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Officially Republic of Poland, in Polish Polska, or Rzeczpospolita Polska, country lying at the physical centre of the european continent, approximately between latitudes 49-o and 55-o N and longitudes 14-o and 24-o E. Except for its southern mountainous regions, the country consists almost entirely of lowlands within the North European Plain. The total area of Poland is 120,728 square miles (312,685 square kilometres). Its capital is Warsaw (Warszawa). Other major cities include Wroclaw, Poznan, Lodz?, Gdansk (Danzig), Elblag, Gdynia, Szczecin, Katowice? and Krakow (Cracow). Over the past millennium, the name Poland has been applied to a shifting territorial base. At one time, in the mid-1500s, Poland was the largest state in Europe. At other times there was no Polish state at all. Poland gained its independence in the Treaty of Versailles in 1918 only to be overrun by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. Its current frontiers, stretching for 2,198 miles (3,538 kilometres), were drawn in 1945; Poland became a Soviet satellite country following the war, but one that was comparatively tolerant and progressive. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of an independent trade union "Solidarity" Solidarnosc) that over time became a political force and by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. Complete freedom came with the implosion of the USSR in 1991. A "shock therapy" program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe, |
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Officially Republic of Poland, in Polish Polska, or ''Rzeczpospolita Polska'', country lying at the physical centre of the european continent, approximately between latitudes 49-o and 55-o N and longitudes 14-o and 24-o E. Except for its southern mountainous regions, the country consists almost entirely of lowlands within the North European Plain. The total area of Poland is 120,728 square miles (312,685 square kilometres). Its capital is Warsaw (Warszawa). Other major cities include Wroclaw, Poznan, Lodz?, Gdansk (formerly Danzig), Elblag, Gdynia, Szczecin, Katowice? and Krakow (Cracow). Over the past millennium, the name Poland has been applied to a shifting territorial base. At one time, in the mid-1500s, Poland was the largest state in Europe. At other times there was no Polish state at all. Poland gained its independence in the Treaty of Versailles in 1918 only to be overrun by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. Its current frontiers, stretching for 2,198 miles (3,538 kilometres), were drawn in 1945; Poland became a Soviet satellite country following the war, but one that was comparatively tolerant and progressive. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of an independent trade union "Solidarity" Solidarnosc) that over time became a political force and by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. Complete freedom came with the implosion of the USSR in 1991. A "shock therapy" program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe, |
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Many people think that Polish parliament is too big, various plans of reduction has been proposed, many of them propose removing Senat. Two parties that got most votes in Sep 2001 election (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej and Platforma Obywatelska) seem to agree than parliament should be reduced. |
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** Urzad Ochrony Panstwa -- (Office for State Protection) intelligence agency |
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