Warsaw is a relative latecomer on the urban scene. Not until 1413, when the prince of Mazovia made Warsaw his permanent residence, did it become a town of any importance. Following the union of Poland and Lithuania in 1569, the parliament voted to move from Cracow to Warsaw, and in 1596 King Sigismund III made it his capital. With its new status came increasing prosperity—the 18th century became something of a golden age for the city, when it flourished as a centre of artistic and cultural life.

The city’s fortunes took a serious turn for the worse in 1795 when Poland was partitioned by the Russian, German and Austrian empires. Warsaw became little more than a provincial town and industrial development largely passed it by. Capital status wasn’t returned until the end of the First World War, when Poland received its independence. There followed a period of rapid expansion and by 1939, the city had
1.3 million inhabitants, of which 380,000 were Jews.

The Nazi attack of September 1939 was the beginning of the most tragic phase in Warsaw’s history. The uprising of 1944 brought about the virtual annihilation of the city as the Nazis systematically blew it up, street by street.

Once it became part of the USSR, Soviet reconstruction produced a uniform blandness that is only now being superseded. Since 1989, and more recently with Poland’s accession to the EU, the city has been at the heart of some of the most impressive economic growth in Europe.

POLITICS

Poland is a parliamentary democracy with a bicameral legislature. The lower house (Sejm) has 460 members elected by proportional representation. The upper house (Senate) has 100 members elected by majority vote. Parliamentary elections take place every four years, presidential elections every five years. The prime minister is appointed by the president with confirmation from the Sejm. The most recent parliamentary and presidential elections took place in September and October 2005 respectively.

Since the fall of Communism in 1989, national government has been characterised by coalitions between the leading parties—which don’t always see eye to eye. In recent years this has led to frequent changes of prime minister, allegations of corruption and unearthing of questionable activities during the Soviet era.

Of the multitude of political parties in the country, the following are some of the most notable: Law and Justice (PiS), right-wingers who advocate strong law and order legislation and topped the polls in the 2005 election; Civic Platform (PO), runners-up in the elections and centre-right democrats made up of many former members of Solidarity and the parties which derived from it; the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), which includes ex-Communists who now describe themselves as social democrats; the Polish Peasants’ Party (PSL), a left-wing movement representing Poland’s large farming sector; and Samoobrona (Self Defence), a radical farmers’ party which aims to reverse market reforms.

RELIGION

Almost 90% of Poles are Roman Catholic, of whom 75% are practising.

The remaining 10% are predominantly Eastern Orthodox or Protestant with a tiny minority of Jews. Following the election of the Polish Pope John Paul II in 1978, the Catholic Church grew to be a vital social and cultural force in Polish society, playing a central role in the downfall of Communism. In recent years, however, esteem for Catholicism and the church has begun to decline somewhat, especially among the younger generation.

ECONOMY

Warsaw is Poland’s key financial and business centre and most major Polish companies and international investors are located here. On the international scene, these include General Motors, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Nestlé and Procter & Gamble. Warsaw’s economy is based predominantly on the service sector, which is responsible for employing more than 70% of the workforce. Recent years have seen particular development in banking and finance.

Since Poland embraced market reforms, the manufacturing sector in Warsaw has been through a number of changes. The blue-collar workforce has shrunk considerably, as has the number of state-owned companies, while the number of foreign companies has continually increased.

Warsaw has the lowest unemployment rate in Poland, which averages 17.7% nationally. The city attracts an educated workforce from all over Poland and is reaping the benefits of an expanding communications infrastructure and an ever-increasing standard of living.

POPULATION

The city of Warsaw has a population of
1.6 million and a total of 2.2 million live in the greater metropolitan area. The vast majority (97.6%) of the population are white and ethnically Polish. Only 1.3% are of German ethnicity, 0.6% Ukrainian and 0.5% Belarussian. In the past decade the city has been attracting people from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds, particularly from South-east Asia. A variety of different nationalities can also be found in the city’s extensive student population. Current statistics put 62.4% of the capital’s population into the productive age bracket.