SECRET Notes of POLISH GENIUS - Part 05 / 05

As of 2023, Poland's economy and gross domestic product (GDP) is the sixth largest in the European Union by nominal standards and the fifth largest by purchasing power parity. It is also one of the fastest growing within the Union and reached a developed market status in 2018.[249] The unemployment rate published by Eurostat in 2023 amounted to 2.8%, which was the second-lowest in the EU.[247] As of 2023, around 62% of the employed population works in the service sector, 29% in manufacturing, and 8% in the agricultural sector.[250] Although Poland is a member of the European single market, the country has not adopted the Euro as legal tender and maintains its own currency – the Polish złoty (zł, PLN).
Poland is the regional economic leader in Central Europe, with nearly 40 per cent of the 500 biggest companies in the region (by revenues) as well as a high globalisation rate.[251] The country's largest firms compose the WIG20 and WIG30 indexes, which is traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. According to reports made by the National Bank of Poland, the value of Polish foreign direct investments reached almost 300 billion PLN at the end of 2014. The Central Statistical Office estimated that in 2014 there were 1,437 Polish corporations with interests in 3,194 foreign entities.[252]Show more

Poland has the largest banking sector in Central Europe,[253] with 32.3 branches per 100,000 adults.[254] It was the only European economy to have avoided the recession of 2008.[255] The country is the 20th largest exporter of goods and services in the world.[256] Exports of goods and services are valued at approximately 56% of GDP, as of 2020.[257] In 2019, Poland passed a law that would exempt workers under the age of 26 from income tax.[258]

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Poland experienced a significant increase in the number of tourists after joining the European Union in 2004.[259][260] With over 21 million international arrivals in 2019, tourism contributes considerably to the overall economy and makes up a relatively large proportion of the country's service market.[261]

Tourist attractions in Poland vary, from the mountains in the south to the sandy beaches in the north, with a trail of nearly every architectural style. The most visited city is Kraków, which was the former capital of Poland and serves as a relic of the Polish Golden Age and the Renaissance. Kraków also held royal coronations of most Polish kings and monarchs at Wawel, the nation's chief historical landmark. Among other notable sites in the country is Wrocław, one of the oldest cities in Poland which was a model for the founding of Kraków. Wrocław is famous for its dwarf statues, a large market square with two town halls, and the oldest Zoological Gardens with one of the world's largest number of animal species. The Polish capital Warsaw and its historical Old Town were entirely reconstructed after wartime destruction. Other cities attracting countless tourists include Gdańsk, Poznań, Lublin, Toruń as well as the site of the German Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim. A highlight is the 13th-century Wieliczka Salt Mine with its labyrinthine tunnels, underground lake and chapels carved by miners out of rock salt beneath the ground.[262]

Poland has a 770 km long coastline of the southern Baltic Sea with many wide sandy beaches, which are frequently visited by tourists in the summer season.

Other tourist destinations include the Masurian Lake District and Białowieża Forest in the east; on the south Karkonosze, the Table Mountains and the Tatra Mountains, where Rysy – the highest peak of Poland, and Eagle's Path mountain trail are located. The Pieniny and Bieszczady Mountains lie in the extreme south-east.[263] There are over 100 castles in the country, most in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, and also on the Trail of the Eagles' Nests.[264] The largest castle in the world by land area is situated in Malbork, in north-central Poland.[265]