2009 Poland

Poland
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Capital: Warsaw
Official Language: Polish
Government: Parliamentary republic
Head of State: 	Lech Kaczyński
Head of Government:
Formation: 	14 April 966 AD
Population: 38,116,000 (December 2007)
Currency: Złoty (PLN)
¨Human Rights Record¨ Wikipedia article
¨Territorial Disputes¨ The ownership of a part of the Baltic Sea by Bornholm is disputed with Denmark, also 400 hectares in and around the vicinity of Tesin is claimed by Poland and is currently owned by the Czech Republic
¨Ongoing Conflicts¨ Poland has 1,130 troops in Afghanistan as of September 2008, most of whom operate in the south-eastern provinces of Ghazni and Paktika. An unknown number of Polish special forces (GROM) are deployed in the flashpoint southern province of Kandahar. Additionally, 400 soldiers and eight helicopters (four Mil Mi-8 and four Mil Mi-24) are to be sent in 2008. This means that the Polish contingent's size will increase to 1600 soldiers. On April 19, Poland took over Ghazni Province in east Afghanistan.
Welcome to the international embassy of Poland! (Player added remarks)
=Diplomatic Relations=
Nation currently enjoys diplomatic relations with (List)
Nation is a member of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, The European Union, and The OECD.
Nation is a signatory to the following treaties (list)
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=Summary=
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland (Rzeczpospolita Polska), is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and 9th in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 33rd most populous country in the world. Poland is a unitary state made up of sixteen voivodeships (Polish: województwo). Poland is also a member of the European Union, NATO and OECD.
=Brief History=
The establishment of a Polish state is often identified with the adoption of Christianity by its ruler Mieszko I in 966 (see Baptism of Poland), when the state covered territory similar to that of present-day Poland. Poland became a kingdom in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a long association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by uniting to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth collapsed in 1795, and its territory was partitioned among Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Poland regained its independence in 1918 after World War I but lost it again in World War II, occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Poland lost over six million citizens in World War II, and emerged several years later as a socialist republic within the Eastern Bloc under strong Soviet influence. In 1989 communist rule was overthrown and Poland became what is constitutionally known as the "Third Polish Republic".
=Diplomatic Messages=
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=Resources=
*Poland on Wikipedia
*Poland on the BBC
*Poland on the CIA world factbook
*Homepage of the Polish government