The political system in Poland is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997. In accordance with the Constitution:

• The legislative power is exercised by a two-chamber Parliament which includes the Sejm and the Senat, elected for a 4-year term.
  • The Sejm is the lower chamber of the Parliament and consists of 460 members elected according to the proportional election system. It exercises the legislative power and supervises the government.
  • The Senat, the upper chamber of the Parliament re-established in 1989, has 100 members elected according to the majority system.  Its legislative power is limited to the legislative initiative and proposals of amendments to bills passed by the Sejm.
• The executive power is exercised by the President and the Council of Ministers.
• The President is the head of state, safeguards the sovereignty and security of the State and the inviolability and integrity of its territory, and ensures the observance of the Constitution. The President is elected by the nation in free, general and direct elections for a 5-year term.
• The Council of Ministers is responsible for internal and foreign policies and manages the government administration. The Council is responsible for all policies which are not reserved for other state or local government bodies.
• The territorial organisation of the country provides for the decentralisation of government.
• Poland is divided into 16 provinces or regions (województwo), 380 districts (powiat) and 2,477 communes (gmina). The territorial division is defined in the Act of 24 July 1998 on the Introduction of the Basic Three-tier Territorial Division (ustawa z 24 lipca 1998 r. o wprowadzeniu zasadniczego trójstopniowego podziału terytorialnego).
• The head or governor of the province (wojewoda) represents the Council of Ministers in a given region. The governor supervises the institutions performing the tasks entrusted to the State. The regional education authorities (kuratorium oświaty) are included in the regional administration and are responsible for pedagogical supervision over schools.
• Following the 1998 administration and local government reforms, the province governors are mainly responsible for supervision and control. Governance at regional level falls within the remit of local government bodies: the marshal and the council of the province.
• The local government takes part in exercising public authority. A major part of the local government’s public tasks are performed in its own name and on its own responsibility. The three levels of local government which have existed since 1999 are: commune (gmina), district (powiat) and province (województwo).

As laid down in the Constitution, the commune (gmina) is the basic local government body. Its remit includes all public matters of local relevance which are not reserved by Acts of Parliament for other bodies. Communes cater to the needs of the local community in a number of areas, including healthcare, welfare, culture and education. They administer nursery schools (przedszkole), and primary schools (szkoła podstawowa). They operate in accordance with the Act of 8 March 1990 on the Commune-level Local Government (ustawa z 8 marca 1990 r. o samorządzie gminnym).

The district (powiat) was established on 1 January 1999 as the second level of local government. Each district supports communes within its territory in performing all functions which extend beyond the capacity and remit of the latter. The responsibilities of a district include administering upper secondary schools and hospitals and managing public roads. It is also responsible for combating unemployment and for the protection of consumers’ rights. Districts operate in accordance with the Act of 5 June 1998 on the District-level Local Government (ustawa z 5 czerwca 1998 r. o samorządzie powiatowym).

The self-governing province (województwo) was established on 1 January 1999 as the third level of local government. It is responsible for regional economic and social development. The tasks of self-governing provinces include the establishment and administration of public initial and in-service teacher training institutions, educational resources centres, and schools and institutions operating at regional and supra-regional levels. Their remit does not undermine the independence of the districts and communes. They operate in accordance with the Act of 5 June 1998 on the Province-level Local Government (ustawa z 5 czerwca 1998 r. o samorządzie województwa).

Population: Demographic Situation, Languages and Religions

Demographic situation

Around 38.0 million people in Poland inhabit an area of 312,685 square kilometres. The average density of the population is 123 people per square kilometre. The Silesia region has the highest population density index: 366 people per square kilometre. The Podlasie province and the Warmia-Mazuria province have the lowest density indices (58 and 59 people per square kilometre respectively).

Starting in the post-war period, highly dynamic demographic processes were observed in Poland, with the number of inhabitants increasing by 14 million between 1946 and 1988. Since 1989 the country has seen a process of limited replacement of generations. In 1999 a decline in the population was recorded for the first time, lasting for 9 years. It was mainly caused by a drop in the number of births and a negative balance in international migration for permanent residence. The year 2008 was the first one in 11 years when a positive net growth of population was recorded: the number of inhabitants grew by nearly 20,000 compared to the previous year. The population also increased between 2009 and 2012, which was due to the growing number of births and a diminishing negative balance in permanent international migration (a rapid increase in permanent migration flows was recorded in 2006). The year 2013 was the first one with no population growth. Between 2013 and 2019, the population of Poland declined, except in 2017 when a slight growth was recorded. At the end of 2019, the population reached approximately 38,383,000.

The recently observed demographic changes indicate that it may take Poland many years to overcome a deep demographic depression. The fertility rate remains low, although it improved significantly in the last two years. It grew from 1.29 in 2015 to 1,419 in 2019 (which means that 142 children were born per 100 women aged 15-49).

The deep demographic depression of the 1990s and a high level of emigration (mostly young people), especially since 2004, will soon lead to increasing difficulties in the demographic development, on the labour market and in the social security system. According to the long-term demographic prognosis for the period up to 2035, the number of Poles will decrease steadily and the rate of the decrease will grow. The process of ageing of the Polish society will accelerate. The proportion of the post-working age population will increase. The so-called demographic burden index (the ratio of the post-working age population to the working age population) will increase from 55 in 2007 to 73 in 2035. The index reached 67 in 2019.

Population by age

Source: Central Statistical Office, Concise Statistical Yearbook 2020 (publication in Polish and English), https://stat.gov.pl/en/

Migration

Temporary migration estimates show large-scale economic migration of Poles to other EU countries. Following a visible decrease in the number of Poles temporarily staying abroad between 2008 and 2010, the number of Polish immigrants in other countries increased in the subsequent years and has recently begun to decline again. At the end of 2018, around 2,455,000 Polish citizens lived temporarily abroad, which shows a decrease by 85,000 (3%) compared to 2017. However, the number of Poles deregistering their permanent residence in Poland when going abroad has been decreasing for a few years now. The year 2016 was the first one in the period considered here when the net permanent migration balance for Poland reached a positive value (1,500 people). In 2020, the net migration balance was also positive and amounted to 4,500 people.

Source:

• Informacja o rozmiarach i kierunkach czasowej emigracji z Polski w latach 2004-2018 (Information on the scale and directions of temporary migration from Poland between 2004 and 2018) (publication in Polish only), Central Statistical Office (GUS) 2019;

• size and structure and vital statistics in Poland by territorial division in 2020. Data for 31 December 2020 (publication in Polish and English), Central Statistical Office (GUS), 2020.

Unemployment

The unemployment rate in Poland has dropped significantly over the last 10 years. Reaching 18% in 2005, it was much higher than the EU average (9%). In 2019, the unemployment rate of 3.3% in Poland was lower than the European (EU-28) average of 6.3%. The youth unemployment rate (for young people up to 25 years of age) of 9.9% was lower than the EU average by around 4.5%.

Source: Eurostat

Official and minority languages

The Polish language is the official language in Poland. as stated in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland (KonstytucjaRzeczypospolitej Polskiej) and the Act of 7 October 1999 on the Polish Language (ustawa o języku polskim z dnia 7 października 1999 r.).

Compared to other European countries, Poland is very homogenous in terms of nationality or ethnicity. It is estimated that no more than 3% of the total population are national minorities. The years since 1989 have seen a rebirth of national and ethnic identity among the minorities. The network of schools teaching in languages of national minorities or offering additional classes in these languages to pupils from national minorities has been steadily developing – the number of such schools has increased four-fold since 1990.

The right of minorities to protect, preserve and develop their cultural identity is guaranteed by the Constitution and the Act of 6 January 2005 on the Ethnic and National Minorities and on the Regional Language (ustawa z 6 stycznia 2005 r. o mniejszościach narodowych i etnicznych oraz o języku regionalnym). The latter defines tasks and powers of the state administration and local government bodies with respect to the exercise of the rights of ethnic and national minorities.

The Act identifies:

• 9 national minorities: Byelorussian, Czech, Lithuanian, German, Armenian, Russian, Slovak, Ukrainian and Jewish;
• 4 ethnic minorities: Karaim, Lemko, Romany and Tatar;
• one community using the regional language of the Kashubians.

The ethnic and national minorities exercise their rights to learning the minority language or education in the minority language and learning the history and culture of the minority in accordance with the principles laid down in the School Education Act of 7 September 1991 (ustawa z 7 września 1991 r. o systemie oświaty).

Pursuant to Article 13 of the School Education Act, a public school enables pupils / students to preserve their national, ethnic, linguistic and religious identity and, in particular, to learn their history and culture. At parents' request, the teaching may be organised in:

1. separate groups, classes and schools;
2. groups, classes and schools with additional language, history and culture classes;
3. interschool teaching units.

Detailed arrangements for this kind of provision are laid down in the Regulation of the Minister of National Education of 18 August 2017 on the conditions and methods for public nursery schools, schools and educational institutions to perform tasks aimed at preserving the national, ethnic and linguistic identity of pupils from national and ethnic minorities and the community using the regional language (rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji Narodowej z 18 sierpnia 2017 r. w sprawie warunków i sposobu wykonywania przez przedszkola, szkoły i placówki publiczne zadań umożliwiających podtrzymywanie poczucia tożsamości narodowej, etnicznej i językowej uczniów należących do mniejszości narodowych i etnicznych oraz społeczności posługującej się językiem regionalnym).

In the school year 2018/2019, the following numbers of pupils / students were learning their mother tongue other than Polish:

• 70,700 pupils in 1,065 primary schools (szkoła podstawowa);
• 800 students in 76 lower secondary schools (gimnazjum);
• 1,900 students in 71 post-primary and upper secondary schools.

The German national minority was the largest national minority represented in schools. In the school year 2018/2019, there were in total 569 primary schools in Poland which conducted classes for German minority pupils / students. They represented 53.4% of all primary schools teaching national and ethnic minority languages (as compared to 51.8% in the previous school year).

(Education in the 2018/2019 school year (publication in Polish and English), Central  Statistical Office, 2019).  

Religions

The freedom of conscience and the freedom of religion are guaranteed by the Constitution. Churches of all denominations and the State are independent and autonomous. There is no official religion in Poland.

The Roman Catholic Church is the biggest church in Poland. The overwhelming majority (around 87%) of the population are Roman-Catholic if the number of the baptised is taken as the criterion (33 million of baptised people in 2013). The Catholic Church also includes the Uniate Church (Greek-Catholic) with the congregation of approximately 55,000 members.

The Orthodox Church has a congregation of 550,000 members (1.4% of the population). There are about thirty Protestant Churches with a congregation above 150,000 members (0.4% of the population), the biggest one in this group being the Evangelical-Augsburg Church (more than 61,000 members). There also exist about 20 Churches or other religious congregations, which bring together a total number of several dozen to more than 5,000 followers (the only exception is Jehovah witnesses with 125,000 members).

Although the Roman Catholic Church is the largest one, its legal relations with the State were not regulated for a long time (in contrast to other Churches and religions). The agreement (Concordat) between the Holy See and the Republic of Poland was ratified by the Sejm on 8 January 1998 and subsequently signed by the President.

With regard to education, the most important provision of the Concordat is that the State guarantees the teaching of religion (as an optional subject), at parents’ and students’ request, in public schools (preschool education institutions, primary and secondary schools).

Detailed rules for the teaching of religion are laid down by the Regulation of the Minister of National Education of 14 April 1992 on conditions and procedures for the organisation of religion lessons in public schools (rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji Narodowej z dnia 14 kwietnia 1992 r. w sprawie warunków i sposobu organizowania nauki religii w szkołach publicznych) and the Regulation of the Minister of National Education of 3 April 2019 on outline timetables (rozporządzenie Ministra Edukacji Narodowej z dnia 3 kwietnia 2019 r. w sprawie ramowych planów nauczania w szkołach publicznych). Pursuant to the provisions which came into force on 1 September 2012, religion and ethics lessons are not automatically compulsory for pupils / students but become so upon a request submitted by pupils’ / students’ parents. The same rule applies to, for example, the teaching of minority languages and the regional language.