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Republic of Poland
borders with Germany to the West; with Czech Republic and Slovakia to the South; with Ukraine
and Belarus to the East; and with Lithuania and Russia to the North. Moreover, the waters of
Baltic Sea wash the biggest part of Northern Poland. The distance from North to South is 544
miles, while the distance from East to West is 428 miles. The total area of the country covers
120,728 square miles, 3% of which is covered by water. In addition, its coastline extends up to
305 miles. Based on data collected in 2001, 45.91% of land is used for arable purposes, 1.12% of
land is used for permanent crops and 52.97 is used for other purposes (“Poland Geography,”
2005). By definition, the term arable land is used to describe the land where people grow crops
like wheat and rye and the land can be replanted after each harvest. However, land used for
permanent crops, like fruit and flowers, is not replanted after each harvest. Finally, the land used
for other purposes includes meadows, forests, built in areas, roads, etc. The capital, Warsaw, is
the biggest city of the country and is located in the East-central part of the country. The city also
For the purposes of this study, the geographical features of the country should be further
discussed. Most of the country consists of low land, however there are rivers, lakes, and
mountains (“General Information”). The most famous and largest river of Poland is the Vistula
River, which is 651 miles long and flows from South to North of Poland through high mountains,
ending in the Baltic Sea. Other rivers of Poland are the Odra, Bug, and Warta. It is important to
note that there are approximately 10,000 lakes in the country, each one of them covering an era
of 108 square feet (“Poland lakes and rivers”). In addition, Poland consists of high mountains.
On the Southern borders of the country there is the Polish Tartas, which is a group of mountains
and consists of High Tartas and Western Tartas (“General Information”). The highest peak is
called Russy and is 8,200 feet in elevation. Other groups of mountains are the Beskids and the
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Karkonosze. It is important to note that in the Southern part of Poland a desert covering an area
of 12 square miles is located. Finally, forests cover the 28% of the land.
Due to its geographical and surface features “the climate has transitional character
between maritime and continental climates” (“Climate,” 2005). To be more specific, in the North
and West the climate is maritime, while in the in the South and East the climate is continental. In
other words, winter can be mild or cold, and summers can be cool and rainy, or hot and dry.
Temperatures in summers lie between 690F and 900F, while in winter temperatures lie between
Geographical characteristics and features define the variety of natural sources of each
country. Poland is rich in minerals and produces big quantities of: hard and brown coal, zinc,
lead, silver, sulphur, rock salt, and several construction minerals. Poland is also the biggest
supplier of amber. The country has a significant amount of good quality oil and natural gas
deposits as well (“Natural resources”). Moreover, the geological features and the climate of the
country enhance the production of several crops such as grain, wheat, sugar beets, tobacco,
potatoes, fruits, etc. The total gross output of agriculture products for 2007 was 1,739 million
dollars (“Concise statistical yearbook of Poland,”2008, p.299). The following table gives the
quantities of minerals and fuels Poland produced in year 2007 (“Concise statistical yearbook of
Poland,”2008, p.344-351).
Population:
Based on the Concise Statistical Yearbook of Poland 2008, the overall population of the
country was approximately 38.5 million (“Concise statistical yearbook of Poland,”2008, p.111).
The heart of Poland is its capital Warsaw with a population of approximately 2 million citizens
(“Warsaw in brief”). Other than Warsaw, big cities of Poland are Lodz and Krakow with a
population of approximately 750,000 citizens each (“Lodz Poland”). Most people prefer living in
cities; therefore the urban population is 62%. The main religious is Roman Catholic since 89.8%
of the population is Roman Catholics. In addition, 1.3% of the citizens are Eastern Orthodoxies
and 0.3% areProtestants. The main language spoken by 98% of the population is Polish.
Moreover, the population density in 2008 was122 people per km2 and the fertility rate was 1.23
children per woman (“Poland Population,” 2005). Further, the birthrate for the same year was
10.01 births per 1,000 citizens and the death rate was 9.99 deaths per 1,000 citizens. It is also
important to know the life expectancy of the population. The life expectancy for the male
population was 71.42 years, while for women was 79.65 years. The total life expectancy was
75.41 years. The following table shows in detail the age structure of Poland’s citizens for the
1 2
65-over 1,964,477 3,183,240 5,147,717 0.62 13.4%
In addition, the work force of the country consists of 17.2 million citizens. To be more
specific, 29% of the work force works in the industry and construction field, 16% in the
agriculture, and 54% in services (“Background Poland”). The unemployment rate for the year
2008 was 12.8% (“Poland unemployment rate,” 2008). Regarding the literacy index, which
shows the percentage of people able to read and write, was 99.8%. Poland shares the first place
in the literacy index rank with Cuba and Estonia. Unfortunately, there is no recent data referring
to the high literacy and low literacy indexes. For 1998, the high literacy index was 5.8%, and the
low literacy index was 76.1%. Low literacy refers to those people who have not completed
secondary education. However, these data may be much different today (“Polish education
statistics”). In 2008, there were approximately 20 thousand immigrants in Poland and the
majority of them were males between the age of 18 and the age of 24 (“Concise statistical
yearbook of Poland,”2008, p. 131). The ethnic groups located in Poland consist of Polish by
96.7%, Germans by 0.4%, Belarusian by 0.1%, Ukrainian by 0.1 %, and other by 2.7%.
Population growth rate depicts how fast the population of a particular area increases from
one time period to another and it can be positive or negative. The factors to be taken into
consideration in order to calculate the growth rate are: the crude birth rate, the crude death rate,
and the net immigration rate. This rate is a valuable tool for governments, sociologists, marketing
analysts, companies, etc (Thompson). For instance, governments need to know the growth rate in
order to cover the need of the citizens regarding schools, hospitals, roads, food resources, etc.
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The population growth rate for Poland for the year 2008 was -0.045%, which remains almost the
Human development index (HDI) measures the human development of a country and is
being published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) (“Human development
underdeveloped. The factors that are taken into consideration in order to calculate this index are:
life expectancy index, education index which is a function of adult literacy index and gross
enrolment index; and gross domestic product (GDP). The index prices fluctuate between 0 and 1.
Countries with index below 0.5 are characterized as low developing countries, while countries
with indexes between 0.5 and 0.8 are characterized as medium development countries. Countries
with indexes 0.8 and above are characterized as high development countries. The HDI for Poland
for the year 2005 was 0.870 based on the 2007/2008 Human Development Report (“Human
Poland is having Republic parliament. The political parties in Poland represent social-
Legal system is based on Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and holdover Communist
legal theory. Rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are final however court decisions can be
appealed to the European Court of Justice in Strasbourg. Poland’s judicial system comprise of
following entities.
• The Supreme Court: It reviews the decisions of all lower courts; hears appeals of
decisions made by the district courts, along with appeals brought by the minister of
justice (who simultaneously serves as the prosecutor general) and the first chairman of
enforced by government agencies and to hear citizens' complaints concerning the legality
of administrative decisions.
• The State Tribunal: It passes judgment on the guilt or innocence of the highest office
• The Prosecutor General: It safeguards law and order and ensure prosecution of crimes.
• The Commissioner for Citizens' Rights: It safeguard individual civil rights and liberties
Economic freedom can be defined as freedom to produce, trade, and consume any goods
and services acquired without the use of force, fraud or theft. Political freedom can be defined as
the right to vote, the right of free association and the right to free expression, enables individuals
to determine who their rulers shall be and how they shall be ruled.
As given in the table below, Poland is having 82nd rank in current list of degree of
economic freedom published by Heritage foundation with 60.3 score of economic freedom.
Within Europe region Poland is listed 35th out of 43 countries. Poland is listed relatively high on
basis of monetary freedom and low on freedom from corruption. However freedom from
Corruption is one of the major factors, which affects international business. It badly
Poland is having 58th rank in year 2008 based on corruption index published by
“Transparency International.
figure shows that over 96% of 39 millions Poles are Roman Catholics. Before 2nd world war
more than one third population was a non-polish ethnic group. However Polish government is
successful in assimilating non-Polish ethnic groups. Germans, Ukrainians, and Belarusians are
some of the ethnic groups exist in Poland. Following chart shows percentage distribution of
Economy:
countries. Since the fall of the communist government in 1990, Poland has steadfastly pursued a
policy of liberalizing the economy and today stands out as a successful example of the transition
Since 2004, EU membership and access to EU structural funds have provided a major
boost to the economy. The Polish economy, with GDP growth of 3.2 % in 2005, and in 2006 is
projected to reach 5.3%. In 2008, GDP grew an estimated 4.8%, based on rising private
consumption, a jump in corporate investment, and EU funds inflows. GDP per capita is still
much below the EU average, but is similar to that of the three Baltic States. The Polish economy
is developing much faster than the Euro zone (1.3%) and more than the average of all 25 EU
members (1.5%). Poland’s growth has been driven to a significant extent by export growth,
industrial production and investments. Employment is also increasing. The best GDP growth rate
The privatization of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on
establishing new firms have allowed the development of an aggressive private sector. Poland has
a large number of private farms in its agricultural sector, with the potential to become 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. Poland
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leads Central Europe in foreign investment. GDP growth had been strong and steady from 1993
to 2000 with only a short slowdown from 2001 to 2002. As of first half of 2009, Polish economy
seems to be one of the least hit by the current global recession. In the first quarter of 2009, Polish
GDP rose by 0.8%, which was one of the best results in the European Union.
Although the Polish economy is currently undergoing economic development, there are
many challenges ahead. The most notable task on the horizon is the preparation of the economy
(through continuing deep structural reforms) to allow Poland to meet the strict economic criteria
for entry into the European Single Currency (Euro). Poland is likely to join the European
Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in 2009 and adopt the euro in 2012 or 2013.
In 2008 inflation reached 4.3%, more than the upper limit of the National Bank of
Poland's target range, but has been falling due to global economic slowdown.
Poland’s economic performance could improve further if the country addresses some of
the remaining deficiencies in its business environment. An inefficient commercial court system, a
rigid labor code, bureaucratic red tape, and persistent low-level corruption keep the private sector
Trade:
(65.5%) with industry (31.7%) and agriculture (2.8%) as secondary forms of business. As of
2005 their exports versus imports numbers were fairly even. They export $92.72 billion USD
listed in order of volume: manufactured goods and chemicals (57%), machinery and equipment
(21%), food (12%), and mineral fuels (7%). Their volume of exports increased 8.4% in 2007.
Also as of 2005, their imports were $95.67 billion USD listed in order of volume: manufactured
goods and chemicals (43%), machinery and equipment (36%), mineral fuels (9%), food (8%).
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Besides being an active member of the European Union since 2004, Poland is also a
member of many trade organizations such as the World Trade Organization and the United
Nations.
Taxes as a part of trade are relatively similar to the structure in the United States and the
European Union, except their corporate income tax rate seems to be much lower than ours at
15% average. They similarly have personal income taxes, value added taxes, local taxes, and
excise duty taxes. The value added tax is higher than other countries at an average of 22%. This
common tax and law structure makes foreign direct investment inviting. The country also has a
99% literacy rate and free education through university level, which equates to a well-
educatedwork force, adding to the foreign direct investment possibility. No industry is closed to
private enterprise and all companies incorporated in Poland are equal, no matter who owns them.
The country encouragesforeign direct investment and the United States invested more money in
Krakow, Poland than any other nation as of 2005. A few of the countries that have foreign direct
investment in Poland are: Germany, USA, UK, France, and Israel. Poland is sited as one of
Europe's crossroads between Germany and the Ukraine, as well as Scandinavia and the south
continent.
Poland made somewhat impressive rankings on the Globalization Index Ranking 2007 at
www.foreignpolicy.com. As shown below, they compared well against the United States. A few
1. Foreign Direct Investment: Rank = 46 out of 72, FDI as share of GDP, 2005 = 3.03%
2. Gross Domestic Production: Rank = 24 out of 72, GDP in USD = 303,161,000,000 (USA
was #1)
3. Total Trade – goods, imports + goods exports + services, credits + services, debits: Rank
= 38 out of 72, Total trade as share of GDP = 74.6% (USA was 71st with 26.2%)
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Culture and Key Business Practices:
Krakow, Poland as one of the biggest areas of foreign direct investment is Poland's
cultural capital. Hardly a month passes in Krakow without a festival or ceremony; one example
is the wild Lajkonik parade. The town is known as Poland’s gourmet Meccawith no shortage of
places to drink and eat. The town is filled with museums, theaters and universities. “Krakow
dwellers generally relish good company, good food, and having plenty of free time.”
(www.krakow-info.com/lifestyle.htm)
Religion plays an important part in Polish culture. Religious holidays are considered
national holidays and most businesses are closed. Celebrations for Christmas last two and a half
days. Catholicism is the largest religion with over 90% per capita membership. Along with
religious importance is the importance of family in Poland. “One’s obligation is to the family
surprise then that honesty and relationship buildings arecornerstones in business practices in this
country. The Polish value advanced university degrees and titles of achievement, when
interacting in business and government. When doing business in Poland, plan to be direct in
your speech, but take time to get to know your colleague and form a relationship. The better you
know and trust your business partner the better your business dealings will go in Poland.
Resources
Concise statistical yearbook of Poland. (2008). Central Statistical Office. Retrieved July 5, 2009,
from http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/PUBL_maly_rocznik_statystyczny_2008.pdf
http://www.staypoland.com/information-poland.htm
Human Development Report 2007-2008. Retrieved July 6, from UNDP Web site:
http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/indicators/1.html
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2009/
http://regions.famouswhy.com/lodz/
Official promotional website of the Republic of Poland. Natural resources. Retrieved July 5,
2009, from
http://www.poland.gov.pl/Natural,Resources,310.html
Poland demographics profile. (2008). Retrieved July 6, 2009 from Indemundi Web site:
http://indexmundi.com/poland/demographics_profile.html
http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcpoland.htm
http://www.mapsofworld.com/poland/tourism/lakes-rivers.html
http://www.studentsoftheworld.info/pageinfo_pays.php3?Pays=POL&Opt=population
Poland population growth rate. (2008). Retrieved July 6, 2009 from Indemundi Web site:
http://indexmundi.com/poland/population_growth_rate.html
Poland unemployment rate. (2007) .Retrieved July 6, 2009 from Indemundi Web site:
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http://www.indexmundi.com/poland/unemployment_rate.html
Polish education statistics. Retrieved July 6, 2009, from NationMaster Web site:
http://www.nationmaster.com/country/pl-poland/edu-education
http://www.ehow.com/about_5049974_definition-population-growth-rate.html
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2875.htm
Warsaw in brief. The official website of Warsaw. Retrieved July 5, 2009, from
http://e-warsaw.pl/2/index.php?id=470