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Compare Poland (2004) - Western Sahara (2003)
Compare Poland (2004) z Western Sahara (2003)
| Poland (2004) | Western Sahara (2003) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lodzkie, Lubelskie, Lubuskie, Malopolskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Pomorskie, Slaskie, Swietokrzyskie, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Wielkopolskie, Zachodniopomorskie | none (under de facto control of Morocco) |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 17.1% (male 3,388,247; female 3,216,085)
15-64 years: 70% (male 13,454,820; female 13,591,814) 65 years and over: 12.9% (male 1,896,940; female 3,078,443) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: NA%
15-64 years: NA% 65 years and over: NA% (2003 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork | fruits and vegetables (grown in the few oases); camels, sheep, goats (kept by nomads) |
| Airports | 122 (2003 est.) | 11 (2002) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 84
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 30 1,524 to 2,437 m: 40 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 3 (2004 est.) |
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 (2002) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 39
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.) |
total: 8
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 3 (2002) |
| Area | total: 312,685 sq km
land: 304,465 sq km water: 8,220 sq km |
total: 266,000 sq km
land: 266,000 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than New Mexico | about the size of Colorado |
| Background | 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. In a series of agreements between 1772 and 1795, Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves. 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 the European Union in 2004. | Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting Rabat's sovereignty ended in a 1991 UN-brokered cease-fire; a UN-organized referendum on final status has been repeatedly postponed. |
| Birth rate | 10.64 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | NA births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $39.13 billion
expenditures: $48.64 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003) |
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
| Capital | Warsaw | none |
| Climate | temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers | hot, dry desert; rain is rare; cold offshore air currents produce fog and heavy dew |
| Coastline | 491 km | 1,110 km |
| Constitution | adopted by the National Assembly 2 April 1997; passed by national referendum 25 May 1997; effective 17 October 1997 | - |
| Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Poland
conventional short form: Poland local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska local short form: Polska |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Western Sahara former: Spanish Sahara |
| Currency | zloty (PLN) | Moroccan dirham (MAD) |
| Death rate | 9.97 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | NA deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Debt - external | $86.82 billion (2003) | $NA |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Victor ASHE
embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-540 Warsaw 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) 504-2688 consulate(s) general: Krakow |
none |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
none |
| Disputes - international | none | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, but sovereignty remains unresolved; UN-administered cease-fire has remained in effect since September 1991, but attempts to hold a referendum have failed and parties have rejected other proposals; Mauritanian claims to Western Sahara have been dormant in recent years; Morocco allowed Spanish fishermen to fish temporarily off the coast of Western Sahara after an oil spill soiled Spanish fishing grounds |
| Economic aid - recipient | EU structural adjustment funds (2000) | $NA |
| Economy - overview | 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. 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 a nationwide referendum in November 2003, 77% of the voters voted in favor of Poland's EU accession, 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, while currencies of the other euro-zone aspirants have been appreciating. GDP per capita equals that of the three Baltic states. | Western Sahara depends on pastoral nomadism, fishing, and phosphate mining as the principal sources of income for the population. The territory lacks sufficient rainfall for sustainable agricultural production, and most of the food for the urban population must be imported. All trade and other economic activities are controlled by the Moroccan Government. Moroccan energy interests in 2001 signed contracts to explore for oil off the coast of Western Sahara, which has angered the Polisario. Incomes and standards of living in Western Sahara are substantially below the Moroccan level. |
| Electricity - consumption | 118.8 billion kWh (2001) | 83.7 million kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - exports | 11.04 billion kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - imports | 4.306 billion kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production | 135 billion kWh (2001) | 90 million kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: near Raczki Elblaskie -2 m
highest point: Rysy 2,499 m |
lowest point: Sebjet Tah -55 m
highest point: unnamed location 463 m |
| Environment - current issues | 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 | sparse water and lack of arable land |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94 |
party to: none of the selected agreements
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Ethnic groups | Polish 96.7%, German 0.4%, Belarusian 0.1%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other 2.7% (2002) | Arab, Berber |
| Exchange rates | zlotych per US dollar - 3.8891 (2003), 4.08 (2002), 4.0939 (2001), 4.3461 (2000), 3.9671 (1999)
note: zlotych is the plural form of zloty |
Moroccan dirhams per US dollar - 11.584 (2002), 11.303 (2001), 10.626 (2000), 9.804 (1999), 9.604 (1998), 9.527 (1997) |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI (since 23 December 1995)
head of government: Prime Minister Marek BELKA (since 24 June 2004); Deputy Prime Minister 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% |
none |
| Exports | 53,000 bbl/day (2001) | NA (2001) |
| Exports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment 30.2%, intermediate manufactured goods 25.5%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 20.9%, food and live animals 8.5% (1999) | phosphates 62% |
| Exports - partners | Germany 32.3%, France 6.1%, Italy 5.8%, UK 5%, Netherlands 4.5%, Czech Republic 4.1% (2003) | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
| 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 | - |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $427.1 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $NA |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3.1%
industry: 31% services: 65.9% (2003 est.) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: 40% (1996 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $11,100 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $NA |
| GDP - real growth rate | 3.7% (2003 est.) | NA% |
| Geographic coordinates | 52 00 N, 20 00 E | 24 30 N, 13 00 W |
| Geography - note | historically, an area of conflict because of flat terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain | the waters off the coast are particularly rich fishing areas |
| Heliports | 3 (2003 est.) | - |
| Highways | total: 364,656 km
paved: 249,060 km (including 358 km of expressways) unpaved: 115,596 km (2000) |
total: 6,200 km
paved: 1,350 km unpaved: 4,850 km (1991 est) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 24.7% (1998) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
| Illicit drugs | major illicit producer of synthetic drugs for the international market; minor transshipment point for Asian and Latin American illicit drugs to Western Europe | - |
| Imports | 413,700 bbl/day (2001) | NA (2001) |
| Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment 38.2%, intermediate manufactured goods 20.8%, chemicals 14.3%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 9.5% (1999) | fuel for fishing fleet, foodstuffs |
| Imports - partners | Germany 24.4%, Italy 8.5%, Russia 7.7%, France 7.1%, China 4.3% (2003) | Morocco claims and administers Western Sahara, so trade partners are included in overall Moroccan accounts (2000) |
| Independence | 11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed) | - |
| Industrial production growth rate | 8.6% (2003) | NA% |
| Industries | machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles | phosphate mining, handicrafts |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 8.73 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 9.82 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.59 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
total: NA%
male: NA% female: NA% |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 0.7% (2003 est.) | NA% |
| International organization participation | ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU (new member), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (member affiliate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC | none |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
| Irrigated land | 1,000 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
| 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) | - |
| Labor force | 16.92 million (2003 est.) | 12,000 |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 27.5%, industry 22.1%, services 50.4% (1999) | animal husbandry and subsistence farming 50% |
| Land boundaries | 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 |
total: 2,046 km
border countries: Algeria 42 km, Mauritania 1,561 km, Morocco 443 km |
| Land use | arable land: 45.91%
permanent crops: 1.12% other: 52.97% (2001) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) |
| Languages | Polish | Hassaniya Arabic, Moroccan Arabic |
| Legal system | 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 legislature consisting 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
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 10 December 2004) - SLD 154, PO 56, PiS 44, PSL 40, SDPL 33, SO 30, LPR 25, UP 15, PLD 11, SKL 6, RKN 5, Dom Ojczysty 4, PP 3, ROP 3, German minorities 2, independents 26; Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party (as of 10 December 2004)- SLD-UP 74, Block Senate 2001 10, PSL and unaffiliated 5, UW 4, SO 2, LPR 2, independents 2, PiS 1 note: two seats are assigned to ethnic minority parties in the Sejm only |
- |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 74.16 years
male: 70.04 years female: 78.52 years (2004 est.) |
total population: NA years
male: NA years female: NA years (2003 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.8% male: 99.8% female: 99.7% (2003 est.) |
definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
| Location | Central Europe, east of Germany | Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Mauritania and Morocco |
| Map references | Europe | Africa |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: defined by international treaties |
contingent upon resolution of sovereignty issue |
| Merchant marine | total: 14 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 154,710 GRT/228,132 DWT
by type: bulk 7, cargo 3, chemical tanker 3, roll on/roll off 1 registered in other countries: 100 (2004 est.) |
- |
| Military branches | Land Forces, Navy, Air Force | - |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $3.5 billion (2002) | $NA |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.71% (2002) | NA% |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 10,291,628 (2004 est.) | - |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 8,034,577 (2004 est.) | - |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 329,743 (2004 est.) | - |
| National holiday | Constitution Day, 3 May (1791) | - |
| Nationality | noun: Pole(s)
adjective: Polish |
noun: Sahrawi(s), Sahraoui(s)
adjective: Sahrawian, Sahraouian |
| Natural hazards | flooding | hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind can occur during winter and spring; widespread harmattan haze exists 60% of time, often severely restricting visibility |
| Natural resources | coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt, amber, arable land | phosphates, iron ore |
| Net migration rate | -0.49 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | - |
| Pipelines | gas 13,552 km; oil 1,772 km (2004) | - |
| Political parties and leaders | Catholic-National Movement or RKN [Antoni MACIEREWICZ]; Citizens Platform or PO [Donald TUSK]; Coalition Electoral Action Solidarity of the Right or AWSP; Conservative Peasants Party or SKL-RNP [Artur BALAZS]; Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Krzysztof JANIK]; 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 [Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI]; Polish Raison d'Etat or PRS [Piotr MUSIAL]; Samoobrona or SO [Andrzej LEPPER]; Social Democratic Party of Poland or SDPL [Marek BOROWSKI]; Social Movement or RS [Krzysztof PIESIEWICZ]; Union of Labor or UP [Izabela JARUAGA-NOWACKA] | - |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union) [Maciej MANICKI]; Roman Catholic Church [Cardinal Jozef GLEMP]; Solidarity Trade Union [Janusz SNIADEK] | none |
| Population | 38,626,349 (July 2004 est.) | 261,794 (July 2003 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 18.4% (2000 est.) | NA% |
| Population growth rate | 0.02% (2004 est.) | NA% (2003 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Gdansk, Gdynia, Gliwice, Kolobrzeg, Szczecin, Swinoujscie, Ustka, Warsaw, Wroclaw | Ad Dakhla, Cabo Bojador, Laayoune (El Aaiun) |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 14, FM 777, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 2, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) |
| Railways | total: 23,852 km
broad gauge: 629 km 1.524-m gauge standard gauge: 23,223 km 1.435-m gauge (11,962 km electrified) (2003) |
0 km |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 95% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, and other 5% | Muslim |
| Sex ratio | 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 (2004 est.) |
NA (2003 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | none; a UN-sponsored voter identification campaign not yet completed |
| Telephone system | 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: country code - 48; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat, NA Eutelsat, 2 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), and 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region) |
general assessment: sparse and limited system
domestic: NA international: tied into Morocco's system by microwave radio relay, tropospheric scatter, and satellite; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) linked to Rabat, Morocco |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 12.3 million (2003) | about 2,000 (1999 est.) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 17.4 million (2003) | 0 (1999) |
| Television broadcast stations | 179 (plus 256 repeaters) (September 1995) | NA |
| Terrain | mostly flat plain; mountains along southern border | mostly low, flat desert with large areas of rocky or sandy surfaces rising to small mountains in south and northeast |
| Total fertility rate | 1.38 children born/woman (2004 est.) | NA children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 20% (2003) | NA% |
| Waterways | 3,997 km (navigable rivers and canals) (2003) | none |
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