Poland: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Nov. 9, 2026

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Correction: Poland-Shooting story • Nov. 9, 2026, 5:20 AM ET (AP)

Also Known As	Polska • Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa • Polish People’s Republic • Polska Rzeczpospolita • Republic of Poland • Rzeczpospolita Polska • Rzeczpospolita Polska Ludowa
Head Of Government	Prime Minister: Donald Tusk
Capital	Warsaw
Population	(2026 est.) 37,253,000
Currency Exchange Rate	1 USD equals 3.983 Polish zloty
Head Of State	President: Andrzej Duda
Form Of Government	unitary multiparty republic with two legislative houses (Senate [100]; Sejm [460])
Official Language	Polish
Official Religion	none¹
Official Name	Rzeczpospolita Polska (Republic of Poland)
Total Area (Sq Km)	311,895
Total Area (Sq Mi)	120,423
Monetary Unit	złoty (zł)
Population Rank	(2026) 40
Population Projection 2030	37,663,000
Density: Persons Per Sq Mi	(2026) 309.4
Density: Persons Per Sq Km	(2026) 119.4
Urban-Rural Population	Urban: (2022) 59.7% • Rural: (2022) 40.3%
Life Expectancy At Birth	Male: (2024) 74.9 years • Female: (2024) 82.3 years
Gni (U.S.$ ’000,000)	(2024) 789,486
Gni Per Capita (U.S.$)	(2024) 21,590
¹Roman Catholicism has special recognition per 1997 concordat with Vatican City.

Poland is located in the exact geographical center of the European continent.
There has only ever been one Polish pope. Pope John Paul II, born Karol J�zef WojtyBa, was born in Wadowice, Poland and served as pope from October 16, 1978 until his death on April 2, 2005.
Poland is the first European country and second country overall to have written a constitution, although the constitution has changed (as recently as 1997).
Poland's flag is divided between two equally sized horizontal strips, with white on top and red on bottom. Its flag is thus extremely similar to those of Monaco and Indonesia, which are in the reverse orientation, and that of Singapore, which is in the reverse orientation but with a crescent and stars in the top half.
On September 1, 1939, Poland was invaded by Germany despite never having made a declaration of war, igniting World War II. It remained the only European country to neither cooperate with nor surrender a battle to the Nazis.