A fast growing economy Poland has one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and it offers a large domestic market for foreign investors. The fastest growing sector in Poland is currently the services sector (including distribution, transport, storage and communication), followed by construction and various manufacturing sectors (investment goods, intermediate goods, durable consumer goods and non-durable consumer goods). The food and beverage sector in Poland is one of the most productive manufacturing sectors in the country, accounting for approximately 20% of the gross output of the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing sectors in Poland Some of the main manufacturing sectors in Poland are: - the domestic appliances and electronics sector; - the automotive sector; - aviation industry. The domestic appliances and electronics sector is highly developed in Poland. There are certain investment incentives available for the electronics sector and the labor force is very skilled. International companies and manufacturers of electronic equipment are present in the Polish market. Poland is very well positioned as a passenger and commercial vehicle manufacturer. Also, the country is a productive supplier of automotive components. One of the country’s best assets in this sector is the cost-to quality ratio. The production quality is comparable to western European countries, but as in many cases in Poland, the cost of production remains lower in Poland when compared to other countries. The Polish automotive sector is the largest domestic market in the CEE. The Polish aviation industry is based on a qualified workforce and a well-developed supplier network.

Digital Map of Poland is a set of cartographic layers that serve for map editing. The spatial coverage is the whole area of Poland and adjacent parts of the neighbouring countries, at a nominal scale 1:200, 000. The accuracy is suitable for paper maps at the same scale, whereas for the purposes of computer use a scale 1:100, 000 can be obtained. All the data is stored in geographic coordinates based on the WGS-84 ellipsoid. The coverage is continuous, allowing for presentation of the whole country or its parts in any given projection. Also, as far as possible, single map objects are continuous, that is not divided into fragments or “tiles”, with the exception of huge objects in landcover and contourlines layers. The quality of our data has been thoroughly verified in the course of big edition map production, involving editorial work, revisors and readers' contributions. Selected information about layers Settlement points are distinguished, identified and named in accordance with the TERYT system, and thus in harmony with the official geographical names. Rivercourses are identified with hierarchical code, describing location in drainage system. Four additional rivercourse layers exist to improve graphical effect with graduations. Roads include all sealed and most of unsealed roads significant for transportation network. Segments are described with official national number and categorized into 14 classes. Division into segments not necessarily is concurrent with intersections. Hipsometry layer consists of 58 classes of closed contour areas (suitable for colour fill). Intervals are 20m up to 400, 40 m up to 800, 50m up to 1600, 100m up to 2600. Nominal scale is appx. 1:300-400.000. Landmark/Sightseeing layer includes 98 categories of objects significant for cultural heritage and tourism. Also included are border crossings, petrol stations (now outdated) and traffic hazard points. Layer Spatial type No. objects No. patches Total length [km] Resolution* [km] Rivercourses line 15 500 154 100 0.18 Lakes area 11 100 0.11 Wetlands 5 400 0.29 Dikes 1 688 Tamy 134 Forests 40 800 0.27 Meadows 25 700 0.19 Orchards 3 300 0.25 Contourlines 60 200 Height points point 1 248 Built-up area 84 900 Disparsed settlements 314 000 0.096 Named settlement locations 43 800 121 400 333 000 Railroads 800 29 200 1st order administrative units (voivodships) 16 2nd order administrative units (powiaty) 436 3rd order administrative units (gminy) 3 059 Landmark/Sightseeing objects 38 800

There was a time in Poland not that long ago when the only way graduates could find jobs worthy of their excellent degrees was to hop on a flight somewhere to Western Europe and try and apply their skills there. Not so anymore. Graduate jobs are springing up much closer to home now for keen young Poles, largely due to an industry that has become one of the major employers in the country – outsourcing. Indeed, the well-educated, often multilingual workforce that Poland provides has meant that certain cities – Krakow, Poznan and Warsaw for example – have become service hubs for international corporations seeking hiring value in large teams of capable graduates. Major corporations like IBM, Bank of New York Mellon and Citigroup are outsourcing to Poles in midsize cities like Gdansk and Wroclaw to do back-office work. According to The New York Times, there are now about 110, 000 people working in the ‘business services industry’ in Poland, and this figure is growing. It’s predicted that in just a few years business services could overtake the auto industry in Poland, which currently employs around 140, 000 people. Why Poland Is Doing So Well The business services sector is a large part of the reason why Poland has enjoyed steady economic growth in recent years, even amidst the recent stagnation in the euro zone – Poland’s biggest market. Another reason is that Poland held onto its currency, the zloty, rather than joining the euro currency union, and the zloty has held relatively stable over the last few economically shaky years. Poland has managed to manoeuvre itself into a great position that’s attracting lots of great investment from corporate clients. What’s more, it knows that it must continue to improve along this vein if it’s to fend off rising competition from educated enclaves throughout the rest of the euro zone – Bulgaria, Romania, Spain. Indeed, as Poland continues to move into more and more sophisticated services, the time is well and truly now to start to take serious heed of the country when seeking to outsource a highly skilled development team that can provide great work for great value.

Poland boasts the largest economy in Central Europe, and the sixth largest in the European Union (EU). It is also the largest ex-communist member of the European Union. Until the global recession that followed the collapse of the United States' housing bubble, Poland's economy had an average yearly rate of growth of over 6.0 percent. Since the recession, Poland has shown strong signs of recovery. According to the Polish Central Statistical Office, economic growth had returned to 3.9 percent by 2010, ahead of most other members of the EU. Economic History Emerging from the Middle Ages, Poland was a commonwealth monarchy ruled by a king who was also the grand duke of Lithuania. It was one of the most populous European nations in the 16th and 17th centuries. The economy of Poland was dominated by a feudal system based on agriculture. Compared to other Western European nations of the time, Poland remained largely agrarian, and this system of feudal farming worked well for the nation. As such, Poland was Europe's primary domestic source of grain, cattle, and fur. Although Poland-Lithuania saw many years of prosperity, its fortunes began to decline as a result of protracted political, military, and economic conflicts. As a consequence, the nation was consumed and divided by Prussia, Austria, and the Russian Empire in the late 18th Century. A second Polish Republic emerged during the period between the first and Second World War The government was a parliamentary democracy for several years, then ultimately became an authoritarian dictatorship for several years before its invasion by Nazi Germany. Much of this political turmoil was wrought by the devastation and economic ruin caused to the region during World War I. Almost immediately after its formation, the Great Depression hit, further weakening the economy. The government responded with a series of public works programs designed to stimulate economic growth and recovery. Self-styled inter-bellum Poland inherited some major industrial centers, as well as a few coal mines and other natural resources. The nation split into two major industrial areas and invested in major infrastructure improvements including a port, a new city built around a steel mill, and a series of unifying railways.

KBS+'s entry into the beauty industry began in an elevator. "What is that [nail polish] color?" one girl asked another on their way down to the lobby. "I mixed it myself and you can't have it, " the other responded playfully. Chief Creative and President Ed Brojerdi and CEO Lori Senecal overheard. A little less than a year later, the MDC-owned shop is working with a factory in Italy to invent a color-custom nail polish product it the hopes that it will inspire creativity and generate revenue. Mix master: Matt Richard of KBS+ Credit: Tony Xie Product development and invention is far from new for adland - evidence Anomaly's EOS lip balm now infiltrating drug stores, and the many shops with booze and condom brands. But their ranks are expected to swell. Given the new affordability of 3-D printers and agencies hiring more non-traditional staffers like engineers, it's a lot easier for agencies to use their creative juices for more than 30-second spots, creating intellectual property as an alternative revenue stream. "It's a byproduct of being a modern integrated agency with a diverse fulltime skillset, " said Mr. Brojerdi. "We're having to explore so many nuances of a business and so many sides. We had to build out and design e-commerce platforms and work with factories in Asia to ship sneakers and make sure the product was in boxes." After asking a small team of research executives to look into a custom-color nail polish concept, Mr. Brojerdi and Ms. Senecal inked a deal with an Italian factory, one of the few with the technology and open-mindedness to take on the challenge. Most factories didn't want to deal with building the technology to print different colors down to the individual unit, and most were skeptical about working with an ad agency, said Mr. Brojerdi. From that skepticism was born the interim brand name Acme, a placeholder website and business cards meant to prove that the shop was serious. A group of digital executives and engineers used 3-D printers to prototype small, single-application bottles in different shapes and do their own color testing. "We were ordering pigments and base layers of chemicals and paint [from China], " he said. Some folks manually mixed the pigments and applying different polish mixtures to provide feedback. "There is a democratization of a lot of the tools and even people, " he said. "If we had these ideas four years we might not have had the equipment or skillset in-house to even be able to make a case for it, " said Mr. Brojerdi. 3-D printers now cost a fraction of the $15, 000 to $30, 000 they used to and they're much better quality, he said. A summer intern acted as the liaison between the agency and factory. As the creative and digital executives mixed, tested and researched, Mr. Brojerdi and Ms. Senecal put a team of the shop's operational and account-oriented executives to the most crucial task: making money. "We're responsible for delivering on a P&L, " he said.

A nation with a proud cultural heritage, Poland can trace its roots back over 1, 000 years. Positioned at the centre of Europe, it has known turbulent and violent times. There have been periods of independence as well as periods of domination by other countries. Several million people, half of them Jews, died in World War II. A new era began when Poland became an EU member in May 2004, five years after joining Nato and 15 years after the end of communist rule. It was the birthplace of the former Soviet bloc's first officially recognised independent mass political movement when strikes at the Gdansk shipyard in August 1980 led to agreement with the authorities on the establishment of the Solidarity trade union. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Krakow - Poland's ancient royal capital At a glance Politics : Poland has been a relatively stable democracy since the end of communist rule Economy : The economy has boomed since EU accession in 2004, and Poland is one of the region's top-performing countries, although unemployment remains high International : Euro-sceptic Law and Justice Party won 2015 elections The shoots of political freedom were trampled again 16 months later when communist leader Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law. But the movement for change was irreversible. Elections in summer 1989 ushered in eastern Europe's first post-communist government. The presence in the Vatican of Polish Pope John-Paul II was an important influence on the Solidarity movement throughout the 1980s. The Roman Catholic church remains a very potent force in Polish life. In the years between the end of communism and EU accession, power in Poland switched between the centre right and the centre left. Successive governments faced sleaze allegations. In elections in 2010, the victory of the centre-right Civic Platform saw Prime Minister Donald Tusk become the first Polish leader to be re-elected since the end of communism. Success Poland has made major economic strides since the fall of communism, and especially since joining the EU. In 2009, when all the major European economies were contracting because of the credit crunch, Poland was the only country in Europe to experience economic growth. There has been marked success in creating a market economy and attracting foreign investment. Germany is now Poland's biggest trading partner. There was a massive movement of workers to western Europe in the years after Poland joined the EU, but the exodus slowed down after the global economic crisis took hold. Poland still has a huge farming sector - agriculture accounts for about 60% of the country's total land area - but the sector remains hampered by inefficiency, structural problems and lack of investment. Warsaw's profile on the international stage was raised by its support for the US-led military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. More recently, it has found itself close to the front line in Russia's military campaign against Ukraine after the fall of that country's pro-Moscow government in 2014. Image copyright AFP Image caption The primeval forest of Bialowieza were the last refuge of the European bison, which have been reintroduced to the wild