National name:   Rzeczpospolita Polska
Area:   312,683 sq km/120,726 sq mi
Capital:  Warsaw
Major towns/cities:   Lódz, Kraków, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk,
Szczecin, Katowice, Bydgoszcz, Lublin
Major ports:  Gdansk, Szczecin, Gdynia
Physical features:  part of the great plain of Europe; Vistula, Oder, and Neisse rivers; Sudeten, Tatra, and Carpathian mountains on southern frontier
Head of state:  Aleksander Kwasniewski from 1995
Head of government:  Jerzy Buzek from 1997
Political system:   emergent democracy
Political parties:   Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), reform socialist (ex-communist); Polish Peasant Party (PSL), moderate, agrarian; Freedom Union (UW), moderate, centrist; Labour Union (UP), left wing; Non-Party Bloc in Support of Reforms (BBWR), Christian Democrat, right of centre, pro-Walesa; Confederation for an Independent Poland (KPN), right wing; Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS), Christian, right wing
Currency:zloty
Real GDP per capita (PPP):($ US) 5,002 (1994)
Exports:machinery and transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, coal, coke, copper, sulphur, steel, food and agricultural products, clothing and leather products, wood and paper products. Principal market: Germany 38.3% (1995)
Population:38,680,000 (1998)
Language:Polish
Religion:Roman Catholic 95%
Life expectancy:67 (men); 76 (women) (1995-2000)
Digraph:PL
Independence:11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed)