Demographics of Poland

From Includipedia, the inclusionist encyclopedia

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.

[edit] 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.

Other than the Poles, Poland is also inhabited by:

[edit] 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.^{[citation needed]} 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.

[edit] 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.^[1]

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

[edit] Czechs

According to the Polish census of 2002, 386 Czechs live in Poland,^[1] many of them in Zelów, near the Czech border.

[edit] 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).^[1]

[edit] Greeks

Some 4 - 5,000 Greeks live in central and southeast Poland.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Jews

For more details on this topic, see Polish Jews.

The Jewish community, once numbering 3,474,000, has been almost entirely eradicated, due to the Holocaust, where the German Nazis murdered most of the Jewish population of Poland during WW2, and subsequent emigration. If not for the Holocaust, they would probably constitute Poland's largest minority group. See History of Jews in Poland. The current estimated Jewish population of Poland is about a 1,000 people (according to thw 2002 census).^[1] Its representatives live mainly in large cities like Warsaw, Wrocław and Kraków. Many Polish Jews often avoid referring to themselves as members of a "national minority", as they consider Jews in Poland to be a religious and cultural minority, not an ethnic one.

[edit] Kashubians

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

[edit] Lithuanians

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

There are 5,639 Lithuanians in Poland, according to the 2002 census.^[1] 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.

[edit] Macedonians

There are 4,000 to 5,000 Macedonians in central and southern Poland.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Roma

There are 12,731 Roma in Poland, according to the 2002 census.^[1] They are dispersed and live on the area of the whole country, although their more numerous concentrations are in the south of Poland.

[edit] 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.^[1] The HFHR estimated around 13,000-15,000 Russians are in Poland.^{[citation needed]} 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.

[edit] Slovaks

Slovaks live in some areas in southern Poland, to the number of 1710 according to the Polish 2002 census.^[1] 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.

[edit] Tatars

Small populations of Polish Lipka Tatars still exist and still practice Islam. Some Polish towns, mainly in northeastern Poland have mosques. Tartars arrived as mercenary soldiers beginning in the late 1300s. The Tatar population reached approximately 100,000 in 1630 but was 2002 census showed only 447 people declaring this nationality.^[1]

[edit] 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.^[1]

[edit] Additional

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

[edit] 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 alleged 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 (including Africans)
- 2,000 Slovak
- 1,808 Vietnamese
- 1,633 French
- 1,541 American
- 1,404 Greek
- 1,367 Italian
- 1,112 Bulgarian
- 1,100 Israeli Jews
- 1,082 Armenian
- 831 Czech
- 800 English
- 500 Tatar
- 45 Karaite

[edit] Biggest metropolitan areas

Upper Silesian Industry Area : population(1999): 2,930,800 including
- Katowice (345,934)
Warsaw metropolitan area: population(1999): 2,100,000 including
- Warsaw (1,703,262)
Kraków metropolitan area: population(1999): 1,239,000 including
- Kraków (740,666)
Tricity metropolitan area: population(2001): 1,035,400; including
- Gdańsk (458,988)
- Gdynia (253,521)
- Sopot (46,000)
Łódź (806,728)
Wrocław (650,000)
Poznań (578,000)
Bydgoszcz-Toruń metropolitan area: population(2001): 593,000;
- Bydgoszcz (386,855)
- Toruń (206,158)
Szczecin (416,988)
Lublin (355,953)
Białystok (291,917)
Częstochowa (248,894)
Radom (227,944)
Kielce (209,962)
Bielsko-Biała (177,219)
Olsztyn (173,350)
Rzeszów (158,987)

[edit] Statistical indicators

Image:Poland-demography.png

Demographics of Poland, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Population: 38,635,144 (July 2005 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.05% (2007 est.)

Birth rate: 12.78 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Death rate: 10.01 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Total immigration: +70,300 migrants (2006)

Total emigration: -322,200 migrants (2006)

Total net migration: -251,100 migrants (2006)

Net migration rate: -6.90 migrants/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Total asylum seekers admitted: 94,500 (2006)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 21.7%
15-64 years: 65.3%
65 years and over: 13.0% (2005 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: 8.51 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
male: 70.3 years
female: 78.8 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.39 children born/woman (2004 est.)

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 95% (baptized), Eastern Orthodox 1.3%, Protestant 0.4%, Jehovah's Witnesses 0.3%, Greek Catholic 0.2% (2006)

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% (2004 est.)

[edit] Urban demographics

	Agglomeration or conurbation	Voivodeship	Inhabitants (Estimated, 2005)
1	Katowice (USIA)	Silesia	3,487,000
2	Warsaw (Warszawa)	Masovia	2,679,000
3	Kraków	Lesser Poland	1,400,000
4	Łódź	Łódź	1,300,000
5	Tricity	Pomerania	1,100,000
5	Poznań	Greater Poland	1,000,000

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

[edit] Notes

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j (Polish) Mniejszości narodowe i etniczne w Polsce on the pages of Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration. Retrieved on 9 September 2007.

[edit] External links

¹ Entirely in Southwest Asia; included here because of cultural, political and historical association with Europe. ² Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the border between Europe and Asia. ³ Mostly in Asia. ⁴ Entirely in the African Plate, included here because of cultural, political and historical association with Europe. ⁵ Only recognised by Turkey.

</td></tr>

v • d • e</div></span> Demographics of Europe

es:Demografía de Polonia

fr:Démographie de la Pologne pl:Ludność Polski pt:Demografia da Polónia ru:Население Польши

Retrieved from "http://www.includipedia.com/wiki/Demographics_of_Poland"

Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since September 2007 | Articles with invalid date parameter in template | Demographics of Poland