PLN

Exchange rates:

zlotych (PLN) per US dollar - 2.81 (2007), 3.1032 (2006), 3.2355 (2005), 3.6576 (2004), 3.8891 (2003) note: zlotych is the plural form of zloty

Communications
Poland

Telephones - main lines in use:

10.336 million (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

41.389 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: modernization of the telecommunications network has accelerated with market based competition finalized in 2003; fixed-line service, dominated by the former state-owned company, is dwarfed by the growth in wireless telephony domestic: mobile-cellular service available since 1993 and provided by three nation-wide networks with a fourth provider beginning operations in late 2006; cellular coverage is generally good with some gaps in the east; fixed-line service is growing slowly and still lags in rural areas international: country code - 48; international direct dialing with automated exchanges; satellite earth station - 1 with access to Intelsat, Eutelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik (2007)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 14, FM 777, shortwave 1 (1998)

Radios:

20.2 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

40 (2006)

Televisions:

13.05 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.pl

Internet hosts:

7.808 million (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

19 (2000)

Internet users:

16 million (2007)

Transportation
Poland

Airports:

123 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 83 over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 30 1,524 to 2,437 m: 39 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 3 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 40 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 22 (2007)

Heliports:

7 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 13,552 km; oil 1,384 km; refined products 777 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 23,072 km broad gauge: 629 km 1.524-m gauge standard gauge: 22,443 km 1.435-m gauge (20,555 km operational; 11,910 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways:

total: 423,997 km paved: 295,356 km (includes 662 km of expressways) unpaved: 128,641 km (2006)

Waterways:

3,997 km (navigable rivers and canals) (2006)

Merchant marine:

total: 15 by type: cargo 8, chemical tanker 4, passenger/cargo 1, roll on/roll off 1, vehicle carrier 1 foreign-owned: 2 (Cyprus 1, Nigeria 1) registered in other countries: 98 (Antigua and Barbuda 2, Bahamas 17, Cyprus 18, Liberia 13, Malta 24, Norway 3, Panama 11, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Slovakia 2, Vanuatu 7) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Gdansk, Gdynia, Swinoujscie, Szczecin

Military
Poland

Military branches:

Polish Armed Forces: Land Forces (includes Navy (Marynarka Wojenna,
MW)), Polish Air Force (Sily Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej,
SPRP) (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

17 years of age for male compulsory military service after January 1st of the year of 18th birthday; 17 years of age for voluntary military service; conscript service obligation shortened from 12 to 9 months in 2005; by 2008, plans call for at least 60% of military personnel to be volunteers; only soldiers who have completed their conscript service are allowed to volunteer for professional service; as of April 2004, women are only allowed to serve as officers and noncommissioned officers (2006)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 9,741,508 females age 16-49: 9,514,843 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 7,937,840 females age 16-49: 7,949,677 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 257,605 female: 245,832 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

1.71% of GDP (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues
Poland

Disputes - international:

as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Poland has implemented the strict Schengen border rules to restrict illegal immigration and trade along its eastern borders with Belarus and Ukraine

Illicit drugs:

despite diligent counternarcotics measures and international information sharing on cross-border crimes, a major illicit producer of synthetic drugs for the international market; minor transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and Latin American cocaine to Western Europe

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

@Portugal

Introduction
Portugal

Background:

Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.

Geography
Portugal

Location:

Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of
Spain

Geographic coordinates: