Poland was the first Eastern European state to break with the USSR and to re-establish democratic government. This was driven by the economic problems of the 1980s and the rise of a strong, independent trades union, Solidarity. Lech Walesa was elected President in 1990 and the first full parliamentary election was held in 1991.
The economy is based on industry and agriculture. The economic downturn during the late 1980s and early 1990s produced inflation of 585% in 1990, which fell to 70.3% in 1991 and to 19.9% in 1996. In the same year the unemployment figure was 13.6%.19 In 1999, the GDP per capita was US$4,000.20
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