Factbook
Histoire de Pologne — Chronologie
Dates clés de l'histoire de Pologne, d'après le Factbook Magna et l'Encyclopédie universelle.
1772During the 18th century, internal disorder weakened the nation, and in a series of agreements between 1772 and 1795, Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland among themselves.
1918Independence: 11 November 1918 (republic proclaimed); notable earlier dates: 14 April 966 (adoption of Christianity, traditional founding date), 1 July 1569 (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth created).
1918Poland regained its independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union in World War II.
1980Labor turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union Solidarity that over time became a political force with over 10 million members.
1989Free elections in 1989 and 1990 won Solidarity control of the parliament and the presidency, bringing the communist era to a close.
1999Poland joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004.
2011Languages: Polish (official) 98.2%, Silesian 1.4%, other 1.1%, unspecified 1.2% (2011 est.) Religions: Roman Catholic 70.7%, refused to answer 20.9%, no religion 6.9%; less than 1 percent: Orthodox, Jehovah Witness, Evangelic of Augsburg, Greek Catholic, Pentecostal, other Protestant, not stated, old Catholic Mariavite Church, other Christians, Islam, Buddhist, Polish Catholic Chu Urban population: 60.2% of total population (2023).
2023Generation mix — fossil fuels: 72.7% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); solar: 6.9% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); wind: 14.4% of total installed capacity (2023 est.); hydroelectricity: 1.1% of total installed capacity (2023 est.) Energy use: 103.651 million Btu/person (2023 est.).
2023Industries: machine building, iron and steel, coal mining, chemicals, shipbuilding, food processing, glass, beverages, textiles Agriculture: sugar beets, milk, wheat, maize, potatoes, triticale, apples, rapeseed, barley, rye (2023) Electricity access: 100% (2022 est.).
2023Major urban areas: 1.798 million WARSAW (capital), 769,000 Krakow (2023) high-income, diversified, EU-member economy; significant growth in GDP, trade, and investment since joining EU in 2004; private consumption and EU-funded public investments driving GDP growth; increased social spending, flooding recovery costs, and defense spending have added to public debt Inflation: 3.8% (2024 est.).
2024Population: 38.7 million (2024 estimate).
2025Military spending: 4.5% of GDP (2025 est.).
