The Republic of Poland, formerly the Polish Peoples Republic, located in central Europe, has an area of 120,725 sq. mi. (312,677 sq. km.) and a population of 38.73 million. Capital: Warsaw. The economy is essentially agricultural, but industrial activity provides the products for foreign trade. Machinery, coal, coke, iron, steel and transport equipment are exported. ,Poland, which began as a Slavic duchy in the 10th century and reached its peak of power between the 14th and 16th centuries, has had a turbulent invasion, occupation or partition by Mongols, Turkey, Hungary, Sweden, Austria, Prussia and Russia. ,The first Partition took place in 1772. Prussian took Polish Pomerania. Russia took part of the eastern provinces. Austria took Galicia, which lay the fortress city of Krakow (Cracow). The second partition occurred in 1793 when Russia took another slice of the eastern provinces and Prussia took what remained of western Poland. The third partition, 1795, literally removed Poland from the map. Russia took what was left of the eastern provinces. Prussia seized most of central Poland, including Warsaw. Austria took what was left of the south. Napoleon restored to Poland much of the territory lost to Prussia and Austria, but after his defeat another partition returned the Duchy of Warsaw to Prussia, made Krakow into a tiny republic, and declared what remained to be the Kingdom of Poland under the czar and in permanent union with Russia. ,Poland re-emerged as an independent state recognized by the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, and maintained its independence until 1939 when it was invaded by Germany, then partitioned between Germany Russia. Poland?s present boundaries were determined by the U.S.-British-Russian agreement of Aug. 16, 1945. The Government of National Unity was replaced when the Polish Communist-Socialist fraction won a decisive victory at the polls in 1947 and established a ?People?s Democratic Republic? of the Soviet type. In Dec. 1989, Poland became a republic once again. Rulers:, ,Stanislaw Augustus, 1764-1795 ,Fryderyk August I, King of Saxony, as Grand Duke, 1807-1814 ,Alexander I, Czar of Russia, as King, 1815-1825 ,Nikolaj (Mikolay) I, Czar of Russia, as King, 1825-1855 Monetary System:, ,1 Marka = 100 Fenigow to 1919,, ,1 Zloty = 100 Groszy, 1919-,,