Poland

D

Local Government

Poland is divided into 16 voivodeships (provinces), which are subdivided into towns and communes (gminas). Members of the local councils are freely elected.

E

Health and Welfare

Average life expectancy at birth in 2008 was 71.4 years for men and 79.7 years for women. Communist Poland had an extensive system of social welfare funded from the national budget; comprehensive welfare and social security benefits included pensions and various forms of health care. Much of this sector has become market-oriented since 1989, with Poles paying much more directly for all forms of health care and welfare. Private general medicine has spread, as has the practice of charging fees for medical care in hospitals. Most pharmacies are now run by the private sector. In 2004, health expenditure amounted to 4 per cent of GDP. Poland had about 88,500 doctors (1 doctor for every 455 people), 17,600 dentists, 210,400 nurses, and about 700 general hospitals with 243,000 beds (1 bed for every 179 people) in the mid-1990s.

F

Defence

In 2004, Polish military forces totalled 141,500 personnel, including an army of 89,000, a navy of 14,300, and an air force of 30,000. The armed forces include some 81,000 conscripts. In addition, there are approximately 234,000 reservists and paramilitary forces of 21,400. The last contingent of Russian combat troops—remnants of a Soviet force that had been stationed for decades on Polish soil—withdrew from Poland in October 1992. A law introduced in 1999 changed the duration of compulsory military service from 18 months to 12 months. Conscientious objectors need to undertake 24 months of alternative service. Poland’s armed forces play a very active role in UN peacekeeping operations. In 2003 the country spent US$4,095 million (2 per cent of its GDP) on defence.

G

International Organizations

Poland is a member of the United Nations (UN), the World Trade Organization, the Council of Europe, NATO, the European Union (EU), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), the Central European Initiative (CEI), and the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA).

VI

History

Little is known regarding the early activities of the Slavic tribes that laid the foundations of the Polish nation. According to some authorities, a number of these tribes united, about ad 840, under a legendary king known as Piast, but Poland does not begin to figure in European history until the reign, from 962 to 992, of Mieszko, reputedly a descendant of Piast.