Poland
|
| Basic Facts |
| Country name |
conventional long form: Republic of Poland
conventional short form: Poland local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska local short form: Polska |
| Gevernment type | republic |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Currency | zloty (PLN) |
| Internet country code | .pl |
| Ports and terminals | Gdansk, Gdynia, Swinoujscie, Szczecin |
| Agriculture products | potatoes, fruits, vegetables, wheat; poultry, eggs, pork, dairy |
| Industries | machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles |
| Geography |
| Location | Central Europe, east of Germany |
| Coordinates | 52 00 N, 20 00 E |
| Continent | Europe |
| Area |
total: 312,685 sq km
land: 304,465 sq km water: 8,220 sq km |
| 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 |
| Coastline | 491 km |
| Climate | temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers |
| Terrain | mostly flat plain; mountains along southern border |
| Natural resources | coal, sulfur, copper, natural gas, silver, lead, salt, amber, arable land |
| Natural hazards | flooding |
| People |
| Population | 38,536,869 (July 2006 est.) |
| Ethnic groups | Polish 96.7%, German 0.4%, Belarusian 0.1%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other and unspecified 2.7% (2002 census) |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 89.8% (about 75% practicing), Eastern Orthodox 1.3%, Protestant 0.3%, other 0.3%, unspecified 8.3% (2002) |
| Languages | Polish 97.8%, other and unspecified 2.2% (2002 census) |
