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| Country
Fact Sheet |
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Location
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Located in Central Europe, it is bordered
by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic,
and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine end Belarus
to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania,
and Russia to the north
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Capital
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Warsaw
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Surface
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311,904 sq kms
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Population
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38,530,000 people
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Currency
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Zloty(PLN)
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GDP
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Purchasing
power parity - $495,9 billion
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GDP/capita
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Purchasing
power parity - $12,994
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Language
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Polish
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Religion
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95% Roman Catholic
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Government
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Parliamentary
Republic; President Lech Kaczyski, Prime
Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
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Time
Zone
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GMT +1 hour
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Telecom
Code
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+48
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Airport
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Frederic Chopin Airport (WAW/EPWA), John
Paul II International Airport (KRK/EPKK),
Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport (GDN/EPGD)
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Driving
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On right hand side of the road, license
required
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Electrical
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230V, 50Hz
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Political
climate
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Stable country
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| Local
Business & Service Providers |
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Financial
services
Legal and fiduciary
Financial
Technology
Business travel
Image identity Consultancy
Corporate incentives
Automotive services
Accommodations
Lifestyle |
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| History |
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| FIn
the period following its emergence in the 10th century,
the Polish nation was led by a series of strong
rulers who converted the Poles to Christianity,
created a strong Central European state and integrated
Poland into European culture. Formidable foreign
enemies and internal fragmentation eroded this initial
structure in the thirteenth century, but consolidation
in the 1300s laid the base for the dominant Polish
Kingdom that was to follow. The Jagiellon dynasty
1385-1569 formed the Polish-Lithuanian union beginning
with the Lithuanian grand duke Jogaila. The partnership
proved profitable for the Poles and Lithuanians,
who played a dominant role in one of the most powerful
empires in Europe for the next three centuries.
The Nihil novi act adopted by the Polish Sejm (parliament)
in 1505 transferred most legislative power from
the monarch to the Sejm. This event marked the beginning
of the period known as "Nobles' Commonwealth"
when the state was ruled by the "free and equal"
Polish nobility (szlachta). The Lublin Union of
1569 established the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
as an influential player in European politics and
a vital cultural entity. By the 18th century the
nobles' democracy had gradually declined into anarchy,
making the once powerful Commonwealth vulnerable
to foreign influence. Eventually the country was
partitioned by its neighbors and erased from the
map in 1795. Although the majority of the szlachta
were reconciled to the end of the Commonwealth in
1795, the idea of Polish independence was kept alive
by events inside and outside of Poland throughout
the 19th century. Poland's location in the very
centre of Europe became especially significant in
a period when both Prussia and Russia were intensely
involved in European rivalries and alliances and
modern nation states were established over the entire
continent. Poland regained its independence in 1918,
but the Second Polish Republic was destroyed by
Germany in the Polish September Campaign at the
beginning of the Second World War. Nonetheless the
Polish government in exile never surrendered and
managed to contribute significantly to the Allied
victory. Nazi Germany's forces were forced to retreat
from Poland as the Soviet Union Red Army advanced,
which led to the creation of People's Republic of
Poland, a Soviet satellite state. By the late 1980s
a Polish reform movement, Solidarity, was able to
enforce a peaceful transistion from communist state
to democracy, which resulted in the creation of
the modern Polish state.
Over
the past millennium, the territory ruled by Poland
has shifted and varied greatly. At one time, in
the 16th century, Poland was the second largest
state in Europe, after Russia. At other times
there was no separate Polish state at all. Poland
regained its independence in 1918, after more
than a century of rule by its neighbours, but
its borders shifted again after the Second World
War |
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