Poland
The Republic of Poland, a country in Central Europe, lies between Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania and Russia (in the form of the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave) to the north. Its location and accessible terrain has meant that the land has seen many wars fought over it, and its borders have shifted considerably over the centuries. Poland used to be a satellite state of the Soviet Union between 1945 and 1989. After the peaceful changes in 1989, the first free elections after the World War II were held in 1990. Poland was the first former Soviet bloc country to hold a free and democratic presidential election.

Economy
Since its return to democracy, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalizing the economy and today stands out as one of the most successful and open examples of the transition from communism to a market economy.

The privatization of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed for the rapid development of an aggressive private sector.

Poland has a large agricultural sector of private farms that can be a leading producer of food in the European Union. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Warsaw leads the region of Central Europe in foreign investment and allegedly needs a continued large inflow.
Geography
Map of PolandThe Polish landscape consists almost entirely of the lowlands of the North European Plain, at an average height of 173 metres, though the Sudetes (including the Karkonosze) and the Carpathian Mountains (including the Tatra mountains, where one also finds Poland's highest point, Rysy, at 2,499 m.) form the southern border. Several large rivers cross the plains. Poland also contains over 9,300 lakes, predominantly in the north of the country. Masuria forms the largest and most-visited lake district in Poland. Remains of the ancient forests survive.
Climate
Poland enjoys a temperate climate, with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation and mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers.
Government
Poland is a democratic republic. Its current constitution dates from 1997. The government structure centers on the Council of Ministers, led by a prime minister. The president appoints the cabinet according to the proposals of the prime minister, typically from the majority coalition in the bicameral legislature's Lower House. The president, elected by popular vote every 5 years, serves as the head of state. The citizens of Poland elect a parliament, the National, consisting of 460 members of the Lower House and 100 members of the Senate, chosen by a proportional vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms. With the exception of ethnic minority parties, only political parties receiving at least 5% of the total vote can enter the parliament. The judicial branch plays a minor role in decision-making. Its major institutions include the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Tribunal. The Lower House appoints the Ombudsman or the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection for a five-year term. The Ombudsman has the duty of guarding the observance and implementation of the rights and liberties of the human being and of the citizen, the law and principles of community life and social justice.
People
Poland formerly played host to many languages, cultures and religions. However, the outcome of World War II and the following shift westwards to the area between the Curzon line and the Oder-Neisse line gave Poland an appearance of homogeneity. 36,983,700 people, or 96.74% of today's population considers itself Polish (Census 2002), 471,500 (1.23%) declared another nationality. 774,900 people (2.03%) didn't declare any nationality. The officially recognized ethnic minorities include: Germans, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Jews and Belarusians. The Polish language, a member of the West Slavic branch of the Slavic languages, functions as the official language of Poland.
Religion
Most Poles adhere to the Roman Catholic faith, though only 75% count as practising Catholics. The rest of the population consists mainly of Eastern Orthodox and Protestant religious minorities.
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