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Poland is a country with a well founded system of democratic government. Our republic is a multiparty democracy with a two chamber parliament.
The Head of State is the President, elected by a majority of the voters for a five year term.
The upper parliamentary chamber is the Senate, with 100 senators; whereas in the lower chamber the Sejm, there are 460 members. Parliament is chosen by a majority of the electorate for a 4 year term.
The state’s internal and foreign policy is decided by the government, i.e. the Council of Ministers, whose activities are directed by the president of the Council of Ministers, i.e. the premier. The premier is chosen by the President, as are the ministers upon his recommendation.
The executive officer for government administration and the government’s representative in the voivodships is the voivoda. Since 1st January 1999, passed the law of 24th July 1998, a three level division of the country’s territory has been in place. The entities of the three level division of the state’s territory are seperated into: gminas, powiats (both local authorities) and voivodships (regional authorities). Since 1st January 1999 the country has been divided into 16 voivodships.
Poland’s capital is Warsaw (494 km2) - 1,618,500 residents.
The official language is Polish.
The currency - 1 złoty (PLN) = 100 groszy.
Membership of the most important international organisations:
- European Union (EU)
- United Nations Organisation (UN)
- Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBS)
- Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA)
- International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)
- United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
- World Health Organisation (WHO)
- World Trade Organisation (WTO)
- Central European Initiative (CEI)
- Organisation for Cooperation and Development (OECD)
- North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
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