Poland vs. Ukraine
Government
| Poland | Ukraine | |
|---|---|---|
| Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Poland conventional short form: Poland local long form: Rzeczpospolita Polska local short form: Polska former: Polish People's Republic etymology: name derives from the Polanians, a west Slavic tribe that united several surrounding Slavic groups (9th-10th centuries A.D.) and who passed on their name to the country; the name of the tribe likely comes from the Slavic "pole" (field or plain), indicating the flat nature of their country | conventional long form: none conventional short form: Ukraine local long form: none local short form: Ukraina former: Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic etymology: name derives from the Old East Slavic word "ukraina" meaning "borderland or march (militarized border region)" and began to be used extensively in the 19th century; originally Ukrainians referred to themselves as Rusyny (Rusyns, Ruthenians, or Ruthenes), an endonym derived from the medieval Rus state (Kyivan Rus) |
| Government type | parliamentary republic | semi-presidential republic |
| Capital | name: Warsaw geographic coordinates: 52 15 N, 21 00 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October etymology: the origin of the name is unknown; the Polish designation "Warszawa" was the name of a fishing village and several legends/traditions link the city's founding to a man named Wars or Warsz | name: Kyiv (Kiev) geographic coordinates: 50 26 N, 30 31 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October note: pronounced KAY-yiv etymology: the name is associated with that of Kyi, who along with his brothers Shchek and Khoryv, and their sister Lybid, are the legendary founders of the medieval city of Kyiv; Kyi being the eldest brother, the city was named after him |
| Administrative divisions | 16 voivodships [provinces] (wojewodztwa, singular - wojewodztwo); Dolnoslaskie (Lower Silesia), Kujawsko-Pomorskie (Kuyavia-Pomerania), Lodzkie (Lodz), Lubelskie (Lublin), Lubuskie (Lubusz), Malopolskie (Lesser Poland), Mazowieckie (Masovia), Opolskie (Opole), Podkarpackie (Subcarpathia), Podlaskie, Pomorskie (Pomerania), Slaskie (Silesia), Swietokrzyskie (Holy Cross), Warminsko-Mazurskie (Warmia-Masuria), Wielkopolskie (Greater Poland), Zachodniopomorskie (West Pomerania) | 24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities** (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status; Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol), Dnipropetrovsk (Dnipro), Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad (Kropyvnytskyi), Kyiv**, Kyiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol**, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn (Lutsk), Zakarpattia (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr note: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses); plans include the eventual renaming of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad oblasts, but because these names are mentioned in the Constitution of Ukraine, the change will require a constitutional amendment note: the US Government does not recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the municipality of Sevastopol, nor their redesignation as the "Republic of Crimea" and the "Federal City of Sevastopol" |
| Independence | 11 November 1918 (republic proclaimed); notable earlier dates: 14 April 966 (adoption of Christianity, traditional founding date), 1 July 1569 (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth created) | 24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: ca. 982 (VOLODYMYR I consolidates Kyivan Rus); 1199 (Principality (later Kingdom) of Ruthenia formed; 1648 (establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate); 22 January 1918 (from Soviet Russia) |
| National holiday | Constitution Day, 3 May (1791) | Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918, the day Ukraine first declared its independence from Soviet Russia, and the date the short-lived Western and Greater (Eastern) Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day |
| Constitution | history: several previous; latest adopted 2 April 1997, approved by referendum 25 May 1997, effective 17 October 1997 amendments: proposed by at least one fifth of Sejm deputies, by the Senate, or by the president of the republic; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote in the Sejm and absolute majority vote in the Senate; amendments to articles relating to sovereignty, personal freedoms, and constitutional amendment procedures also require passage by majority vote in a referendum; amended 2006, 2009 | history: several previous; latest adopted and ratified 28 June 1996 amendments: proposed by the president of Ukraine or by at least one third of the Supreme Council members; adoption requires simple majority vote by the Council and at least two-thirds majority vote in its next regular session; adoption of proposals relating to general constitutional principles, elections, and amendment procedures requires two-thirds majority vote by the Council and approval in a referendum; constitutional articles on personal rights and freedoms, national independence, and territorial integrity cannot be amended; amended several times, last in 2019 |
| Legal system | civil law system; judicial review of legislative, administrative, and other governmental acts; constitutional law rulings of the Constitutional Tribunal are final | civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Andrzej DUDA (since 6 August 2015) head of government: Prime Minister Mateusz MORAWIECKI (since 11 December 2017); Deputy Prime Ministers Piotr GLINSKI and Jaroslaw GOWIN (since 16 November 2015), Jacek SASIN (since 4 June 2019) cabinet: Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, appointed by the president, and approved by the Sejm elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 28 June 2020 with a second round on 12 July 2020 (next to be held in 2025); prime minister, deputy prime ministers, and Council of Ministers appointed by the president and confirmed by the Sejm election results: Andrzej DUDA reelected president in runoff; percent of vote - Andrzej DUDA (independent) 51%, Rafal TRZASKOWSKI (KO) 49% | chief of state: President Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (since 20 May 2019) head of government: Prime Minister Denys SHMYHAL (since 4 March 2020) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, approved by the Verkhovna Rada elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 31 March and 21 April 2019 (next to be held in March 2024); prime minister selected by the Verkhovna Rada election results: first round results: percent of vote - Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (Servant of the People) 30.2%, Petro POROSHENKO (BPP-Solidarity) 15.6%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (Fatherland) 13.4%, Yuriy BOYKO (Opposition Platform-For Life) 11.7%, 35 other candidates 29.1%; second round results: percent of vote - Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (Servant of the People) 73.2%, Petro POROSHENKO (BPP-Solidarity) 24.5%; Denys SHMYHAL (independent) elected prime minister; Verkhovna Rada vote - 291-59 note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a presidential administration helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president |
| Legislative branch | description: bicameral legislature consists of: Senate or Senat (100 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 4-year terms) Sejm (460 seats; members elected in multi-seat constituencies by party-list proportional representation vote with 5% threshold of total votes needed for parties and 8% for coalitions to gain seats; minorities exempt from threshold; members serve 4-year terms) elections: Senate - last held on 13 October 2019 (next to be held in October 2023) Sejm - last held on 13 October 2019 (next to be held in October 2023) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PiS 48, KO 43, PSL 3, SLD 2, independent 4; composition - men 87, women 13, percent of women 13% Sejm - percent of vote by party - PiS 43.6%, KO 27.4%, SLD 12.6%, PSL 8.5% Confederation 6.8%, other 1.1%; seats by party - PiS 235, KO 134, SLD 49, PSL 30, KWiN 11, MN 1; men 334, women 126, percent of women 27.4%; note - total legislature percent of women 24.8% note: the designation National Assembly or Zgromadzenie Narodowe is only used on those rare occasions when the 2 houses meet jointly | description: unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; 225 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 225 directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by closed, party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms) elections: last held on 21 July 2019 (next to be held in July 2024) election results: percent of vote by party - Servant of the People 43.2%, Opposition Platform-For Life 13.1%, Batkivshchyna 8.2%, European Solidarity 8.1%, Voice 5.8%, other 21.6%; seats by party (preliminary) - Servant of the People 254, Oposition Platform for Life 43, Batkivshchyna 26, European Solidarity 25, Voice 20, Opposition Bloc 6, Samopomich 1, Svoboda 1, other parties 2, independent 46; note - voting not held in Crimea and parts of two Russian-occupied eastern oblasts leaving 26 seats vacant; although this brings the total to 424 elected members (of 450 potential), article 83 of the constitution mandates that a parliamentary majority consists of 226 seats |
| Judicial branch | highest courts: Supreme Court or Sad Najwyzszy (consists of the first president of the Supreme Court and 120 justices organized in criminal, civil, labor and social insurance, and extraordinary appeals and public affairs and disciplinary chambers); Constitutional Tribunal (consists of 15 judges, including the court president and vice president) judge selection and term of office: president of the Supreme Court nominated by the General Assembly of the Supreme Court and selected by the president of Poland; other judges nominated by the 25-member National Judicial Council and appointed by the president of Poland; judges serve until retirement, usually at age 65, but tenure can be extended; Constitutional Tribunal judges chosen by the Sejm for 9-year terms subordinate courts: administrative courts; military courts; local, regional and appellate courts subdivided into military, civil, criminal, labor, and family courts | highest courts: Supreme Court of Ukraine or SCU (consists of 100 judges, organized into civil, criminal, commercial and administrative chambers, and a grand chamber); Constitutional Court (consists of 18 justices); High Anti-Corruption Court (consists of 39 judges, including 12 in the Appeals Chamber) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges recommended by the High Qualification Commission of Judges (a 16-member state body responsible for judicial candidate testing and assessment and judicial administration), submitted to the High Council of Justice, a 21-member independent body of judicial officials responsible for judicial self-governance and administration, and appointed by the president; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; High Anti-Corruption Court judges are selected by the same process as Supreme Court justices, with one addition - a majority of a combined High Qualification Commission of Judges and a 6-member Public Council of International Experts must vote in favor of potential judges in order to recommend their nomination to the High Council of Justice; this majority must include at least 3 members of the Public Council of International Experts; Constitutional Court justices appointed - 6 each by the president, by the Congress of Judges, and by the Verkhovna Rada; judges serve 9-year nonrenewable terms
subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal; district courts note: specialized courts were abolished as part of Ukraine's judicial reform program; in November 2019, President ZELENSKYY signed a bill on legal reforms |
| Political parties and leaders | Civic Coalition or KO [Grzegorz SCHETYNA] Confederation Liberty and Independence or KWiN [Janusz KORWIN-MIKKE, Robert WINNICKI, Grzegorz BRAUN] Democratic Left Alliance or SLD [Wlodzimierz CZARZASTY] German Minority or MN [Ryszard GALLA] Kukiz 15 or K15 [Pawel KUKIZ] Law and Justice or PiS [Jaroslaw KACZYNSKI] TERAZ! (NOW!) [Ryszard PETRU] Nowoczesna (Modern) or N [Katarzyna LUBNAUER] Polish People's Party or PSL [Wladyslaw KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ] Razem (Together) [collective leadership] Wiosna (Spring) [Robert BIEDRON] | Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) [Yuliya TYMOSHENKO] European Solidarity (BPP-Solidarity) [Petro POROSHENKO] Holos (Voice) [Sviatoslav VAKARCHUK] Opposition Bloc or OB [Evgeny MURAYEV] Opposition Platform-For Life [Yuriy BOYKO, Vadim RABINOVICH] Radical Party [Oleh LYASHKO] Samopomich (Self Reliance) [Andriy SADOVYY] Servant of the People [Oleksandr KORNIENKO] Svoboda (Freedom) [Oleh TYAHNYBOK] |
| International organization participation | Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UN Security Council (temporary), UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC | Australia Group, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CICA (observer), CIS (participating member, has not signed the 1993 CIS charter), EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Piotr Antoni WILCZEK (since 18 January 2017) chancery: 2640 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 499-1700 FAX: [1] (202) 328-2152 email address and website: washington.amb.sekretariat@msz.gov.pl https://www.gov.pl/web/usa-en/embassy-washington consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York | chief of mission: Ambassador Oksana Serhiyivna MARKAROVA (since 7 July 2021) chancery: 3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 349-2963 FAX: [1] (202) 333-0817 email address and website: emb_us@mfa.gov.ua; consul_us@mfa.gov.ua https://usa.mfa.gov.ua/en consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York, San Francisco |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires B. Bix ALIU (since January 2021) embassy: Aleje Ujazdowskie 29/31, 00-540 Warsaw mailing address: 5010 Warsaw Place, Washington, DC 20521-5010 telephone: [48] (22) 504-2000 FAX: [48] (22) 504-2088 email address and website: acswarsaw@state.gov https://pl.usembassy.gov/ consulate(s) general: Krakow | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Kristina KVIEN (since January 2020) embassy: 4 A. I. Igor Sikorsky Street, 04112 Kyiv mailing address: 5850 Kyiv Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850 telephone: [380] (44) 521-5000 FAX: [380] (44) 521-5544 email address and website: kyivacs@state.gov https://ua.usembassy.gov/ |
| Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red; colors derive from the Polish emblem - a white eagle on a red field note: similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white | two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow; although the colors date back to medieval heraldry, in modern times they are sometimes claimed to represent grain fields under a blue sky |
| National anthem | name: "Mazurek Dabrowskiego" (Dabrowski's Mazurka) lyrics/music: Jozef WYBICKI/traditional note: adopted 1927; the anthem, commonly known as "Jeszcze Polska nie zginela" (Poland Has Not Yet Perished), was written in 1797; the lyrics resonate strongly with Poles because they reflect the numerous occasions in which the nation's lands have been occupied | name: "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" (Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished) lyrics/music: Paul CHUBYNSKYI/Mikhail VERBYTSKYI note: music adopted 1991, lyrics adopted 2003; song first performed in 1864 at the Ukraine Theatre in Lviv; the lyrics, originally written in 1862, were revised in 2003 |
| International law organization participation | accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction | has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt |
| National symbol(s) | white crowned eagle; national colors: white, red | tryzub (trident); national colors: blue, yellow |
| Citizenship | citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: both parents must be citizens of Poland dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years | citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Ukraine dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years |
Source: CIA Factbook
