Capital: Warsaw
Administrative divisions: 49 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Biala Podlaska, Bialystok, Bielsko Biala, Bydgoszcz, Chelm, Ciechanow, Czestochowa, Elblag, Gdansk, Gorzow, Jelenia Gora, Kalisz, Katowice, Kielce, Konin, Koszalin, Krakow, Krosno, Legnica, Leszno, Lodz, Lomza, Lublin, Nowy Sacz, Olsztyn, Opole, Ostroleka, Pila, Piotrkow, Plock, Poznan, Przemysl, Radom, Rzeszow, Siedlce, Sieradz, Skierniewice, Slupsk, Suwalki, Szczecin, Tarnobrzeg, Tarnow, Torun, Walbrzych, Warszawa, Wloclawek, Wroclaw, Zamosc, Zielona Gora

Independence: 11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed)
National holiday: Constitution Day, 3 May (1791)

Constitution: interim "small constitution" came into effect in December 1992 replacing the Communist-imposed Constitution of 22 July 1952; new democratic Constitution being drafted

Legal system: mixture of Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and holdover Communist legal theory; changes being gradually introduced as part of broader democratization process; limited judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Lech WALESA (since 22 December 1990); election first round held 25 November 1990, second round held 9 December 1990 (next to be held NA November 1995); results - second round Lech WALESA 74.7%, Stanislaw TYMINSKI 25.3%
head of government: Prime Minister Waldemar PAWLAK (since 26 October 1993)
cabinet: Council of Ministers; responsible to the president and the Sejm

Legislative branch: bicameral National Assembly (Zgromadzenie Narodowe)
Senate (Senat): elections last held 19 September 1993 (next to be held no later than NA October 1997); seats - (100 total)
post-Solidarity bloc: UW 6, NSZZ 12, BBWR 2
non-Communist, non-Solidarity: independents 7, unaffiliated 1, vacant 1 (to be filled in a 19 June election)
Communist origin or linked: PSL 34, SLD 37
Diet (Sejm): elections last held 19 September 1993 (next to be held no later than NA October 1997); seats - (460 total)
post-Solidarity bloc: UW 74, UP 41, BBWR 16
non-Communist, non-Solidarity: KPN 22
Communist origin or linked: SLD 171, PSL 132
note: 4 seats were won by ethnic Germans

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

Political parties and leaders:
post-Solidarity parties: Freedom Union (WD; UD and Liberal Democratic Congress merged to form Freedom Union), Tadeusz MAZOWIECKI; Christian-National Union (ZCHN), Wieslaw CHRZANOWSKI; Centrum (PC), Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI; Peasant Alliance (PL), Gabriel JANOWSKI; Solidarity Trade Union (NSZZ), Marian KRZAKLEWSKI; Union of Labor (UP), Ryszard BUGAJ; Christian-Democratic Party (PCHD), Pawel LACZKOWSKI; Conservative Party, Alexander HALL; Nonparty Bloc for the Support of the Reforms (BBWR)
non-Communist, non-Solidarity: Confederation for an Independent Poland (KPN), Leszek MOCZULSKI; Polish Economic Program (PPG), Janusz REWINSKI; Christian Democrats (CHD), Andrzej OWSINSKI; German Minority (MN), Henryk KROL; Union of Real Politics (UPR), Janusz KORWIN-MIKKE; Democratic Party (SD), Antoni MACKIEWICZ; Party X, Stanislaw Tyminski
Communist origin or linked: Social Democracy (SDRP, party of Poland), Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI; Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), Waldemar PAWLAK; Democratic Left Alliance, Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI
Other political or pressure groups: powerful Roman Catholic Church; Solidarity (trade union); All Poland Trade Union Alliance (OPZZ), populist program
Member of: BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, COCOM (cooperating), CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, IDA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MINURSO, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNDOF, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNOMIG, UNPROFOR, UNTAC, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Jerzy KOZMINSKI
chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: (202) 234-3800 through 3802
FAX: (202) 328-6271
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Nicholas A. REY
embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31, Warsaw
mailing address: American Embassy Warsaw, Unit 1340, or APO AE 09213-1340
telephone: [48] (2) 628-3041
FAX: [48] (2) 628-8298
consulate(s) general: Krakow, Poznan

Flag: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white

NOTE: The information regarding Poland on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Poland Government 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Poland Government 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.