Compare Poland (2006) - British Indian Ocean Territory (2008)

Compare Poland (2006) z British Indian Ocean Territory (2008)

	Poland (2006)	British Indian Ocean Territory (2008)

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	-
Age structure	0-14 years: 15.9% (male 3,142,811/female 2,976,363) 15-64 years: 70.8% (male 13,585,306/female 13,704,763) 65 years and over: 13.3% (male 1,961,326/female 3,166,300) (2006 est.)	-
Agriculture - products	potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork, dairy	-
Airports	122 (2006)	1 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 83 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 29 1,524 to 2,437 m: 40 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 2 (2006)	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2007)
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 (2006)	-
Area	total: 312,685 sq km land: 304,465 sq km water: 8,220 sq km	total: 54,400 sq km land: 60 sq km; Diego Garcia 44 sq km water: 54,340 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than New Mexico	land area is about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
Background	Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived near 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 still faces the lingering challenges of high unemployment, underdeveloped and dilapidated infrastructure, and a poor rural underclass. 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. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country largely completed, Poland is an increasingly active member of Euro-Atlantic organizations.	Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order that had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia.
Birth rate	9.85 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)	-
Budget	revenues: $52.73 billion expenditures: $63.22 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)	-
Capital	name: Warsaw geographic coordinates: 52 15 N, 21 00 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October	-
Climate	temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds
Coastline	491 km	698 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: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT
Death rate	9.89 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)	-
Debt - external	$101.5 billion (2005 est.)	-
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London
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, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch) telephone: [48] (22) 504-2000 FAX: [48] (22) 504-2688 consulate(s) general: Krakow	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Janusz REITER chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-3800 through 3802 FAX: [1] (202) 328-6271 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York	none (overseas territory of the UK)
Disputes - international	as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Poland must implement the strict Schengen border rules	Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia; in 2001, the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, evicted in 1967 and 1973 and now residing chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation; in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed U.K. Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; a small group of Chagossians visited Diego Garcia in April 2006; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest viable island in the chain
Economic aid - recipient	$13.9 billion in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004-06)	-
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, especially in bringing down the unemployment rate - currently the highest in the EU. The privatization of small- and medium-sized 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 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 reducing losses in Polish state enterprises, restraining entitlements, and overhauling the tax code to incorporate the growing gray economy and farmers, most of whom pay no tax. The previous Socialist-led government introduced a package of social and administrative spending cuts to reduce public spending by about $17 billion through 2007, but full implementation of the plan was trumped by election-year politics in 2005. The right-wing Law and Justice party won parliamentary elections in September, and Lech KACZYNSKI won the presidential election in October 2005, running on a state-interventionist fiscal and monetary platform. Poland joined the EU in May 2004, and surging exports to the EU contributed to Poland's strong growth in 2004, though its competitiveness could be threatened by the zloty's appreciation. GDP per capita roughly equals that of the three Baltic states. Poland stands to benefit from nearly $23.2 billion in EU funds, available through 2006. Farmers have already begun to reap the rewards of membership via booming exports, higher food prices, and EU agricultural subsidies.	All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where a joint UK-US military facility is located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installation are performed by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the native Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. The territory makes money by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps.
Electricity - consumption	121.3 billion kWh (2004)	NA kWh
Electricity - exports	15.2 billion kWh (2004)	-
Electricity - imports	5 billion kWh (2004)	-
Electricity - production	150.8 billion kWh (2004)	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military
Elevation extremes	lowest point: near Raczki Elblaskie -2 m highest point: Rysy 2,499 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 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 EU code, but at substantial cost to business and the government	NA
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	-
Ethnic groups	Polish 96.7%, German 0.4%, Belarusian 0.1%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other and unspecified 2.7% (2002 census)	-
Exchange rates	zlotych per US dollar - 3.2355 (2005), 3.6576 (2004), 3.8891 (2003), 4.08 (2002), 4.0939 (2001) note: zlotych is the plural form of zloty	-
Executive branch	chief of state: President Lech KACZYNSKI (since 23 December 2005) head of government: Prime Minister Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI (since 10 July 2006); Deputy Prime Ministers Ludwik DORN (since 23 November 2005), Roman GIERTYCH (since 5 May 2006), Zyta GILOWSKA (since 22 September 2006), Andrzej LEPPER (since 16 October 2006) 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 (eligible for a second term); election last held 9 and 23 October 2005 (next to be held October 2010); prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm election results: Lech KACZYNSKI elected president; percent of popular vote - Lech KACZYNSKI 54%, Donald Tusk 46%	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Commissioner Leigh TURNER (since July 2006); Administrator Tony HUMPHRIES (since February 2005); note - both reside in the UK and are represented by the officer commanding British Forces on Diego Garcia cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch
Exports	53,000 bbl/day (2001)	-
Exports - commodities	machinery and transport equipment 37.8%, intermediate manufactured goods 23.7%, miscellaneous manufactured goods 17.1%, food and live animals 7.6% (2003)	-
Exports - partners	Germany 28.2%, France 6.2%, Italy 6.1%, UK 5.6%, Czech Republic 4.6%, Russia 4.4%, Netherlands 4.2% (2005)	-
Fiscal 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	white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 5% industry: 31.1% services: 64% (2005 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	3.4% (2005 est.)	-
Geographic coordinates	52 00 N, 20 00 E	6 00 S, 71 30 E; note - Diego Garcia 7 20 S, 72 25 E
Geography - note	historically, an area of conflict because of flat terrain and the lack of natural barriers on the North European Plain	archipelago of 55 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility
Heliports	3 (2006)	-
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 3.1% highest 10%: 26.7% (2002)	-
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)	-
Imports - commodities	machinery and transport equipment 38%, intermediate manufactured goods 21%, chemicals 14.8%, minerals, fuels, lubricants, and related materials 9.1% (2003)	-
Imports - partners	Germany 29.6%, Russia 8.7%, Italy 6.6%, Netherlands 5.9%, France 5.7% (2005)	-
Independence	11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed)	-
Industrial production growth rate	3.7% (2005 est.)	-
Industries	machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles	-
Infant mortality rate	total: 7.22 deaths/1,000 live births male: 7.95 deaths/1,000 live births female: 6.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)	-
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	2.2% (2005 est.)	-
International organization participation	ACCT (observer), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC	-
Irrigated land	1,000 sq km (2003)	0 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	17.1 million (2005 est.)	-
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 16.1% industry: 29% services: 54.9% (2002)	-
Land boundaries	total: 3,056 km border countries: Belarus 416 km, Czech Republic 790 km, Germany 467 km, Lithuania 103 km, Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) 210 km, Slovakia 541 km, Ukraine 529 km	0 km
Land use	arable land: 40.25% permanent crops: 1% other: 58.75% (2005)	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)
Languages	Polish 97.8%, other and unspecified 2.2% (2002 census)	-
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; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply
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: Senate - last held 25 September 2005 (next to be held by September 2009); Sejm elections last held 25 September 2005 (next to be held by September 2009) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PiS 49, PO 34, LPR 7, SO 3, PSL 2, independents 5; Sejm - percent of vote by party - PiS 27%, PO 24.1%, SO 11.4%, SLD 11.3%, LPR 8%, PSL 7%, other 11.2%; seats by party - PiS 155, PO 133, SO 56, SLD 55, LPR 34, PSL 25, German minorities 2 note: two seats are assigned to ethnic minority parties in the Sejm only	-
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 74.97 years male: 70.95 years female: 79.23 years (2006 est.)	-
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.8% male: 99.8% female: 99.7% (2003 est.)	-
Location	Central Europe, east of Germany	archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia
Map references	Europe	Political Map of the World
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: defined by international treaties	territorial sea: 3 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
Merchant marine	total: 11 ships (1000 GRT or over) 55,701 GRT/45,082 DWT by type: cargo 6, chemical tanker 2, passenger/cargo 1, roll on/roll off 1, vehicle carrier 1 foreign-owned: 1 (Nigeria 1) registered in other countries: 106 (Antigua and Barbuda 3, Bahamas 15, Belize 2, Cyprus 20, Liberia 14, Malta 27, Norway 2, Panama 15, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Slovakia 2, Vanuatu 5) (2006)	-
Military - note	-	defense is the responsibility of the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016
Military branches	Polish Armed Forces: Land Forces (includes Navy (Marynarka Wojenna, MW)), Polish Air Force (Polskie Sily Powietrzne, PSP) (2006)	-
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$3.5 billion (2002)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	1.71% (2002)	-
National holiday	Constitution Day, 3 May (1791)	-
Nationality	noun: Pole(s) adjective: Polish	-
Natural hazards	flooding	NA
Natural resources	coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt, amber, arable land	coconuts, fish, sugarcane
Net migration rate	-0.46 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)	-
Pipelines	gas 13,552 km; oil 1,384 km; refined products 777 km (2006)	-
Political parties and leaders	Catholic-National Movement or RKN [Antoni MACIEREWICZ]; Civic Platform or PO [Donald TUSK]; Conservative Peasants Party or SKL [Artur BALASZ]; Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Wojciech OLEJNICZAK]; Democratic Party or PD [Wladyslaw FRASYNIUK]; Dom Ojczysty (Fatherland Home); German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Henryk KROLL]; Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI]; League of Polish Families or LPR [Marek KOTLINOWSKI]; Peasant-Democratic Party or PLD [Roman JAGIELINSKI]; Polish Accord or PP [Jan LOPUSZANSKI]; Polish Peasant Party or PSL [Waldemar PAWLAK]; Ruch Patriotyczny or RP [Jan OLSZEWSKI]; 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 [Andrzej SPYCHALSKI]	-
Political pressure groups and leaders	All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union) [Jan GUZ]; Roman Catholic Church [Cardinal Jozef GLEMP]; Solidarity Trade Union [Janusz SNIADEK]	-
Population	38,536,869 (July 2006 est.)	no indigenous inhabitants note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles in the 1960s and 1970s; in November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set; in November 2004, there were approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia
Population below poverty line	17% (2003 est.)	-
Population growth rate	-0.05% (2006 est.)	-
Radio broadcast stations	AM 14, FM 777, shortwave 1 (1998)	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)
Railways	total: 23,072 km broad gauge: 629 km 1.524-m gauge standard gauge: 22,443 km 1.435-m gauge (20,555 km operational; 11,910 km electrified) (2005)	-
Religions	Roman Catholic 89.8% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox 1.3%, Protestant 0.3%, other 0.3%, unspecified 8.3% (2002)	-
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 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 (2006 est.)	-
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	-
Telephone system	general assessment: modernization of the telecommunications network has accelerated with market based competition finalized in 2003; fixed-line service, dominated by the former state-owned company, is dwarfed by the growth in wireless telephony domestic: wireless service, available since 1993 (GSM service available since 1996) and provided by three nation-wide networks, has grown rapidly in response to the weak fixed-line coverage; third generation UMTS service available in urban areas; cellular coverage is generally good with more gaps in the east; fixed-line service is growing slowly and still lags in rural areas international: country code - 48; international direct dialing with automated exchanges; satellite earth station - 1 (Intelsat, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik)	general assessment: separate facilities for military and public needs are available domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: country code (Diego Garcia) - 246; international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)
Telephones - main lines in use	11.803 million (2005)	NA
Telephones - mobile cellular	29,166,400 (2005)	-
Television broadcast stations	40 (2006)	1 (1997)
Terrain	mostly flat plain; mountains along southern border	flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation)
Total fertility rate	1.25 children born/woman (2006 est.)	-
Unemployment rate	18.2% (2005 est.)	-
Waterways	3,997 km (navigable rivers and canals) (2005)	-

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