Poland: Government#
| Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Poland conventional short form: Poland local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska local short form: Polska etymology: name derives from the Polanians, a west Slavic tribe that united several surrounding Slavic groups (9th-10th centuries A.D.) and who passed on their name to the country; the name of the tribe likely comes from the Slavic "pole" (field or plain), indicating the flat nature of their country |
|---|---|
| Government type | parliamentary republic |
| Capital | Warsaw
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 |
| Administrative divisions | 16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie (Lower Silesia), Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Kuyavia-Pomerania), Lodzkie (Lodz), Lubelskie (Lublin), Lubuskie (Lubusz), Malopolskie (Lesser Poland), Mazowieckie (Masovia), Opolskie (Opole), Podkarpackie (Subcarpathia), Podlaskie, Pomorskie (Pomerania), Slaskie (Silesia), Swietokrzyskie (Holy Cross), Warminsko-Mazurskie (Warmia-Masuria), Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland), Zachodniopomorskie (West Pomerania) |
| Independence | 11 November 1918 (republic proclaimed); notable earlier dates: 966 (adoption of Christianity, traditional founding date), 1 July 1569 (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth created) |
| National holiday | Constitution Day, 3 May (1791) |
| Constitution | history: several previous; latest adopted 2 April 1997, approved by referendum 25 May 1997, effective 17 October 1997 amendments: proposed by at least one-fifth of Sejm deputies, by the Senate, or by the president of the republic; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote in the Sejm and absolute majority vote in the Senate; amendments to articles relating to sovereignty, personal freedoms, and constitutional amendment procedures also require passage by majority vote in a referendum; amended 2006, 2009, 2015 (2016) |
| Legal system | civil law system; judicial review of legislative, administrative, and other governmental acts; constitutional law rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are final |
| International law organization participation | accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction |
| Citizenship | citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: both parents must be citizens of Poland dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Andrzej DUDA (since 6 August 2015) head of government: Prime Minister Beata SZYDLO (since 16 November 2015); Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage Piotr GLINSKI (since 16 November 2015), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Higher Education Jaroslaw GOWIN (since 16 November 2015), and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Mateusz MORAWIECKI (since 16 November 2015) cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, appointed by the president, and approved by the Sejm elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 10 and 24 May 2015 (next to be held in 2020); prime minister, deputy prime ministers, and Council of Ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm election results: Andrzej DUDA elected president; percent of vote in runoff - Andrzej DUDA 51.5%, Bronislaw KOMOROWSKI (independent) 48.5% |
| Legislative branch | description: bicameral legislature consists of the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms) and the Sejm (460 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms); note - the designation National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe is only used on those rare occasions when the two houses meet jointly elections: Senate - last held on 25 October 2015 (next to be held in October 2019); Sejm - last held on 25 October 2015 (next to be held in October 2019) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PiS 62, PO 33, PSL 1, independents 4; Sejm - percent of vote by party - PiS 37.6%, PO 24.1%, K15 8.8%, N 7.6%, PSL 5.1% other 16.8%; seats by party - PiS 234, PO 138, K15 40, N 29, PSL 16, independent 2, German minority 1 note: the German minority is exempt from the 5% threshold requirement for seats to the Sejm |
| Judicial branch | highest court(s): Supreme Court or Sad Najwyzszy (consists of the president of the Supreme Court and 116 judges organized in criminal, civil, labor and social insurance, and military chambers) judge selection and term of office: president of the Supreme Court nominated by the General Assembly of the Supreme Court and selected by the president of Poland; other judges nominated by the 25-member National Judiciary Council, and appointed by the president of Poland; judges appointed until retirement, usually at age 65, but tenure can be extended subordinate courts: Constitutional Tribunal; regional and appellate courts subdivided into military, civil, criminal, labor, and family courts |
| Political parties and leaders | Civic Platform or PO (Grzegorz SCHETYNA, chairperson; Slawomir NEUMANN, parliamentary caucus leader) Congress of the New Right or KNP (Michal MARUSIK, chairman) Democratic Left Alliance or SLD (Wlodzimierz CZARZASTY, chairman) German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO (Ryszard GALLA, representative) Kukiz 15 (Pawel KUKIZ; chairman, parliamentary caucus leader) Law and Justice or PiS (Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI, chairman; Ryszard TERLECKI, parliamentary caucus leader) Nowoczesna ("Modern") or N (Ryszard PETRU; chairman, parliamentary caucus leader) Polish People's Party or PSL (Wladyslaw KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ; chairman, parliamentary caucus leader) Razem (Together) (no party chair, led by nine-member management board) |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (Jan GUZ) (trade union) Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (Piotr DUDA) Roman Catholic Church (Archbishop Wojciech POLAK, Archbishop Stanislaw GADECKI) |
| International organization participation | Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Ryszard SCHNEPF (since 28 September 2012) chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: (1) (202) 234-3800 through 3802 FAX: (1) (202) 328-6271 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Paul JONES (since 7 October 2015) embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31 00-540 Warsaw mailing address: American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch) telephone: (48) (22) 504-2000 FAX: (48) (22) 504-2688 consulate(s) general: Krakow |
| Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; colors derive from the Polish emblem - a white eagle on a red field note: similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white |
| National symbol(s) | white eagle; national colors: white, red |
| National anthem | name: "Mazurek Dabrowskiego" (Dabrowski's Mazurka) lyrics/music: Jozef WYBICKI/traditional note: adopted 1927; the anthem, commonly known as "Jeszcze Polska nie zginela" (Poland Has Not Yet Perished), was written in 1797; the lyrics resonate strongly with Poles because they reflect the numerous occasions in which the nation's lands have been occupied |