Poland A and B

Poland A and B (Polish: Polska A i B) refers to the historical, political and cultural distinction between the western and the eastern part of the country, with Poland "A", west of the Vistula, being much more developed and having faster growth than Poland "B", east of the river. The General Secretary of the Polish Chamber of Commerce Marek Kłoczko, said in his 2007 interview that the divisions are more spread out and forming three separate categories, Poland "A" is the metropolitan cities, Poland "B" is the rest of the country, and Poland "C" is the plains and the landscape parks east of the Vistula (Poland "Z", according to Kłoczko), which require a different treatment.

Reportedly, Poland's well-off cities are Warsaw, Gdańsk, Wrocław, and Poznań, and the ones struggling with less investment are in the east: Rzeszów, Lublin, Olsztyn and Białystok. However, current unemployment statistics for Poland in general fail to show that distinction and even indicate an opposite trend in recent years, with the northwest reporting rates of unemployment higher than east-central Poland. In 2014, among the highest in the nation were the Kuyavian-Pomeranian and West Pomeranian Voivodeships (compare the historic railroad map and the administrative map, right, with the 2014 unemployment map, from business portal eGospodarka.pl); while among the lowest in the country was the east-central Masovian Voivodeship.