Administrative divisions
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16 provinces (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie (Lower Silesia), Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Kuyavia-Pomerania), Lodzkie, Lubelskie (Lublin), Lubuskie (Lubusz), Malopolskie (Lesser Poland), Mazowieckie (Masovia), Opolskie, Podkarpackie (Subcarpathia), Podlaskie, Pomorskie (Pomerania), Slaskie (Silesia), Swietokrzyskie, Warminsko-Mazurskie (Warmia-Masuria), Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland), Zachodniopomorskie (West Pomerania)
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2013 |
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Capital city
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Geographic coordinates
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52 15 N, 21 00 E
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2008 |
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Capital city
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Name
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Warsaw
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2011 |
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Constitution
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several previous; latest adopted 2 April 1997, approved by referendum 25 May 1997, effective 17 October 1997; amended 2006, 2009
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2013 |
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Diplomatic representation from the US
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Mailing address
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American Embassy Warsaw, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5010 (pouch)
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2013 |
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Executive branch
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Cabinet
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Council of Ministers responsible to the prime minister and the Sejm; the prime minister proposes, the president appoints, and the Sejm approves the Council of Ministers
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2013 |
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Executive branch
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Chief of state
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President Bronislaw KOMOROWSKI (since 6 August 2010)
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2013 |
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Executive branch
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Head of government
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Prime Minister Donald TUSK (since 16 November 2007); Deputy Prime Ministers Janusz PIECHOCINSKI (since 6 December 2012) and Elzbieta BIENKOWSKA (since 27 November 2013)
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2013 |
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Government type
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republic
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2013 |
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Judicial branch
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Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary for an indefinite period); Constitutional Tribunal (judges are chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms)
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2012 |
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Legal system
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civil law system; changes gradually being introduced as part of broader democratization process; limited judicial review of legislative acts, but rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are final
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2013 |
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Legislative branch
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bicameral legislature consists of an upper house, the Senate or Senat (100 seats; members elected by a majority vote on a provincial basis to serve four-year terms), and a lower house, the Sejm (460 seats; members elected under a complex system of proportional representation to serve four-year terms); the designation of National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe is only used on those rare occasions when the two houses meet jointly
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2011 |
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Political parties and leaders
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Civic Platform or PO [Donald TUSK, chairman; Rafal GRUPINSKI, parliamentary caucus leader] Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Leszek MILLER, chairman, parliamentary caucus leader] Democratic Party or PD [Andrzej CELINSKI, chairman] Democratic Party or SD [Pawel PISKORSKI, chairman] German Minority of Lower Silesia or MNSO [Ryszard GALLA, representative] Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI, chairman; Mariusz BLASZCZAK, parliamentary caucus leader] League of Polish Families or LPR [Witold BALAZAK, chairman] Palikot's Movement or RP [Janusz PALIKOT, chairman] Poland Comes First or PJN [Pawel KOWAL, chairperson] Polish People's Party or PSL [Janusz PIECHOCINSKI, chairman; Jan BURY, parliamentary caucus leader] Social Democratic Party of Poland or SDPL [Wojciech FILEMONOWICZ, chairman] Union of Labor or UP [Waldemar WITKOWSKI, chairman] United Poland or SP (political grouping of former PiS members, not officially registered) [Arkadiusz MULARCZYK, chairperson; Patrick JAKI, parliamentary caucus leader]
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2013 |
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Political pressure groups and leaders
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All Poland Trade Union Alliance or OPZZ (trade union) [Jan GUZ] Roman Catholic Church [Cardinal Stanislaw DZIWISZ, Archbishop Jozef MICHALIK] Solidarity Trade Union [Piotr DUDA]
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2013 |
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Suffrage
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18 years of age; universal
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2013 |
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