Poland's Official Travel Website
Poland's Official Travel Website
The national colours of Poland are white and red and a white eagle with a golden crown is the national emblem of the country which can also be found on its coat of arms.
The National Flag
The national flag is made up of two colours, white on top and red on the bottom (the RGB values of the red colour are 227, 66 and 52).
The colours, which are of heraldic origin, have a history dating back to 1831 and are one of the three constitutional symbols of the Republic of Poland, along with the coat of arms, the White Eagle and the national anthem, "Mazurek Dabrowskiego".
The Polish National Flag is a rectangular piece of cloth in the national colours, with or without the Polish coat of arms on the white strip. Polish National Flag Day is celebrated on 2nd May.
The National Emblem
The Poland's coat of arms consists of a white eagle on a red background. Its present appearance has a single-headed, eagle with golden crown, claws and beak, turned towards right, upon a red shield. The heraldic description of the national emblem is a silver eagle with the golden crown pictured on a red field.
According to legend, the white eagle emblem originated when Lech, Poland's legendary founder, once saw a white eagle against the setting sun which appeared tipped with gold. He was so delighted with this image that he decided to settle nearby and chose the eagle as his emblem.
The National Anthem
Since 1927 the Polish national anthem has been the "Mazurek Dabrowskiego".
Originally it was called the "Anthem of the Polish Legions in Italy", because of its initial verse, "Jeszcze Polska nie Zginela" which can be roughly translated into English as "Poland is not yet lost" or "Poland has not yet perished". The lyrics were originally written by Jozef Wybicki in 1797.
The song originated at the time of the formation of the Polish Legions in Italy in the 18th century. Jozef Wybicki, a poet and an officer in the Polish Legions, wrote it whilst stationed in Reggio Emilia in July 1797 to the tune of a mazurka.
Beginning with the words, "Poland has not yet perished" was a patriotic call to arms to save the Polish state which had fallen under foreign rule. It quickly became very popular with the Polish Legionnaires and eventually, after Poland had regained her independence in 1918, was declared as the Polish National Anthem.
Polish Currency
The Polish "Zloty", literally meaning "golden", is today the currency of Poland. The "Zloty" is a traditional Polish currency unit dating back to the Middle Ages. In the early 1990's, when the currency underwent re-denomination, the old "Zloty" (PLZ) became the new "Zloty" (PLN).
The monetary unit (PLN) is also symbolised as [Zl]. One Zloty is divided into 100 Groszy [gr.]. The banknotes in current circulation are in 200, 100, 50 and 10 Zloty denominations and coins come in 5, 2 and 1 Zloty, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 Groszy units.
Currency can be exchanged in any bank or at an exchange centre called a "Kantor".
The Zloty has a floating exchange rate and has seen some fluctuation over the last few years. Between the 2000 and 2005, the Zloty has strengthened against US dollar while maintaining a steady rate against the Euro. The exchange rate against GBP has fluctuated between 4.2 and 4.5 Zlotys per pound sterling.
Upon entering the European Union, Poland pledged to adopt the Euro at the expense of her own currency, the Zloty, but the timetable for this change has not yet been set.
The Polish Language
Polish is the official language of Poland and is the most widely spoken West Slavic language. It is used everyday by more than 40 million people in Poland and by up to 8 million Poles living outside the country.
Polish was once the "lingua franca" in many parts of Central and Eastern Europe because of the political, cultural, scientific and military influence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Nearly 97% of Poland's citizens have Polish as their mother tongue.
Polish is considered to be one of the more difficult languages to master by non-native speakers. Unlike English, Polish is pronounced phonetically. Once you understand where to break the word and that the second-to-last syllable is always stressed, you could do well to keep the following in mind.
Note: If the word looks nothing like it sounds, this can be attributed to some uniquely Polish characters, like [ą] [ę] or [ż]. The Polish alphabet does have its own surprises. If that is confusing, just look it up in a good dictionary.
Let's start with something simple:
Polish Political System
Poland has a parliamentary democracy. Poland's national assembly, called the "Sejm" and pronounced "seym", plays a vital role in the governmental system of Poland due to the long historic tradition of constitutional rule in the country, its political culture and contemporary experience in political governance.
From the date of the earliest national assembly in 1493, Polish kings had to convene the national assembly and regional assemblies every two years. From 1573 the system of free elections required the approval of the "Sejm" for the election of future kings.
Poland's parliament is based on the two chamber system. The "Sejm", the lower chamber, is made up of 460 "Deputies", elected in general elections by secret ballot. The "Senate", the upper chamber, has 100 "Senators". Both the courts and tribunals are separate and independent of other branches of government. The judicial system consists of the Supreme Court, common courts, administrative courts and military tribunals. These Chambers also sit only for four years.
Laws are adopted by both the houses. The "Senate" has the right to amend or reject a law passed by the "Sejm", which in turn can overrule the decision of the "Senate" by a majority vote. The "Sejm" decides who fills the positions of the members of the constitutional court, the ombudsman, the President of the Supreme Chamber of Audit and also the President of the Bank of Poland.
Poland elects its head of state in general elections. The President's term of office lasts five years. The President chooses his Prime Minister and, according to recommendations by the chosen Prime Minister, the cabinet is chosen, but subject to approval by the "Sejm". The President does not have the power to discharge the government.
The principal executive power is in the hands of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, who are responsible only to the "Sejm". The government can be revoked by the "Sejm" but only after a constructive vote of no-confidence.
Courts and tribunals are independent of the other branches of government. The judicial system consists of the Supreme Court, common courts, administrative courts and military tribunals.
After a long period of Communist rule, Poland finally again became a multi-party democracy in 1989. The current electoral threshold for a party to win seats in a general election is 5%.
The Administrative Regions
Local government in Poland is organized into three levels. The largest regional level unit is the "Voivodship" (Province). These were consolidated and reduced in number from 49 to 16 in 1999. At the next level, there are 314 "Powiaty" (County Districts) and finally these are followed by around 2500 "Gminy" (urban and rural councils).
There are other special territorial units such as the capital city of Warsaw, whose status is regulated by special legislation.
The head of each provincial administration, the "Voivod", is nominated by the Prime Minister.
Both "Powiaty" and "Gminy" are governed by councils which are elected for a term of four years. The councils, in turn, elect the heads of all the local administrative bodies. All representatives of the provincial legislature are also elected for four year terms.
The major Polish cities are Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk, Szczecin, Bydgoszcz, Katowice and Lublin. The main geographical provinces are Pomerania (Pomorze), Masuria (Mazury), Greater Poland (Wielkopolska), Mazovia (Mazowsze), Podlaskie (Podlasie), Silesia (Slask), Lesser Poland (Malopolska) and Sub-Carpathian (Podkarpackie).
Public Holidays
The two main National Holidays are the anniversary of the restoration of Poland's independence in 1918 which is celebrated on 11th November and the anniversary of the passing of Poland's first Constitution on 3rd May in 1791.
Public holidays observed on fixed dates
Moveable feasts
Easter
2010 4 & 5 April
2011 24 & 25 April
2012 8 & 9 April
Ascension
2010 16 May
2011 5 June
2012 20 May
Corpus Christi
2010 3 June
2011 23 June
2012 7 June
Polish National
Tourist Office
Westgate House, West Gate
London W5 1YY
Copyright © 2012 POT 
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