Long-form name: Republic of Poland

Type: democratic state

Capital: Warsaw

Administrative divisions: 49 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular--wojewodztwo); Biala Podlaska, Bialystok, Bielsko, Bydgoszcz, Chelm, Ciechanow, Czestochowa, Elblag, Gdansk, Gorzow, Jelenia Gora, Kalisz, Katowice, Kielce, Konin, Koszalin, Krakow, Krosno, Legnica, Leszno, Lodz, Lomza, Lublin, Nowy Sacz, Olsztyn, Opole, Ostroleka, Pila, Piotrkow, Plock, Poznan, Przemysl, Radom, Rzeszow, Siedlce, Sieradz, Skierniewice, Slupsk, Suwalki, Szczecin, Tarnobrzeg, Tarnow, Torun, Walbrzych, Warszawa, Wloclawek, Wroclaw, Zamosc, Zielona Gora

Independence: 11 November 1918, independent republic proclaimed

Constitution: the Communist-imposed Constitution of 22 July 1952 will probably be replaced by a democratic Constitution in 1992

Legal system: mixture of Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Constitution Day, 3 May (1794)

Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly (Zgromadzenie Narodowe) consists of an upper house or Senate (Senat) and a lower house or Diet (Sejm)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Leaders: Chief of State--President Lech WALESA (since 22 December 1990); Head of Government--Prime Minister Jan Krzysztof BIELECKI (since 4 January 1991)

Political parties and leaders: center-right agrarian parties--Polish Peasant Party (PSL), Roman BARTOSZCZE, chairman; Polish Peasant Party-Solidarity, Gabriel JANOWSKI, chairman; other center-right parties--Center Alliance, Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI, chairman; Christian National Union, Wieslaw CHRZANOWSKI, chairman; Christian Democratic Labor Party, Wladyslaw SILA-NOWICKI, chairman; Democratic Party, Jerzy JOZWIAK, chairman; center-left parties--Polish Socialist Party, Jan Jozef LIPSKI, chairman; Democratic Union, Tadeusz MAZOWIECKI, chairman; ROAD, Wladyslaw FRASYNIUK and Zbigniew BUJAK, chairmen; left-wing parties--Polish Socialist Party-Democratic Revolution, Piotr IKONOWICZ; other--Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (formerly the Communist party or Polish United Workers' Party/PZPR), Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI, chairman; Union of the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (breakaway faction of the PZPR), Tadeusz FISZBACH, chairman

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections: President--first round held 25 November 1990, second round held 9 December 1990 (next to be held November 1995); results--second round Lech WALESA 74.7%, Stanislaw TYMINSKI 25.3%; Senate--last held 4 and 18 June 1989 (next to be held late 1991); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(100 total) Solidarity 99, independent 1; Diet--last held 4 and 18 June 1989 (next to be held late 1991); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(460 total) Communists 173, Solidarity 161, Polish Peasant Party 76, Democratic Party 27, Christian National Union 23; note--rules governing the election limited Solidarity's share of the vote to 35% of the seats; future elections, which will probably be held before late 1991, are to be freely contested

Communists: 70,000 members in the Communist successor parties (1990)

Other political or pressure groups: powerful Roman Catholic Church; Confederation for an Independent Poland (KPN), a nationalist group; Solidarity (trade union); All Poland Trade Union Alliance (OPZZ), populist program; Clubs of Catholic Intellectuals (KIKs); Freedom and Peace (WiP), a pacifist group; Independent Student Union (NZS)

Member of: BIS, CCC, CERN (observer, but scheduled to become a member l July 1991), CSCE, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBEC, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IIB, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, IOC, ISO, ITU, LORCS, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNDOF, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Kazimierz DZIEWANOWSKI; Chancery at 2640 16th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 234-3800 through 3802; there are Polish Consulates General in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York; US--Ambassador Thomas W. SIMONS, Jr.; Embassy at Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31, Warsaw (mailing address is American Embassy Warsaw, c/o American Consulate General (WAW) or APO New York 09213-5010); telephone [48] (22) 283041 through 283049; there is a US Consulate General in Krakow and a Consulate in Poznan

Flag: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red--a crowned eagle is to be added; similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white

NOTE: The information regarding Poland on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Poland Government 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Poland Government 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.