Poles

Poles
Polacy

1st row: B.Chrobry • Copernicus • J.Kochanowski • I.Krasicki • T.Kościuszko • S.Staszic • J.Poniatowski • A.Fredro 2nd row: A.Mickiewicz • F.Chopin • I.Łukasiewicz • H.Wieniawski • J. Matejko • H.Sienkiewicz • B.Prus • J.Malczewski 3rd row: J.Conrad • L.L.Zamenhof • I.Paderewski • W.Reymont • M.Skłodowska-Curie • J.Piłsudski • A.Rubinstein • W.Sikorski 4th row: B.Malinowski • W.Tatarkiewicz • M.Rejewski • J.Rotblat • I.Sendler • W.Szpilman • H.Koprowski • Pope John Paul II 5th row: S.Lem • W.Szymborska • A.Wajda • P. Negri • R.Polański • H.M.Górecki • L.Wałęsa • A.Wolszczan
Total population
ca. 58,5 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Poland   36 522 000[2] Polish diaspora
United States (Polish ancestry)	10,000,000[3]
Germany	1,500,000 – 2,000,000[4][5]
Brazil	1,800,000[6]
Israel	1,250,000[7]
Canada	1,010,705[8]
France	1,000,000[9]
United Kingdom	630,000[1][10]
Argentina	500,000[11]
Belarus	294,549[12]
Lithuania	212,800[13]
Ireland	122,585[14]
Australia	216,056[15]
Ukraine	144,130[16]
Norway	120,000[17]
Italy	109,018[18]
Russia	73,000[19]
Czech Republic	51,968[20]
Latvia	44,783[21]
Netherlands	39,500[22]
Kazakhstan	34,057[23]
Denmark	31,720[24]
South Africa	30,000[25]
Sweden	75,323[26]
Austria	21,000[27]
Iceland	10,540[28]
Venezuela	9,000[29]
Peru	7,000[30]
Hungary	5,730[31]
Moldova	4,174[32]
Languages
Polish • Kashubian • Silesian
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism Significant minorities of Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism (especially Lutheranism), Judaism and Non-Religious minorities

Poles (Polish: Polacy [pɔˈlat͡sɨ]; singular masculine: Polak, singular feminine: Polka) are a nation of predominantly West Slavic ethnic origin, who are native to East-Central Europe, inhabiting mainly Poland. The present population of Poles living in Poland is estimated at 36,522,000 out of the overall Poland population of 38,512,000 (based on the census of 2011).^[2] The preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland defines the Polish nation as comprising all the citizens of Poland. Poland's inhabitants live in the following historic regions of the country: Wielkopolska, Małopolska, Mazovia (Polish: Mazowsze), Silesia (Polish: Śląsk), Pomerania (Polish: Pomorze), Kujawy, Warmia, Mazury, and Podlasie. A wide-ranging Polish diaspora exists throughout Europe (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine), the Americas (the United States, Brazil and Argentina) and Australia. In 1960, Chicago in the United States, had the world's largest urban Polish population after Warsaw.^[33] Today, the largest urban concentration of Poles is the Katowice urban agglomeration known as the Silesian Metropolis of 2.7 million inhabitants. There is a festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin called Polish Fest that celebrates the Polish people.

Over a thousand years ago, the Polans of Giecz, Gniezno and Poznań — an influential tribe in Wielkopolska — succeeded in uniting Lechitic tribes under what became the Piast dynasty,^[34] thus giving rise to the Polish state.

Statistics

Flag of Poland with the coat of arms – as applied by state authorities and in diplomacy

Polish people are the sixth largest national group in the European Union.^[35] Estimates vary depending on source, though available data suggest a total number of around 60 million people worldwide (with roughly 21 million living outside of Poland, many of whom are not of Polish ethnicity, but Polish nationals).^[1] There are almost 38 million Poles in Poland alone. There are also Polish minorities in the surrounding countries including Germany, and indigenous minorities in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus. There are some smaller indigenous minorities in nearby countries such as Moldova and Latvia. There is also a Polish minority in Russia which includes indigenous Poles as well as those forcibly deported during and after World War II; the total number of Poles in what was the former Soviet Union is estimated at up to 3 million.^[36]

The term "Polonia" is usually used in Poland to refer to people of Polish origin who live outside Polish borders, officially estimated at around 10 to 20 million. There is a notable Polish diaspora in the United States, Canada, and Brazil. France has a historic relationship with Poland and has a relatively large Polish-descendant population. Poles have lived in France since the 18th century. In the early 20th century, over a million Polish people settled in France, mostly during world wars, among them Polish émigrés fleeing either Nazi occupation or later Soviet rule.

In the United States, a significant number of Polish immigrants settled in Chicago, Ohio, Detroit, New York City, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and New England. The highest concentration of Poles in the United States is in New Britain, Connecticut. The majority of Polish Canadians have arrived in Canada since World War II. The number of Polish immigrants increased between 1945 and 1970, and again after the end of Communism in Poland in 1989. In Brazil the majority of Polish immigrants settled in Paraná State. Smaller, but significant numbers settled in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Espírito Santo and São Paulo (state). The city of Curitiba has the second largest Polish diaspora in the world (after Chicago) and Polish music, dishes and culture are quite common in the region.

In recent years, since joining the European Union, many Polish people have emigrated to countries such as Ireland, where an estimated 200,000 Polish people have entered the labor market. It is estimated that over half a million Polish people have come to work in the United Kingdom from Poland. Since 2011, Poles have been able to work freely throughout the EU and not just in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and Sweden where they have had limited rights since Poland's EU accession in 2004. The Polish community in Norway has increased substantially and has grown to a total number of 120,000, making Poles the largest immigrant group in Norway.

Culture

The culture of Poland has a history of 1000 years.^[37] Located in East-Central Europe, its character developed as a result of its geography at the confluence of fellow Central European cultures (German, Western Ukrainian, Czech and Austrian) the Western European cultures (French and Dutch), Southern European cultures (Italian and Greek), Northern European cultures (Lithuanian, Swedish and Danish) and Eastern European cultures (East Ukrainian and Russian). Confluences were conveyed by immigrants (Jewish, German and Dutch), political alliances (with Lithuania, Hungary, Saxony, France and Sweden), conquests of the Polish state (Ukraine, Belarus and Latvia) or conquerors of the Polish lands (Tsardom of Russia, Kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg Monarchy, later on Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary).

Over time Polish culture has been greatly influenced by its ties with the Germanic, Latinate and other ethnic groups and minorities living in Poland.^[38] The people of Poland have traditionally been seen as hospitable to artists from abroad (especially Italy) and open to cultural and artistic trends popular in other European countries. Owing to this central location, the Poles came very early into contact with both civilizations – eastern and western, and as a result developed economically, culturally, and politically. A German general Helmut Carl von Moltke, in his Poland. A historical sketch (1885), stated that Poland prior to her partitions was "the most civilized country in Europe".

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Polish focus on cultural advancement often took precedence over political and economic activity, experiencing severe crisis, especially during the II World War and in the coming years. These factors have contributed to the versatile nature of Polish art, with all its complex nuances.^[38]

Language

The Polish language (Polish: język polski) is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written form uses the Polish alphabet, which is the Latin alphabet with the addition of a few diacritic marks.

Polish-speakers use the language in a uniform manner throughout most of Poland, though numerous languages and dialects coexist alongside the standard Polish language. The most common dialects in Poland are Silesian, spoken in Upper Silesia, and Kashubian, widely spoken in the north.

Literature

Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages, used in Poland over the centuries, have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Latin, Yiddish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, German and Esperanto.

Religion

Most Poles adhere to the Christian faith, the majority belonging to the Roman Catholic Church.^[39] The remaining religious part of the population consists mainly of Eastern Orthodox, Jehovah's Witnesses, various Protestant and Judaism.^[40] Roman Catholics live all over the country, while Orthodox Christians can be found mostly in north-east, in the area of Białystok, and Protestants (mainly Lutherans) in Cieszyn Silesia and Warmia-Masuria.

Exonyms

Among the exonyms not native to the Polish people or language are: лях (lyakh) used in East Slavic languages. Today, the word Lachy is used in Belorussian, Ukrainian (now considered offensive^{[citation needed]} and is replaced by the neutral поляк (polyak)) and Russian as synonyms for "Poles". The foreign exonyms include also: Lithuanian Lenkai, Hungarian Lengyelek, Turkish Leh, Armenian: Լեհաստան Lehastan; Persian: لهستان‎ Lahestān.

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to People of Poland.

• Polish Americans

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