Poland

Poland is an ancient nation that was conceived near the middle of the 10th century. Its golden age occurred in the 16th century. During the following century, the strengthening of the gentry and internal disorders weakened the nation. In a series of agreements between 1772 and 1795, Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland amongst themselves. Poland regained its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II. It became a Soviet satellite state following the war, but its government was comparatively tolerant and progressive. Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" that over time became a political force and by 1990 had swept parliamentary elections and the presidency. A "shock therapy" program during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into one of the most robust in Central Europe, but Poland still faces the lingering challenges of high unemployment, underdeveloped and dilapidated infrastructure, and a poor rural underclass. Solidarity suffered a major defeat in the 2001 parliamentary elections when it failed to elect a single deputy to the lower house of Parliament, and the new leaders of the Solidarity Trade Union subsequently pledged to reduce the Trade Union's political role. Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. With its transformation to a democratic, market-oriented country largely completed, Poland is an increasingly active member of Euro-Atlantic organizations.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: Złoty (ISO code: PLN)
* Central bank discount rate: 5% (31 December 2008)
* Commercial banks lending rate: NA% (31 December 2008)
* Stock of money (M1): $118.2 billion (31 December 2008)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $109 billion (31 December 2008)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Poland: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	167 958	171 276	190 421	198 180	216 801	252 769	303 912	341 670	425 321	527 866
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Poland: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	 	 	32.963 	41.379 	45.136 	44.542 	46.914 	47.444 	42.838 	44.767
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Poland: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29. 	 	 	31.536 	29.439 	32.916 	30.719 	31.879 	32.134 	32.664 	32.022
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Poland: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.	 	 	35.576 	35.301 	38.687 	36.871 	36.274 	35.854 	34.229 	35.326
Debt to revenue (years) 	 	 	1.045 	1.406 	1.371 	1.450 	1.472 	1.476 	1.311 	1.398
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Poland on Wikipedia
* Central bank of Poland
* Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
* Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
* BBC country profile
Category:Countries