Poland in short

• Official name: Republic of Poland /Rzeczpospolita Polska
  (short form: Poland/ Polska)
• Independence: 11 November 1918 (republic proclaimed)
• Government type: republic
• Location: Central Europe
• Border countries: Belarus 416 km, Czech Republic 790 km, Germany 467 km, Lithuania 103 km, Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) 210 km, Slovakia 541 km, Ukraine 529 km
• Language: Polish
• Capital city: Warsaw

• Major cities: Gdańsk, Kraków, Łódź, Poznań, Wrocław
• Population: 38 518 241 (July 2007)
• Total area: 312 685 sq km (304 465 sq m - land, 8220 sq m - water)
• Climate: temperate with cold, cloudy, moderately severe winters with frequent precipitation; mild summers with frequent showers and thundershowers
• Local time: GMT + 1 hr
• Executive branch: head of state: President Lech Kaczynski (since December 2005); head of government: Prime Minister Donald Tusk (since November 2007)
• Member of the European Union: Since 2004
• Religions: Roman Catholic 89,8%, Eastern Orthodox 1,3%, Protestant 0,3%, other 0,3%, unspecified 8,3%
• Monetary unit: zloty (PLN)
• Approximate exchange rates: 1 EUR = 3,59 PLN; 1 USD = 2,45 PLN; 1 CHF = 2,17 PLN; 1 GBP = 4,87 PLN; 100 JPY = 2,19 PLN (actual exchange rates: www.nbp.pl)
• GDP - per capita: 14 400 USD (2006)