,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.61 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 13.18 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 72.77 years
male: 68.6 years
female: 77.16 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.36 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Pole(s)
adjective: Polish

Ethnic groups: Polish 97.6%, German 1.3%, Ukrainian 0.6%, Byelorussian
0.5% (1990 est.)

Religions: Roman Catholic 95% (about 75% practicing), Eastern
Orthodox, Protestant, and other 5%

Languages: Polish

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 98% (1978 est.)

@Poland:Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Poland
conventional short form: Poland
local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska
local short form: Polska

Data code: PL

Government type: democratic state

National capital: Warsaw

Administrative divisions: 49 provinces (wojewodztwa,
singular-wojewodztwo); Biala Podlaska, Bialystok, Bielsko Biala,
Bydgoszcz, Chelm, Ciechanow, Czestochowa, Elblag, Gdansk, Gorzow,
Jelenia Gora, Kalisz, Katowice, Kielce, Konin, Koszalin, Krakow,
Krosno, Legnica, Leszno, Lodz, Lomza, Lublin, Nowy Sacz, Olsztyn,
Opole, Ostroleka, Pila, Piotrkow, Plock, Poznan, Przemysl, Radom,
Rzeszow, Siedlce, Sieradz, Skierniewice, Slupsk, Suwalki, Szczecin,
Tarnobrzeg, Tarnow, Torun, Walbrzych, Warszawa, Wloclawek, Wroclaw,
Zamosc, Zielona Gora

Independence: 11 November 1918 (independent republic proclaimed)

National holiday: Constitution Day, 3 May (1791); Independence Day,
November 11 (1918)

Constitution: 16 October 1997; adopted by the National Assembly on 2
April 1997; passed by national referendum 23 May 1997

Legal system: mixture of Continental (Napoleonic) civil law and
holdover communist legal theory; changes being gradually introduced as
part of broader democratization process; limited judicial review of
legislative acts although under the new constitution, the
Constitutional Tribunal ruling will become final as of October 1999;
court decisions can be appealed to the European Court of Justice in
Strasbourg

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Aleksander KWASNIEWSKI (since 23 December
1995)
head of government: Pri