My Country-Poland...ENJOY!

POLAND





This is a short study research on my adopted country Poland.In this Study research,i would highlight and compare poland's HDI against Singapore's HDI,Poland's reasons for its development status in 5 main factors;mainly Historical,physical,political,social/cultural and last but not least,economic.


A brief intro of poland

Poland was officialy renamed The Republic of Poland after gaining its independence in november 1918,It is a country in central Europe and boasts a total land area of 312,679 KM square making it the 69th largest country in the world and 7th largest country in Europe based on land area.Poland also boasts a huge population of 38,518,241[around 38.5 million people] making it the 33rd largest country based on population.Its capital is Warsaw.

International Rankings
Human development index[HDI 2007/2008] ranked 37th out of 177 countries reviewed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index
Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index 2006 Ranked 58th out of 168 countries reviewed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reporters_Without_Borders
Index of Economic Freedom 2006 Ranked 41st out of 157 countries reviewed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_Economic_Freedom_2003-2006
Summary Innovation Index 2005 Ranked 27th out of 33 countries reviewed
UNICEF Child well-being league table Ranked 14th out of 21 countries reviewed
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/6359363.stm
Networked Readiness index 2006/2007 ranked 58th out of 122 countries reviewed
http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gitr/rankings2007.pdf


Frequently asked questions

Question: What is HDI,and what does it measure?
Answer:HDI stands for Human development Index.It is an index used by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to measure the level of development in a country.

Question:So how does it measure the level of development in a country?
Answer:The HDI takes into consideration three main aspects;economic well-being,helath and education standards of a country,which includes economic indicators such as employment structure,health indicators such as life expectancy,and education indicators such as literacy rate.



CASE STUDY

HDI:POLAND VS SINGAPORE

Poland is ranked 37th and Singapore ranked 12 rungs above poland at 25th.Let us compare their different factors that makes them ranked differently.


FACTOR---- Country/score

HDI VALUE POLAND 0.870 VS Singapore 0.922


Life Expectancy POLAND 75.2 years VS Singapore 79.4years
(At Birth)



Adult Literacy Rate POLAND dj VS Singapore 92.5%
(% aged 15 yrs old
and above)


Combined Gross enrolment POLAND 87.2 VS Singapore 87.3
ratio for primary,secondary
and tertiary education


GDP per capita POLAND US$13,847VS SINGAPORE US$29,663




Now,let us take a closer look into the differences in HDI between Poland and Singapore.what makes them so different in terms of ranking?Do certain factors carry more weightage in scoring?

Firstly,lets look at the first factor, The HDI Value.

The HDI values of both countries differs with poland having the lower value of 0.870 and singapore with the higher value of 0.922.Thus,there is no contradictions to the scoring as Singapore has a higher value and thus should be higher ranked.

Secondly,lets look at the second factor, Life expectancy at Birth.

Again,both countries differ again in terms of their statistics.Singapore has a higher life expectancy at 79.4 years and poland with a lower life expectancy at 75.2 years.This means that people living in Singapore can expect to live longer than people living in Poland,thus,Singapore should be higher ranked than Poland.


Thridly,lets look at the third factor,Literacy rate in adults.

Singapore's adult literacy rate is at 92.5%.However,Poland's adult literacy rate is not recorded.Does that mean that Singapore has a higher adult literacy rate and thus should be ranked higher?Not necessarily so.From the HDI rankings,Cuba which is ranked at 51st has an impressive percentage of 99.8% adult literacy rate.Similarly,Georgia which is ranked 41 rungs below singapore at 96 has an impressive adult litracy rate of 100%!Therefore,does it signify that some factors has a higher weightage compared to others?


Fourthly,lets us look at the fourth factor,Combined gross enrolment ratio for primary,secondary and tertiary education.

Both Poland and Singapore have a very close percentage/scoring,with just a 0.1 difference.however,why are they seperated by so many rungs?furthermore,myanmar which is ranked 107 rungs below singapore at 132nd has a higher scoring of 89.9,so why the big difference?Again,does it signify that some factors has a higher weightage compared to others?


Lastly,let us look at the last factor,GDP per Capita.

GDP per Capita of Poland stands in at US$13,847 and Singapore's at US$29,663,thus Singapore should be ranked higher than poland.However,Bahrain's GDP per capita is significantly higher compared to poland at US$21,482,so why is poland ranked higher?lets take a closer look at some other factors that perhaps can tell us the reasons for its development status.


REASONS FOR POLAND'S DEVELOPMENT STATUS

HISTORICAL REASONS

Piast Dynasty(966-1385)
-Poland began to form into a recognizable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the tenth century under the Piast Dynasty.
-People from neighbouring states started migrating to Poland.


Jagiellon Dynasty(1385-1569)
-Poland formed an alliance with its neighbour,The Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
-Polish culture and economy flourished under the Jagiellons.
-Poland was also more tolerant against Religious dissent,allowing it to escape from the turmoil of religious turmoil that affected many parts of Europe.


Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth(1569-1795)
-"golden Age"period of Poland.
-During the golden age,poland expanded quickly to become the largest country in Europe.
-Poland was erased form the Map and its territories were divide into 3 partitions;mainly;Russia,Prussia and Austria.


Partitions Of Poland(1795-1918)
-Poland resent partitioners
-Napoleon recreated a polish state;The duchy of Warsaw
-However,it was again divided during the congress of Vienna


Reconstituition of Poland(1918-1939)
-Poland gained independence as second polish republic after the surrender of Germany.
-Poland reaffirmed her independence with military victories,most notably over the red Army during the Polish-soviet war


World War 2(1939-1945)
-Poland lost the largest percentage of citizens
-contributed the 4th largest military troop
-New poland after the war became 20% smaller.


Postwar Communist Poland(1945-1989)
-Soviet Union introduced a communist government into Poland
-officialy proclaimed The People's Republic of Poland in 1952


Democratic Poland(1989-present)
-A shock therapy programme by Leszek Balcerowicz during the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its economy into a Market economy.
-As with all other post-communist countries, Poland suffered temporary slumps in social and economic standards, but became the first post-communist country to reach its pre-1989 GDP levels.
-Human Rights such as freedom of speech was improved greatly.


Political reasons

Poland practice a social-democratic government with a president as head of state.The government centres on a council of ministers led by a prime minister(somewhat like singapore's)
Polish citizens would get to vote and elect a bicameral government.There are also special committees set up to protect the welfare of the citizens or minority races/religions.


Physical Reasons
Poland boasts a total land area of 312,679 KM square making it the 69th largest country in the world and 7th largest country in Europe based on land area.Poland also boasts a huge population of 38,518,241[around 38.5 million people] making it the 33rd largest country based on population.

Rivers/lakes.
Poland's longest river is called the vistula,it is 1,047 km (678 miles) long.Poland also has one of the highest number of lakes in the world!The largest lakes, covering more than 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles), are Lake Śniardwy and Lake Mamry in Masuria, as well as Lake Łebsko and Lake Drawsko in Pomerania.

Mountains/coasts
Poland has 21 mountains over 2,000 metres (6,561 ft) in elevation, all in the High Tatras.Poland also has many coasts,one of the largest ones is the Polish baltic coast.The Polish Baltic coast is approximately 528 kilometres (328 miles) long.

Land use
Forests cover 28% of Poland’s land area. More than half of the land is devoted to agriculture uses.More than 1% of Poland’s territory — 3,145 square kilometres (1,214 square miles) — is protected within 23 national parks. In this respect, Poland ranks first in Europe!

Climate
The climate is mostly temperate throughout the country. The climate is oceanic in the north and west and becomes gradually warmer and continental as one moves south and east.


social/cultural reasons
Polish culture has been influenced by both eastern and western influences. Today, these influences are evident in Polish architecture,art, and folklore.

The Arts/music
The character of polish art are always reflected in world trends.Many world renowned polish movie directors includes academy award winners.There are also many world-reknowed musicians/composers.

Gastronomy
Notable foods in Polish cuisine includes Polish sausages, red beet soup and polish dumplings.Polish people also like eating potatoes ad thus potatoes can be found almost in every meal they eat. Traditional Polish desserts includes polish doughnuts and polish gingerbread.


Economical Reasons
Poland is considered to have the strongest economy of all Central and Eastern European countries with her strong GDP growth.Since the fall of communism, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberlising the economy and today stands out as a successful example of the transition from a state-directed economy to a primarily privately owned market.Poland has a large number of private farms in its agricultural sector, with the potential to become a leading producer of food in the European Union.Structural reforms in certain areas also saw Poland's potential in emerging as a leading powerhouse.


CONCLUSION:
Limitations of the HDI
Though the HDI is widely used to indicate and assess the level of development in a country,we have to bear in mind that it does not provide an accurate assessment of all the countries as shown above.

The HDI is most accurate when it is used to assess the DCs[developed countries]This is so as it is easier to obtain data neede to calculate the HDI.

WE must also recognize that the HDI fails to take into consideration the measurement of human rights and freedom and also,how fast the country is developing.

As such, i do hope that my short study research has given you a Bigger insight to my adopted country Poland and most importantly on the HDI index.



A study Research By :Ng Jhia Jhin Daren(23)
sec-4E2
Group 6



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