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(last updated: 2004-09-20 11:59:49)
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Ethnically, modern Poland is almost homogenous. The minorities account for about 3-4% of the population, which is equivalent to some 1.5 million people. In the inter-war period (1918-1939) the Second Republic of Poland had 11.3 million citizens of non-Polish nationality, who constituted 35% of the entire population (as surveyed in 1931). This dramatic change in ethnic structure was due to the atrocities of the Second World War and the post-war policy of Poland's communist authorities. About 6 million lives were lost as a result of military operations and mass extermination; another 6.5 million found themselves outside the changed Poland's borders, and 1.7 million people were deported or forced to emigrate.
The biggest minority in today's Poland is the Germans. Their number is estimated as about 550,000 (800,000 in 1931) and they live mainly in Silesia. The second biggest minority is the Ukrainians, who after the war were forced to resettle in the new territories in the west and north part of the country. Their number is about 400,000 (5 million in 1931). The third largest group is the Belarussians, who number about 300,000 (1.9 million in 1931) and live mainly in the east. Other sizeable minorities include the Lithuanians (about 30,000), Slovaks (about 25,000), Jews (about 15,000), Gypsies, Russians, Macedonians and Greeks. |
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