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POLAND |
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National anthem |
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The Poles, a people of Western Slav origins, trace their roots back to well before 966 A.D. when the country was politically founded. In the 15th century Poland and Lithuania combined to form a kingdom stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea in the days when Odessa was a Polish port.
More recently in the 18th century this nation with a proud cultural heritage was divided between Russia, Austria and Prussia. Napoleon I had created a semi-independent Grand Duchy of Warsaw and after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the country was divided into Congress Poland which went to Russia (later becoming a virtual Russian province in 1831) and the Grand Duchy of Posen, to Austria and Prussia (later abolished after the revolution). Cracow was denominated as a free city, until incorporated in Austria after the revolution. After Russian Poland was occupied by the Austro-German forces during WWI, Jozef Pilsudski, the founder of the Polish regions, declared independence on the 11th November, 1918, now independence day, when a republic was proclaimed. Poland enjoyed its independent republic status until the 1st September, 1939 when WWII broke out. Following German occupation till 1945 and Soviet direct rule Poland again achieved its independence after overthrowing Communist rule in 1989. 38.6 million spread over a 312,685 sq. km. land area. It is surrounded by six Slav border countries and Germany, having land boundaries of 206 km with the Russian Kaliningrad Exclave, 91 km with Lithuania, 407 km with Belarus, 526 km with Ukraine, 444 km with Slovakia, 658 km with the Czech Republic and 456 km with Germany.The majority of Poles are Roman Catholic at 95%. The rest belong to the Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish and Moslem faith. Mainly Polish, of the Slavic family, 97.6%, but there are also some 180,000 Ukrainians, 165,000 Byelorussians, 31,000 Jews, 21,000 Slovaks and 10,000 Lithuanians according to ethnic minorities. Constitution Day is celebrated on the 3rd May. It relates to the time of the Russian, Austrian, Prussian partitioning in 1791. The Soviet era constitution was adopted on the 22nd July, 1952. The present constitution was adopted by the National Assembly on the 2nd April, 1997, passed by national referendum on the 23rd May, 1997 and became effective on the16th October, 1997.The incumbent president is Aleksander Kwasniewski, first elected 23rd December, 1995. He was reconfirmed for a five-year term by popular vote on the 8th October, 2000. The bicameral Zgromadzenie Narodowe, or National Assembly, consists of a 460 seat lower chamber, the Sejm, where members are elected under a complex system of proportional representation, and the Senate, or Senat, with 100 seats where members are elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis. Members in both chambers serve four-year terms and two seats are assigned to ethnic minority parties.The government side in the Sejm is composed of a loose alliance between the Democratic Left Alliance and the Labour Union (216 seats). The Polish Peasants' Party has 42 seats. In the Senate, the Left-Labour alliance has 75 seats on its own and the Peasants Party 4 seats. Throughout the current legislature, though short of a parliamentary majority, government is trudging on with the help of minor parties. The current prime minister is Marek Belka since May 2, 2004 when Leszek Miller stepped down from the post. Mr Belka obtained a vote of confidence from parliament on June 25, thwarting the opposition parties’ call for early elections. The vote gives Mr Belka’s government support to proceed with the economic and health reforms made necessary by accession to the EU. Thee are 16 administrative provinces (wojewodztwo) in Poland, or voivodships, Dolnoslaskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Lodzkie, Lubelskie, Lubuskie, Malopolskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Podlaskie, Pomorskie, Slaskie, Swietokrzyskie, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Wielkopolskie, Zachodniopomorskie. Five cities, including Warsaw capital, enjoy province status. There are also subdivisions of rural and urban districts (powiat) and wards (gmina). On the 1st May, 2004, Poland joined the European Union. ANTHEM. The national anthem is Jeszcze Polska nie zginela, Poland has not yet succumbed, worded by J. Wybicki in 1797 set to a tune by M. Oginski in 1796.Dombrowski's Mazurka Poland has not yet succumbed, So long as we live on. What the foe has seized by force, With sword in hand we will gain. (chorus) March, march, Dabrowski, From Italy to Poland march, For under your command We shall reach our land.
Cross the Vistula, cross the Warta, For Poles we shall be, By Bonaparte we have been shown The ways to victory. (chorus)
As Czarniecki regains Poznan town, Fighting along with the Swede, To free from chains our fatherland, We shall return by sea. (chorus) Gazeta Wyborcza - mass-circulation daily newspaperRzeczpospolita - influential daily newspaper Super Express - mass-circulation tabloid Newsweek Polska - weekly The Warsaw Voice - English-language weekly Warsaw Business Journal - English-language weekly Radio Maryja - Catholic station run by Redemptorist Order
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COUNTRIES |
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CONTACT US |
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