Religion, Economy, and Role of Women in Poland - Essay Example

Running Head: Poland Poland Poland Introduction Officially, the country is called the Republic of Poland or Rzeczpospolita Polska (in Polish) lies in the central Europe. Poland emerged on the map of the world in 1025 as a kingdom, and in 1569 it merged with Polish-Lithuanian common wealth countries. After the collapse of the common wealth in 1975, the country was partitioned among Austria and Russia. After the World War I, it gained independence, but again in the World War II, it was occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union. In 1982, the communist rule collapsed in Poland and it became a unitary state which is known as" Third Polish Republic". It became the member of NATO and the European Union in 1999 and 2004, respectively. The national language of Poland is Polish and its total covered area is around 312,685 sq Km. (Poland Introduction, 2001) Religion Poland is known as the most religious country of Europe. About 90% of the total population is the Roman Catholic, while Protestants, Jehovah's witnesses, Polish Orthodox, Polish Catholics, Muslims and Jews are in minorities. The Eastern Orthodox are 1% of the total population while Protestants are 0.3% and others are 0.8%; according to an estimation made in 2002. The last pope of the Roman Catholic church Pope John Paul II also belongs from Poland - before the Pope Benedict. The Roman Catholic religion is dominated in the country and it is also a part of the curriculum - in the education sector. (Religion in Poland, 2008) Economy Economically, Poland is a sound country and growing day by day. The Poland's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased 6.1% in 2006. After the rejection of communism, Poland adopted the policy of liberalism which successfully worked and supported the economy to rise. The liberal laws helped in the development of the private sector and many medium and small industries were privatized. Several important sectors were also privatized including; steel, coal, railway and power generation. In the year 2000, the national telecom was also privatized and sold to France which is considered as the biggest privatization ever made, by the year 2007. Main Industries include; mining, textile, shipbuilding, glass and beverages. With the growing GDP rate since 1993, Poland has potential to become largest food producer among the European Union countries in agriculture sector. Various private farms are producing fruits, vegetables and specially potatoes. Poultry, eggs, and pork are also monitored by the same farms. The currency of Poland is called Zloty. Poland is continuously bringing reforms in its economic policies to fulfill the criteria of adopting euro (European single currency). It is said that by 2012, Poland will be able to adopt euro. In Poland, salaries are low and the ratio of unemployment is high, one of the reason is; the economic crises in the Soviet Union and Germany (the biggest trade partners of Poland). People have started to move to other European Union countries mostly to UK and Ireland. With the continuous reforms it is expected that soon this problem will also be overcome. (Diziadosiz and Stasiak, 2004) Role of Women During the era of 1970, the work force of Poland basically comprises of women. Poland government gave more opportunities to female in education and employment. In many major professions, the rate of women was higher than men. During 1980, most of the medical practitioners were women. On the other hand, women were kept completely at bay from the posts of power and authority. However, Poland elected its first Prime Minister, Hanna Suchocka in 1992, but the interesting fact is that there was not a single woman in her government. During the same year another woman, Eva lelowska became the head of the National Bank of Poland. Though, women played remarkable role on all the labor positions but male dominance always remain hurdle for them to reach and gain higher positions. State institutions helped many women to do two full time jobs due to the lack of their husband's contribution in family affairs. Women of Poland are still facing gender discrimination on many places. (The role of women, 1992) Population The total estimated population of Poland is 38,500,696. Poland is experiencing the lower fertility and birth rate, the population growth rate is estimated as 0.045% only. Females have higher life expectancy rate than males. An estimated death rate of Poland in 2008 was 9.99 deaths/1000 people. During 1990, the death rate due to cardiovascular diseases, cervix cancer, AIDS remained lower while death rate due to cerebrovascular disease and different cancers remained higher. Most common infectious diseases in Poland are food borne diseases, vector borne diseases and avian influenza. Other causes of death are homicides and suicides; due to many social and economical reasons. The rate of AIDS patients is lower in Poland than the other European countries. (Poland, 2008) Family Planning The family planning policies by the government are limited. Due to the low birth rate, artificial abortions are banned in the country even than most of the pregnancies ends on illegal abortions. Couples try to have late pregnancies due to the lack of family allowances or expanded family allowances by the government; as given in the other countries of Europe. Most of the mothers want to have less than three children due to their poor conditions and job hurdles. In 2001 the birth rate of the country fell below zero. Diet Due to the high rate of unemployment, many people in the rural areas of Poland are living a difficult life. Many people of these areas suffer from lack of food. According to a data collected by the United Nation Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than 2.5% of the total population of Poland is under nourished. (Food Security Statistics, 2006) Education The early history of Poland tells us that education was given a high importance in every period of the country. People were fond of good books and literature. Today, this love for education has made it the most educated country of Europe. From 1935 to 1938, just before the World War II, the enrollment in schools was low due to the high tuition fees and other related things. But the communism rule brought the drastic changes in the educational world of Poland. They made certain reforms in the educational policies and made education free and compulsory for all. A uniform curriculum was set for all the rural and urban regions of the country and stress was given on the scientific education to meet the future challenges. In 1961, the agricultural or vocational education made compulsory to grow the man power for the economy of the country on one hand, and to solve the problem of unemployment on the other. Today, several educational institutions and traditional universities are present all over the country where education is being given in all fields. The education sector alone employs about 61,000 workers. Poland is also producing a high number of scientists and researchers that are the best investment for the economy of Poland. Due to the splendid work in the field of research and development, Poland has become the center of many large and renowned companies all over the world. (Awiatowy, 2004) Culture The Polish art and architecture are highly influenced by the western culture. The land of Poland raised and nurtured many renowned artists, painters, novelists, musicians, actors and actresses. The Polish literature has its own importance among the western world; many writers of Poland also won Nobel Prizes in literature, and brought fame to their country. (Culture of Poland, 2009) Conclusion Poland is a country of rich culture and a land of many famous people. The country had seen many ups and down, but now it is striving to achieve a strong hold in the European world by using the weapons of its economy and education. Though, Poland is still facing some problems in the health and economic sectors, but still has not faced defeat on this front. The future of Poland is bright and it can easily make its position strong among the countries of the European Union. References Awiatowy. B (2004), "Tertiary education in Poland", The world bank, Poland, Warsaw office edition I, Report Nr 29718. Retrieved March 27, 2009, from http://sitesources.worldbank.org/INTECAREGTopeducation/Resources/PolandTertiary Education.pdf Culture of Poland (2009), Word IQ.Com. Retrieved March 27, 2009, from www.wordiq.com/definition/culture-of-poland Dziadosiz.M, Stasiak.K (2004) Poland's Economy. Retrieved March 27, 2009, from http://www.kmm-language.com/poland_00000a.htm Food Security Statistics (2006). The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nation, Statistic Division. Retrieved March 27, 2009, from http://www.fao.org/sof/sofi/index_en.htm Poland Introduction (2001). Retrieved March 27, 2009, from http://workmall.com./wfb2001/poland/poland-history.html Poland (2008), CIA- The world Fact Book. Retrieved March 27, 2009, from. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/pl.html Religion in Poland (2008). Retrieved March 27, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Poland The role of women (1992). Poland-A country Study. Retrieved March 27, 2009, from http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-10630.html Read More