Demographics of Poland

The demographics of Poland describe the make-up of the country of Poland. A number of censuses have assessed this data, including a national census in 2002, and a survey by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR), which confirmed there are numerous autochthonous ethnic groups in Poland. Estimates by INTEREG and Eurominority present a similar demographics picture of Poland but they provide estimates only for the most numerous of the autochthonous ethnic groups.

Contents 1 Historical 2 Nationalities 2.1 Armenians 2.2 Belarusians 2.3 Czechs 2.4 Germans 2.5 Greeks 2.6 Jews 2.7 Kashubians 2.8 Lithuanians 2.9 Macedonians 2.10 Roma 2.11 Russians 2.12 Silesians 2.13 Slovaks 2.14 Tatars 2.15 Ukrainians 2.16 Additional 2.17 Declared nationality (Census 2002) 3 CIA World Factbook demographic statistics 3.1 Population 3.2 Population growth rate 3.3 Birth rate 3.4 Death rate 3.5 Net migration rate 3.6 Total asylum seekers admitted 3.7 Age structure 3.8 Sex ratio 3.9 Infant mortality rate 3.10 Life expectancy at birth 3.11 Total fertility rate 3.12 Ethnic groups 3.13 Religions 3.14 Languages 3.15 Literacy 4 Urban demographics 5 Nationality 6 Notes 7 External links

Historical

For more details on this topic, see Historical demography of Poland.

Nationalities

96.7% of the people of Poland claim Polish nationality, and 97.8% declare that they speak Polish at home (Census 2002). The population of Poland became one of the most ethnically homogeneous in the world as a result of the radically altered borders after World War II and the subsequent migrations. This homogeneity is a result of post-World War II deportations ordered by the Soviet authorities, who wished to remove the sizable Polish minorities from Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine and deportations of Ukrainians from Poland.

Other than the Poles, Poland is also inhabited by:

Armenians

Armenian population is estimated at between 8,000 to 15,000, with tradition since 14th century, when around 50,000 Armenians settled down in Poland.^[1] The remains of pre-war Armenian church organizations serve for the community. The Armenian-orthodox community converted to Catholicism in the 18th century. There is still an Armenian church in formerly Polish Lwow (now Lviv in Ukraine) with clergy that preach in the Armenian language. Through successive immigrations, the Armenians in Poland gradually formed a colony.

Belarusians

For more details on this topic, see Belarusian minority in Poland.

In the Polish census of 2002, 48,700 people declared they belong to this group.^[2]

They live in close concentrations on south and east area of Białystok, near and in areas adjoining Belarus and Lithuania.

Czechs

According to the Polish census of 2002, 386 Czechs live in Poland,^[2] many of them in Zelów or near the Czech border. Arguably, the most famous Pole with Czech roots is painter Jan Matejko.

Germans

For more details on this topic, see German minority in Poland.

Germans remain in Pomerania, Silesia, East Prussia and Lubusz Land. The current estimates based on the 2002 census gives 147 094 Germans living mainly in the region of Opole, Katowice and Częstochowa (south-west part of Poland).^[2]

Greeks

Some 4 - 5,000 Greeks live in central and southeast Poland, most of whom came in 1949, after the Greek Civil War. It is estimated that after this conflict, some 14 000 Greeks came to Poland, settling mainly in the town of Zgorzelec in Lower Silesia. In the course of the time, most of them returned to their homeland or moved to Germany. Among famous Poles of Greek origin, are a popular pop singer Eleni Tzoka, drummer Milo Kurtis (who played in such bands as Maanam and Voo Voo), and guitar virtuoso Apostolis Anthimos from the legendary progressive rock band SBB.

Jews

For more details on this topic, see History of the Jews in Poland.

The Jewish community, once numbering 3,474,000, was almost entirely eradicated, due to the Holocaust, in which the Nazis eradicated most of the Jewish population of Poland during WW2, and subsequent forced emigration. If not for the Holocaust, they would probably constitute Poland's largest minority group (see History of the Jews in Poland). The current estimated Jewish population of Poland is about 25,000. Its representatives live mainly in large cities like Warsaw, Wrocław, Kraków and Lublin.

Kashubians

INTEREG estimated there are up to 500,000 Kashubians in Poland. In the Polish census of 2002, however, only 5,100 people declared Kashubian nationality, although 51,000 declared Kashubian as their native language.

Lithuanians

For more details on this topic, see Lithuanian minority in Poland.

There are 5,639 Lithuanians in Poland, according to the 2002 census.^[2] They live in close concentrations, in Suwałki in the north-east of Poland, and in the territory of Puńsk commune where they constitute 80% of inhabitants.

Macedonians

There are 4,000 to 5,000 Macedonians in central and southern Poland.

Roma

There are 12,731 Roma in Poland, according to the 2002 census.^[2] They are dispersed and live on the area of the whole country, although their more numerous concentrations are in the south of Poland.

Russians

Russians are scattered around the territory of Poland but mostly reside in eastern Poland. There are 3244 Russians in Poland, according to the 2002 census.^[2] The HFHR estimated around 13,000-15,000 Russians are in Poland. This society includes also Old Believers who are members of the Eastern Old Believers' Church and account for 2,000–3,000 persons living in the south-east of Poland.

Silesians

Main article: Silesians

INTEREG estimated there are up to 2,000,000 Silesians in Poland. In the Polish census of 2002, however, about 200,000 people officialy declared Silesian nationality, although only about 60,000 declared Silesian as their native language.

Slovaks

Slovaks live in some areas in southern Poland, to the number of 1710 according to the Polish 2002 census.^[2] Polish Slovaks inhabit two small frontier regions in the Spisz and Orawa (south of Poland, near Polish-Slovak border). Larger groups of Slovaks are in Kraków and Silesia region.

Tatars

Small populations of Polish Lipka Tatars still exist and still practice Islam. Some Polish towns, mainly in northeastern Poland (in Podlaskie Voivodeship) have mosques. Tartars arrived as mercenary soldiers beginning in the late 1300s. The Tatar population reached approximately 100,000 in 1630 but the 2002 census showed only 447 people declaring this nationality.^[2]

Ukrainians

For more details on this topic, see Ukrainian minority in Poland.

Ukrainians are scattered in various eastern and northern districts. In the Polish census of 2002 27,172 people declared they belong to this group.^[2]

Additional

There are also national groups of Americans, Turks, Hungarians, French, Italians, Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians, Romanians, Georgians, Africans, Palestinians, other Arabs, Kurds and Vietnamese, who constitute small ethnic communities within major cities such as Warsaw, Kraków, and Gdańsk.

Declared nationality (Census 2002)

See also: Polish census of 2002

• 36,983,720 Polish
• 774,885 Not specified
• 471,475 Non-Polish, or multi-racial, including:
  • 173,153 Silesian
  • 152,897 German
  • 48,700 Belarusian
  • 31,000 Ukrainian
  • 12,900 Roma
  • 6,103 Russian
  • 5,863 Lemko
  • 5,846 Lithuanian
  • 5,062 Kashubian
  • 4,500 Other
  • 2,000 Slovak
  • 1,808 Vietnamese
  • 1,633 French
  • 1,541 American
  • 1,404 Greek
  • 1,367 Italian
  • 1,112 Bulgarian
  • 1,100 Jews
  • 1,082 Armenian
  • 831 Czech
  • 800 English
  • 500 Tatar
  • 45 Karaite

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.

Population

38,500,696 (July 2008 est.)

Population growth rate

-0.045% (2008 est.)

Birth rate

10.01 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

There were 389,000 births in 2007 compared to 374,244 in 2006. [1]

Death rate

9.99 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

There were 372,000 deaths in 2007 compared to 369,000 in 2006. [2]

Net migration rate

-0.46 migrants/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Total asylum seekers admitted

94,500 (2006)

Age structure

0-14 years: 15.2%
15-64 years: 71.4%
65 years and over: 13.4% (2008 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female
total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate

6.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

male: 71.42 years
female: 79.65 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.27 children born/woman (2008 est.)

• TFR was 1.267 in 2006. [3]

Ethnic groups

Polish 96.7%, German 0.4%, Byelorussian 0.1%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other 0.7%, not declared 2.0% (Census 2002)

Religions

Roman Catholic 89.8%, Eastern Orthodox 1.3%, Protestant and other 0.6%, unspecified 8.3% (2002 census)

see Religion in Poland and Catholic Church in Poland

Languages

Polish 97.8% (Census 2002)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.8%
male: 99.8%
female: 99.7% (2003 est.)

Urban demographics

	Agglomeration or conurbation	Voivodeship	Inhabitants (Estimated, 2006)
1	Katowice (USIA)	Silesia	2,784,200
2	Warsaw (Warszawa)	Masovia	2,680,000
3	Kraków	Lesser Poland	1,250,000
4	Łódź	Łódź	1,100,000
5	Tricity	Pomerania	1,100,000
6	Poznań	Greater Poland	1,000,000

	City	Voivodeship	Inhabitants May 20 2002	Inhabitants December 31 2004	Inhabitants December 31 2006
1	Warsaw (Warszawa)	Masovia	1,671,670	1,692,854	1,702,139
2	Łódź	Łódź	789,318	774,004	760,251
3	Kraków	Lesser Poland	758,544	757,430	756,267
4	Wrocław	Lower Silesia	640,367	636,268	634,630
5	Poznań	Greater Poland	578,886	570,778	564,951
6	Gdańsk	Pomerania	461,334	459,072	456,658
7	Szczecin	Western Pomerania	415,399	411,900	409,068
8	Bydgoszcz	Kuyavia-Pomerania	373,804	368,235	363,468
9	Lublin	Lublin	357,110	355,998	353,483
10	Katowice	Silesia	327,222	319,904	314,500
11	Białystok	Podlaskie	291,383	292,150	294,830
12	Gdynia	Pomerania	253,458	253,324	251,844
13	Częstochowa	Silesia	251,436	248,032	245,030
14	Radom	Masovia	229,699	227,613	225,810
15	Sosnowiec	Silesia	232,622	228,192	245,030
16	Toruń	Kuyavia-Pomerania	211,243	208,278	207,190
17	Kielce	Świętokrzyskie	212,429	209,455	207,188
18	Gliwice	Silesia	203,814	200,361	198,499
19	Zabrze	Silesia	195,293	192,546	190,110
20	Bytom	Silesia	193,546	189,535	186,540
21	Bielsko-Biała	Silesia	178,028	176,987	176,453
22	Olsztyn	Warmia-Masuria	173,102	174,550	174,941
23	Rzeszów	Subcarpathia	160,376	159,020	165,578
24	Ruda Śląska	Silesia	150,595	147,403	145,471
25	Rybnik	Silesia	142,731	141,755	141,388
26	Tychy	Silesia	132,816	131,547	130,492
27	Dąbrowa Górnicza	Silesia	132,236	130,789	129,559
28	Opole	Opole	129,946	128,864	127,602
29	Płock	Masovia	128,361	127,841	127,224
30	Elbląg	Warmia-Masuria	128,134	127,655	126,985
31	Gorzów Wielkopolski	Lubusz	125,914	125,578	125,504
32	Wałbrzych	Lower Silesia	130,268	127,566	124,988
33	Włocławek	Kuyavia-Pomerania	121,229	120,369	119,256
34	Zielona Góra	Lubusz	118,293	118,516	118,115
35	Tarnów	Lesser Poland	119,913	118,267	116,967
36	Chorzów	Silesia	117,430	115,241	113,978
37	Kalisz	Greater Poland	109,498	108,792	108,477
38	Koszalin	Western Pomerania	108,709	107,773	107,693
39	Legnica	Lower Silesia	107,100	106,143	105,186
40	Grudziądz	Kuyavia-Pomerania	99,943	98,757	99,244
41	Słupsk	Pomerania	100,376	99,827	98,092

Nationality

• noun: Pole(s)
• adjective: Polish

Notes

External links

• Central Statistical Office for the Republic of Poland
• Commonwealth of Diverse Cultures: Poland's Heritage
• CIA World Factbook 2004
• Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
• Poland - Population and ethnic composition
• Armenians in Poland
• Poland's president expresses regret over 1947 Akcja Wisla
• INTEREG

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