavy industry and increased environmental concern by post-Communist governments; air pollution nonetheless remains serious because of sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, and the resulting acid rain has caused forest damage; water pollution from industrial and municipal sources is also a problem, as is disposal of hazardous wastes; pollution levels should continue to decrease as industrial establishments bring their facilities up to European Union code, but at substantial cost to business and the government |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
| Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | Polish 97.6%, German 1.3%, Ukrainian 0.6%, Belarusian 0.5% (1990 est.) |
| Exchange rates | maloti per US dollar - 6.85 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.541 (2002) | zlotych per US dollar - 3.99 (2002), 4.09 (2001), 4.35 (2000), 3.97 (1999), 3.48 (1998)
note: zlotych is the plural form of zloty |
| Executive branch | chief of state: King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996); note - King LETSIE III formerly occupied the throne from November 1990 to February 1995 while his father was in exile
head of government: Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI (since 23 May 1998) cabinet: Cabinet elections: none - according to the constitution, the leader of the majority party in the Assembly automatically becomes prime minister; the monarch is hereditary, but, under the terms of the constitution, that came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to depose the monarch, determine who is next in the line of succession, or who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age |
chief of state: President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI (since 23 December 1995)
head of government: Prime Minister Leszek MILLER (SLD) (since 19 October 2001), Deputy Prime Ministers Marek POL (since 19 October 2001), Jerzy HAUSNER (since 11 June 2003) 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; election last held 8 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2005); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm election results: Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI reelected president; percent of popular vote - Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI 53.9%, Andrzej OLECHOWSKI 17.3%, Marian KRZAKLEWSKI 15.6%, Lech WALESA 1% |
| Exports | NA bbl/day | 53,000 bbl/day (2001) |
| Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (2000) | machinery and transport equipment 30.2%, intermediate manufactured goods 25.5%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 20.9%, food and live animals 8.5% (1999) |
| Exports - partners | US 81.9%, Belgium 15%, Canada 1.9% (2006) | Germany 33%, Italy 5.7%, France 5%, UK 4.8%, Czech Republic 4.3% (2002) |
| Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
| Flag description | three horizontal stripes of blue (top), white, and green in the proportions of 3:4:3; the colors represent rain, peace, and prosperity respectively; centered in the white stripe is a black Basotho hat representing the indigenous people; the flag was unfurled in October 2006 to celebrate 40 years of independence | two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white |
| GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $373.2 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 18.2%
industry: 40.8% services: 41% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 3.8%
industry: 35% services: 61.2% (2000 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $9,700 (2002 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 6.2% (2006 est.) | 1.4% (2002 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 52 00 N, 20 00 E |
| Geography - note | landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level | historically, an area of conflict because of flat terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain |
| Heliports | - | 3 (2002) |
| Highways | - | total: 364,656 km
paved: 249,060 km (including 358 km of expressways) unpaved: 115,596 km (2000) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.9%
highest 10%: 43.4% (2002 est.) |
lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 24.7% (1998) |
| Illicit drugs | - | major illicit producer of amphetamine for the international market; minor transshipment point for Asian and Latin American illicit drugs to Western Europe |
| Imports | NA bbl/day | 413,700 bbl/day (2001) |
| Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products | machinery and transport equipment 38.2%, intermediate manufactured goods 20.8%, chemicals 14.3%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 9.5% (1999) |
| Imports - partners | Hong Kong 33.4%, China 31.2%, Germany 7.7%, India 7.3% (2006) | Germany 29.9%, Italy 8.1%, Russia 7.4%, France 7.2%, Netherlands 5.3% (2002) |
| Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | 11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999) | 0.3% (2001) |
| Industries | food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts, construction, tourism | machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 79.85 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 84.4 deaths/1,000 live births female: 75.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 8.95 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 10.04 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.1% (2006 est.) | 1.9% (2002 est.) |
| International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA (observer), IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 19 (2000) |
| Irrigated land | 30 sq km (2003) | 1,000 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch acting on the advice of the Prime Minister); Court of Appeal; Magistrate Courts; customary or traditional court | 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) |
| Labor force | 838,000 (2000) | 17.6 million (2000 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa
industry and services: 14% (2002 est.) |
industry 22.1%, agriculture 27.5%, services 50.4% (1999) |
| Land boundaries | total: 909 km
border countries: South Africa 909 km |
total: 2,788 km
border countries: Belarus 407 km, Czech Republic 658 km, Germany 456 km, Lithuania 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km, Slovakia 444 km, Ukraine 526 km |
| Land use | arable land: 10.87%
permanent crops: 0.13% other: 89% (2005) |
arable land: 45.81%
permanent crops: 1.23% other: 52.96% (1998 est.) |
| Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | Polish |
| Legal system | based on English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations | 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 |
| Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (33 members - 22 principal chiefs and 11 other members appointed by the ruling party) and the Assembly (120 seats, 80 by popular vote and 40 by proportional vote; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms)
elections: last held 17 February 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LCD 61, NIP 21, ABC 17, LWP 10, ACP 4, BNP 3, other 4 |
bicameral National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe consists of the Sejm (460 seats; members are elected under a complex system of proportional representation to serve four-year terms) and the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members are elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms)
elections: Sejm elections last held 23 September 2001 (next to be held by September 2005); Senate - last held 23 September 2001 (next to be held by September 2005) election results: Sejm - percent of vote by party - SLD-UP 41%, PO 12.7%, Samoobrona 10.2%, PiS 9.5%, PSL 9%, LPR 7.9%, AWSP 5.6% UW 3.1%, other 1%; seats by party (as of 25 April 2003) - SLD 193, PO 57, Samoobrona 39, PiS 43, PSL 39, LPR 28, UP 16, SKL 8, PLD 6, PBL 5, RKN 5, PP 3, ROP 3, German minorities 2, independents 13; note - SLD and UP ran together on electoral lists in the 2001 elections, but constitute separate parliamentary clubs in the Sejm; several other deputies have left their parties and set up other parliamentary factions; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - SLD-UP 75, AWSP (an electoral alliance of some 36 parties) 15, PSL 4, Samoobrona 2, LPR 2, independents 2 note: two seats are assigned to ethnic minority parties |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 39.97 years
male: 40.73 years female: 39.18 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 73.91 years
male: 69.77 years female: 78.28 years (2003 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.8% male: 74.5% female: 94.5% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.8% male: 99.8% female: 99.7% (2003 est.) |
| Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | Central Europe, east of Germany |
| Map references | Africa | Europe |
| Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | exclusive economic zone: defined by international treaties
territorial sea: 12 NM |
| Merchant marine | - | total: 14 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 199,186 GRT/275,476 DWT
ships by type: bulk 9, cargo 2, chemical tanker 1, roll on/roll off 1, short-sea passenger 1 (2002 est.) |
| Military - note | the Lesotho Government in 1999 began an open debate on the future structure, size, and role of the armed forces, especially considering the Lesotho Defense Force's (LDF) history of intervening in political affairs | - |
| Military branches | Lesotho Defense Force (LDF): Army and Air Wing | Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Force |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $3.5 billion (2002) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.6% (2006) | 1.71% (2002) |
| Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 10,354,978 (2003 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 8,077,706 (2003 est.) |
| Military manpower - military age | - | 19 years of age (2003 est.) |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 343,500 (2003 est.) |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) | Constitution Day, 3 May (1791) |
| Nationality | noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
noun: Pole(s)
adjective: Polish |
| Natural hazards | periodic droughts | flooding |
| Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone | coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt, amber, arable land |
| Net migration rate | -0.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -0.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Pipelines | - | gas 12,901 km; oil 737 km (2003) |
| Political parties and leaders | Alliance of Congress Parties or ACP; All Basotho Convention or ABC [Thomas THABANE]; Basotholand African Congress or BAC [Khauhelo RALITAPOLE]; Basotho Congress Party or BCP [Ntsukunyane MPHANYA]; Basotho National Party or BNP [Maj. Gen. Justin Metsing LEKHANYA]; Kopanang Basotho Party or KPB [Pheelo MOSALA]; Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD (the governing party) [Pakalitha MOSISILI]; Lesotho Education Party or LEP [Thabo PITSO]; Lesotho Workers Party or LWP [Macaefa BILLY]; Marematlou Freedom Party or MFP [Vincent MALEBO]; National Independent Party or NIP [Anthony MANYELI]; New Lesotho Freedom Party or NLFP [Manapo MAJARA]; Popular Front for Democracy or PFD [Lekhetho RAKUOANE]; Sefate Democratic Union or SDU [Bofihla NKUEBE]; Social Democratic Party of SDP [Masitise SELESO] | Catholic-National Movement or RKN [Antoni MACIEREWICZ]; Citizens Platform or PO [Donald TUSK]; Conservative Peasants Party or SKL-RNP [Artur BALAZS]; Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Leszek MILLER]; Freedom Union or UW [Wladyslaw FRASYNIUK]; German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Henryk KROLL]; Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI]; League of Polish Families or LPR [Marek KOTLINOWSKI]; Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland or ROP [Jan OLSZEWSKI]; Peasant-Democratic Party or PLD [Roman JAGIELINSKI]; Polish Accord or PP [Jan LOPUSZANSKI]; Polish Peasant Bloc or PBL [Wojciech MOJZESOWICZ]; Polish Peasant Party or PSL [Jaroslaw KALINOWSKI]; Samoobrona [Andrzej LEPPER]; Social Movement or RS [Krzysztof PIESIEWICZ]; Union of Labor or UP [Marek POL] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union) [Maciej MANICKI]; Roman Catholic Church [Cardinal Jozef GLEMP]; Solidarity Trade Union [Janusz SNIADEK] |
| Population | 2,125,262
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.) |
38,622,660 (July 2003 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 49% (1999) | 18.4% (2000 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 0.144% (2007 est.) | 0% (2003 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | - | Gdansk, Gdynia, Gliwice, Kolobrzeg, Szczecin, Swinoujscie, Ustka, Warsaw, Wroclaw |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 14, FM 777, shortwave 1 (1998) |
| Railways | - | total: 23,420 km
broad gauge: 646 km 1.524-m gauge standard gauge: 21,639 km 1.435-m gauge (11,626 km electrified) narrow gauge: 1,135 km various gauges including 1.000-m, 0.785-m, 0.750-m, and 0.600-m (2002) |
| Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% | Roman Catholic 95% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, and other 5% |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.013 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.951 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.674 male(s)/female total population: 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: rudimentary system consisting of a modest but growing number of landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and a small radiotelephone communication system; mobile-cellular telephone system is expanding
domestic: privatized in 2001, Telecom Lesotho tasked with providing an additional 50,000 fixed-line connections within five years, a target not met; mobile-cellular service is expanding with a subscribership approaching 15 per 100 persons; rural services are scant international: country code - 266; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: underdeveloped and outmoded system in the process of being overhauled; partial privatization of the state-owned telephone monopoly is underway; the long waiting list for main line telephone service has resulted in a boom in mobile cellular telephone use
domestic: cable, open-wire, and microwave radio relay; 3 cellular networks; local exchanges 56.6% digital international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat, NA Eutelsat, 2 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 48,000 (2005) | 8.07 million (1998) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 249,800 (2005) | 13 million (2002) |
| Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 179 (plus 256 repeaters) (September 1995) |
| Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | mostly flat plain; mountains along southern border |
| Total fertility rate | 3.21 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 1.37 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 45% (2002) | 18.1% (2002) |
| Waterways | - | 3,812 km (navigable rivers and canals) (1996) |
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