Polish people

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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For a specific analysis of the population of Poland, see Demographics of Poland.
This article is about Poles as an ethnic group. For Polish nationality law or citizenship, see Polish nationality law. For Poles living outside Poland, see Polish diaspora.

Poles
Polacy (Polish)
The flag of Poland, one of the symbols of Polish people
Total population
c. 60 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
Poland   37,394,000 (2011)[2]
United States10,600,000 (2015)[1][3][4]
Germany2,253,000 (2018)[5]
Brazil1,800,000 (2007)[6]
Canada1,010,705 (2013)[7]
France1,000,000 (2022)[8][9][10]
United Kingdom682,000 (2021)[11][12]
Other countries
Argentina500,000 (2014)[13]
Belarus288,000 (2019)[14]
Russia273,000 (2013)[15]
Australia216,056 (2006)[16]
Israel202,300 (2011)[17]
Lithuania183,000 (2021)[18]
Ukraine144,130 (2001)[19]
Ireland112,500 (2018)[20]
Norway108,255 (2019)[21]
Italy97,000 (2016)[6][22]
Sweden75,323 (2012)[23]
Austria69,898 (2015)[24]
Spain63,000 (2019)[25]
Netherlands60,000 (2017)[15]
Belgium49,600 (2019)[25]
Latvia44,783 (2011)[26]
Denmark37,876 (2014)[27]
Kazakhstan34,057 (2018)[28]
South Africa30,000 (2014)[29]
Iceland20,927 (2022)[30]
Czech Republic20,305 (2017)[31]
Hungary20,000 (2018)[6][32]
Switzerland20,000 (2007)[6]
Paraguay16,748 (2012)[33]
Greece15,000 (2019)[25]
United Arab Emirates14,500 (2015)[15]
Chile10,000 (2007)[6]
Mexico10,000 (2007)[6]
Moldova10,000 (2007)[6]
Uruguay10,000 (2007)[6]
Slovakia5,282 (2021)[34]
Portugal4,326[35]
Languages
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism[36]
Related ethnic groups
Other West Slavs
Especially other Lechites

Polish people, or Poles,

Roman Catholicism.[36]

The population of self-declared Poles in Poland is estimated at 37,394,000 out of an overall population of 38,512,000 (based on the 2011 census),[40] of whom 36,522,000 declared Polish alone.[2][41][4] A wide-ranging Polish diaspora (the Polonia) exists throughout Eurasia, the Americas, and Australasia. Today, the largest urban concentrations of Poles are within the Warsaw metropolitan area and the Katowice urban area.

Ethnic Poles are considered to be the descendants of the ancient West Slavic

Polish Jews
.

Exonyms

See also:
Name of Poland

The Polish

endonym Polacy is derived from the Western Polans, a Lechitic tribe which inhabited lands around the River Warta in Greater Poland region from the mid-6th century onward.[43] The tribe's name stems from the Proto-Indo European *pleh₂-, which means flat or flatland and corresponds to the topography of a region that the Western Polans initially settled.[44][45] The prefix pol- is used in most world languages when referring to Poles
(Spanish polaco, Italian polacche, French polonais, German Pole).

Among other foreign

Old Polish term lęda, meaning plain or field.[46]

Ethnogenesis

Main article: History of Poland
See also:
Western Slavs, and Lechites
Fragment of Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum (1073) by Adam of Bremen, containing the name "Polans": "trans Oddaram sunt Polanos"

Slavs have been in the territory of modern-day Poland for over 1500 years.[47] During the Migration Period, central Europe was becoming increasingly settled by the early Slavs (500–700 AD).[47] They organized into tribal units, of which the larger ones further west were later known as the Polish tribes (Lechites);[48] the names of many tribes are found on the list compiled by the anonymous Bavarian Geographer in the 9th century.[49] In the 9th and 10th centuries the tribes gave rise to developed regions along the upper Vistula (the Vistulans),[49] the Baltic Sea coast and in Greater Poland. The ultimate tribal undertaking (10th century) resulted in a lasting political structure and the creation of a Polish state.[50]

Language

Main article: Polish language
Old Polish language

diacritic marks, totalling 32 letters. Bearing relation to Czech and Slovak, it has been profoundly influenced by Latin, German and other languages over the course of history.[51][52] Poland is linguistically homogeneous – nearly 97% of Poland's citizens declare Polish as their mother tongue.[53]

Polish-speakers use the language in a uniform manner throughout most of Poland, though numerous

vernacular language in certain regions coexist alongside standard Polish. The most common lects in Poland are Silesian, spoken in Upper Silesia, and Kashubian, widely spoken in historic Eastern Pomerania (Pomerelia), today in the northwestern part of Poland.[54] Kashubian possesses its own status as a separate language.[55][56] The Goral people in the mountainous south use their own nonstandard dialect, accenting and different intonation
.

The geographical distribution of the

Second World War – forced expulsions
and resettlement during that period contributed to the country's current linguistic homogeneity.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Poland
The Polish White Eagle is Poland's enduring national and cultural symbol

The culture of Poland is closely connected with its intricate 1,000-year

Roman Catholic faith
also shaped Poland's cultural identity.

Officially, the national and state symbol is the white-tailed eagle (bielik) embedded on the Coat of arms of Poland (godło).[58] The national colours are white and red, which appropriately appear on the flag of Poland (flaga), banners, cockades and memorabilia.[58]

Adam Mickiewicz is regarded as a national poet in Poland

Personal achievement and education plays an important role in Polish society today. In 2018, the

Rudolf Modrzejewski, Rudolf Weigl, Bronisław Malinowski, Stefan Banach, Stanisław Ulam, Leonid Hurwicz, Benoit Mandelbrot and Alfred Tarski
.

Poland's

polonaise, were popularized by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, and they soon spread across Europe and elsewhere.[62] Latin songs and religious hymns such as Gaude Mater Polonia and Bogurodzica
were once chanted in churches and during patriotic festivities, but the tradition has faded.

According to a 2020 study, Poland ranks 12th globally on a list of countries which read the most, and approximately 79% of Poles read the news more than once a day, placing it 2nd behind Sweden.[63] As of 2021, six Poles received the Nobel Prize in Literature.[b] The national epic is Pan Tadeusz (English: Master Thaddeus), written by Adam Mickiewicz. Renowned novelists who gained much recognition abroad include Joseph Conrad (wrote in English; Heart of Darkness, Lord Jim), Stanisław Lem (science-fiction; Solaris) and Andrzej Sapkowski (fantasy; The Witcher).

Frederic Chopin plays for the Radziwiłł family, 1829 (painting by Henryk Siemiradzki
, 1887)

Various regions in Poland such as Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Mazovia, Silesia, and Pomerania developed their own distinct cultures, cuisines, folk costumes and dialects. Also, Poland for centuries was a refuge to many Jews and to Armenians, who became an important part of Polish society and similarly developed their own unique cultures.

Popular everyday foods in Poland include pork cutlets (

bread rolls. Traditional Polish cuisine is hearty and Poles are one of the more obese nations in Europe – approximately 58% of the adult population was overweight in 2019, above the EU average.[64] According to data from 2017, meat consumption per capita in Poland was one of the highest in the world, with pork being the most in demand.[65] Alcohol consumption is relatively moderate compared to other European states;[66] popular alcoholic beverages include Polish-produced beer, vodka and ciders
.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Poland
See also:
Baptist Union of Poland, and Polish Reformed Church
Roman Catholic Pope

Poles have traditionally adhered to the Christian faith; an overwhelming majority belongs to the

Poland's Constitution
, freedom of religion is ensured to everyone. It also allows for national and ethnic minorities to have the right to establish educational and cultural institutions, institutions designed to protect religious identity, as well as to participate in the resolution of matters connected with their cultural identity.

There are smaller communities primarily comprising

Warmia-Masuria regions. A growing Jewish population exists in major cities, especially in Warsaw, Kraków and Wrocław. Over two million Jews of Polish origin reside in the United States, Brazil, and Israel.[citation needed
]

Jews to Poland (by Wojciech Gerson
)

Religious organizations in the Republic of Poland can register their institution with the

Ministry of Interior and Administration creating a record of churches and other religious organizations who operate under separate Polish laws. This registration is not necessary; however, it is beneficial when it comes to serving the freedom of religious practice laws.[citation needed
]

Światowid (Święte Koło Czcicieli Światowida), and the Polish Slavic Church (Polski Kościół Słowiański). There is also the Native Faith Association (Zrzeszenie Rodzimej Wiary, ZRW), founded in 1996.[70]

Geographic distribution

The map depicts countries by number of citizens who reported Polish ancestry or citizenship (based on sources in this article)
  Poland
  + 10,000,000
  + 1,000,000
  + 100,000
  + 10,000
Beskid Mountains (Żywiec
)

Polish people are the sixth-largest national group in the European Union (EU).[71] Estimates vary depending on source, though available data suggest a total number of around 60 million people worldwide (with roughly 18-20 million living outside of Poland, many of whom are not of Polish descent, but are Polish nationals).[72] There are almost 38 million Poles in Poland alone. There are also strong Polish communities in neighbouring countries, whose territories were once occupied or part of Poland – Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, western Ukraine, and western Belarus.

The term "

Brazil, and Canada. 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 (1939–1945) or Communism
(1945/1947–1989).

In the United States, a significant number of Polish immigrants settled in

culture
are quite common in the region.

work freely throughout the EU where they have had full working 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. Only in recent years has the population abroad decreased, specifically in the UK with 116.000 leaving the UK in 2018 alone. There is a large minority of Polish people in Ireland that makes up approximately 2.57% of the population.[74]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Polish: Polacy, pronounced [pɔˈlat͡sɨ]; singular masculine: Polak, singular feminine: Polka
  2. ^ In some instances only five laureates are acknowledged as Isaac Bashevis Singer resided in the United States and primarily wrote in Yiddish.

References

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