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Main article: Demographics of Poland Historical demography of Poland shows that in the past, Poland's demography was much more diverse than at present. For many centuries, until the end of Second World War, the Polish population was composed of many significant ethnic minorities.
[edit] General statisticsDemographics estimates for period before statistics and reliable data collection from censuses should be seen as giving only a rough order of magnitude, not any precise number.[1] Changes of Poland's population through centuries.
Sources: GUS, The World Factbook [edit] Urban demographics statisticsChanges in the population of major Polish cities through centuries.
[edit] By period[edit] Prehistorical (pre-966)Polish people were formed from the slow mergers and assimilations of various tribes living on what became Poland's territories in the early Middle Ages. [edit] Kingdom of Poland (966-1569)Around the year 1000, the population of Polish lands is estimated at about 1,000,000[7] to 1,250,000.[8] Around 1370 Poland had 2 millions of inhabitants with a population density of 8.6 per square kilometre.[1] Poland was less affected by the Black Death than western Europe.[1] Although the population of the Kingdom of Poland in late Middle Ages consisted mostly of Poles, influx of other cultures was significant: particularly notable were Jewish and German settlers, who often formed significant minorities or even majorities in urban centers. Sporadically migrants from other places like Scotland, Netherlands settled in Poland as well. At that time other notable minorities included various incompletely assimilated people from other Slavic tribes (some of whom would eventually merge totally into the Polish people, while others merged into neighboring nations). Around 1490, combined population of Poland and Lithuania, in a personal union (the Polish-Lithuanian union) since the Union of Krewo a century before, is estimated at about 8 million.[9] An estimate for 1493 gives the combined population of Poland and Lithuania at 7.5 million, breaking them down by ethnicity at 3.25 million Poles, 3.75 million Ruthenians and 0.5 million Lithuanians.[10] The Ruthenians composed most of the Grand Duchy population; this is the reason why the late GDL is often called a Slavic country, alongside Poland, Russia etc. In time, the adjective "Lithuanian" came to denote a Slav of the Grand Duchy.[11] Eventually the Lithuanian speakers came to be known as Samogitians (see also Samogitian nobility), after the province in which they were the dominant majority.[11] Another estimate for the combined population at the beginning of the 16th century gives 7.5 million, roughly split evenly, due to much larger territory of the Grand Duchy (with about 10-15 people per square km in Poland and 3-5 people per square km in the Grand Duchy, and even less in the south-east Cossack borderlands).[1] [12] By 1500, about 15% of Poland's population lived in urban centers (settlements with over 500 people).[5] [edit] Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795)By 1600, about 25% of Poland's population lived in urban centers (settlements with over 500 people).[5] Major towns in Poland included: Gdańsk (Danzig) (70,000), Kraków (28,000), Warsaw (20,000-30,000), Poznań (20,000), Lwów (Lviv) (20,000), Elbląg (Elbing) (15,000), Toruń (Thorn) (12,000), Sandomierz (4,000-5,000), Kazimierz Dolny (4,000-5,000) and Gniezno (4,000-5,000).[5] The population of the Commonwealth of both nations was never overwhelmingly either Roman Catholic or Polish. This resulted from Poland's possession of Ukraine and federation with Lithuania; in both these countries ethnic Poles were a distinct minority. The Commonwealth comprised primarily three nations: Poles, Ukrainians and Belarusians (the latter usually referred to as Ruthenians). Shortly after the Union of Lublin (1569), at the turn of the century, the Commonwealth population was around 7 million, with a rough breakdown of 4.5m Poles, 0.75m Lithuanians, 0.7m Jews and 2m Ruthenians.[13] In 1618, after the Truce of Deulino the Commonwealth population increased together with its territory, reaching 11,5 millions that could be roughly divided into: Poles - 4.5m, Ukrainians - 3.5m, Belarusians - 1.5m, Lithuanians - 0.75m, Prussians - 0.75m, Jews - 0.5m, Livionians - 0.5m; at that time nobility formed 10% and burghers, 15%.[14] Population losses of 1648-1667 are estimated at 4m.[14] Coupled with further population and territorial losses, in 1717 Commonwealth population had fallen to 9m, roughly 4.5m Poles, 1.5m Ukrainians, 1.2m Belarusians, 0.8m Lithuanians, 0.5m Jews, 0.5m others[14] The urban population was hit hard, falling to below 10%.[15] To be Polish, in the non-Polish lands of the Commonwealth, was then much less an index of ethnicity than of religion and rank; it was a designation largely reserved for the landed noble class (szlachta), which included Poles but also many members of non-Polish origin who converted to Catholicism in increasing numbers with each following generation. For the non-Polish noble such conversion meant a final step of Polonization that followed the adoption of the Polish language and culture.[16] Poland, as the culturally most advanced part of the Commonwealth, with the royal court, the capital, the largest cities, the second-oldest university in Central Europe (after Prague), and the more liberal and democratic social institutions has proven an irresistible magnet for the non-Polish nobility in the Commonwealth.[17] As a result, in the eastern territories a Polish (or Polonized) aristocracy dominated a peasantry whose great majority was neither Polish nor Roman Catholic. Moreover, the decades of peace brought huge colonization efforts to Ukraine, heightening the tensions among nobles, Jews, Cossacks (traditionally Orthodox), Polish and Ruthenian peasants. The latter, deprived of their native protectors among the Ruthenian nobility, turned for protection to cossacks that facilitated violence that in the end broke the Commonwealth. The tensions were aggravated by conflicts between Eastern Orthodoxy and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church following the Union of Brest, overall discrimination of Orthodox religions by dominant Catholicism[18], and several Cossack uprisings. In the west and north, many cities had sizable German minorities, often belonging to Reformed churches. The Commonwealth had also one of the largest Jewish diasporas in the world. Until the Reformation, the szlachta were mostly Catholic or Eastern Orthodox. However, many families quickly adopted the Reformed religion. After the Counter-Reformation, when the Roman Catholic Church regained power in Poland, the szlachta became almost exclusively Roman Catholic, despite the fact that Roman Catholicism was not a majority religion (the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches counted approximately 40% of the population each, while the remaining 20% were Jews and members of various Protestant churches).[19] It should be noted that the Counter-Reformation in Poland, influenced by the Commonwealth tradition of religious tolerance, was based mostly on Jesuit propaganda, and was very peaceful when compared to excesses such as the Thirty Years' War elsewhere in Europe. In the late 18th century, first statistical estimates of Commonwealth population appeared. Aleksander Busching estimated the number of Commonwealth population for 8,5 millions; Józef Wybicki in 1777 for 5,391,364; Stanisław Staszic in 1785 for 6 millions; and Fryderyk Moszyński in 1789 for 7,354,620.[20] Modern estimates tend to be higher; by 1770, on the eve of the partitions, Commonwealth had a population of about 11m[21]-14m,[22] about 10% of that - Jewish.[21] The nobility comprised about 10%, the burghers, about 7-8%.[21] [edit] Partitions (1795-1918)By the First Partition in 1772, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth lost about 211 000 km² (30% of its territory, amounting at that time to about 733 000 km²), with a population of over four to five million people (about a third of its population of 14 million before the partitions).[23] [24] After the Second Partition, Commonwealth lost about 308 000 km², being reduced to 223 000 km². It has lost about 2 million people; only about 3.4 million people remained in Poland, an estimated 1/3 of the pre-First Partition (1772), estimated as over 10 million. After the Third Partition, overall, Austria had gained about 18 percent of the former Commonwealth territory (130,000 km²) and about 32 percent of the population (3.85 million people).[25] Prussia had gained about 20 percent of the former Commonwealth territory 149 000km²) and about 23 percent of the population (2.6 million people).[25] Russia had gained about 62 percent of the former Commonwealth territory (462,000 km²) and about 45 percent of the population (3.5 million people).[25] An estimate for 1815 gives 11 million Poles, out of which 5m were under Russian control (4 million in Congress Poland and 1 million in the territories incorporated into the Russian Empire), 3.5m in the Prussian partition territories and 3m in the Austrian partition territories.[26] Congress Poland had a population of about 4.25 million around 1830.[24] In the Russian partition, the Pale of Settlement resulted in resettlement of many Russian Jews to the western fringes of Russian Empire, which now included part of Poland. This further increased the sizable community of Polish Jews. By 1914, about 31 million people inhabited the territories that would become the Second Polish Republic, the First World War saw the population of those territories drop to 26 million.[22] [edit] Second Polish Republic (1918-1939) Before World War II the Polish lands were noted for the richness and variety of their ethnic communities. After Poland gained its independence in 1921, a large part of its population belonged to national minorities. The census of that year allocates 30.8% of the population in the minority.[27]. In 1931 the population of Poland was 31 916 000, including 15 428 000 males and 16 488 000 females. By January 1939 the population of Poland increased to 35,100,000. This total included 240,000 in Zaolzie which was under Polish control from October 1938 until August 1939..[28] The population density was 90 persons per square km. In 1921, 24% of the population lived in towns and cities, by 1931 the ratio grew to 27%. Altogether, in 1921, there were 611 towns and cities in the country, by 1931 there were 636 municipalities. The five biggest cities of Poland (as for January 1, 1939) were Warsaw, Lodz, Lwow, Poznan, Krakow and Wilno. In 1931 Poland had the second largest Jewish population in the world, and one-fifth of all Jews resided within Poland's borders (approx. 3,136,000, roughly 10% of the entire Polish population).[27]. Norman Davies gives the results of Polish census of 1931 "according to linguistic criteria" as follows[29]
The results of Polish census of 1931 according to religion are as follows.[30]
In the southeast, Ukrainian settlements were present in the regions east of Chełm and in the Carpathians east of Nowy Sącz. The three main native higlander populations were Łemkowie, Bojkowie and Huculi. In all the towns and cities there were large concentrations of Yiddish-speaking Jews. The Polish ethnographic area stretched eastward: in eastern Lithuania, Belarus, and western Ukraine, all of which had a mixed population, Poles predominated not only in the cities but also in numerous rural districts. There were significant Polish minorities in Daugavpils (in Latvia), Minsk (in Belarus), Bucovina (in Romania), and Kiev (in Ukraine) (see Polish minority in the Soviet Union, Polish Autonomous District). [edit] Second World War (1939-1945)
In the beginning of the war (September, 1939) the territory of Poland was divided between the Nazi Germany and the USSR. By the late-1941 the Soviets were overrun by Nazi Germany over entire territory of the former Second Polish Republic but the 1944-1945 the Red Army's offensive drove the Nazi forces out. After both occupiers divided the territory of Poland between themselves, they conducted a series of actions aimed at suppression of Polish culture and repression of much of the Polish people. Tadeusz Piotrowski's revised 2005 estimate of Poland's war losses is 5.6 million persons - 16% of the population.[31] About 90% of Polish Jews were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust; many others emigrated in the succeeding years. Poland's Population Balance-(1939-1950)
1- Population Dec. 1931 Per Census -The allocation of the Polish, German and other population is by the primary language spoken. Jews are given by religion. Most Jews spoke Yiddish, however included with the Jews are 372,000 Polish speakers who are sometimes classified with the Polish group. Included with the Poles are 984,000 Eastern Orthodox & Greek Catholic adherents who are sometimes classified with the Ukrainian and Belarusian groups.[30]This census data includes 192,000 military personnel who were allocated. 2- Population Sept. 1, 1939- The estimate was made by the Polish government in exile in 1941.[28] To derive the statistics they added the official Polish vital statistics data from 1932-39, births, deaths and net migration, to the 1931 census figures.[30] 3- Natural Increase Oct. 1939-Dec. 1945 -After the war Polish demographers calculated the estimated births that occurred during the war. In 1938 the birth rate was 2.45%, natural deaths 1.4%. The birth rate (1938 =100)in 1939=98,1940=93, 1941=88,1942=84,1943=78,1944=80 1945=90. [30] If we take these birth rates and the 1.4% natural death rate of 1938 as being constant, we will derive an increase of 1.330 million from 1939-45. The Jewish estimated increase is only for 1939-40 because of the Holocaust. 4- Natural Increase 1946-1950 All were Poles because ethnic groups or religion were not listed in post war Poland. This figue is official Polish government data for births and natural deaths from Jan 1946 until the census of Dec 1950. [32] 5- Population gain Recovered Territories Former German citizens reclassified as Poles after the war in the Recovered Territories. This group was mostly bi-lingual Polish-German who declared their allegiance to Poland after the war. [32][33] 6- Immigration 1946-50 Poles resident in western Europe before the war, primarily in Germany and France, who re-immigrated after the war. [32] 7- Emigration to the West UN refugee data listed Poles(419,000) and Jews (140,000) who remained in non communist countries.[30] The number of Ukrainians and Belarusians from Poland remaining in non communist countries is also per UN data [34] The number of ethnic Germans who were deported or fled from pre-war Poland is from German official sources. [35] 8-Population Remaining in the USSR The 1959 Soviet census data for the former Polish regions listed 8.6 million inhabitants, in addition there were 230,000 Poles who were allowed to leave the USSR in 1955-58. If we take this total of about 8.8 million and subtract the estimated natural increase from 1946-58 of 1.4 million we arrive at a total population of 7.4 million surviving the war in the former Polish territories.[36][37] To this we must add the 500,000 ethnic Ukrainians and Belrussians who were deported from Poland into the interior of the USSR during 1945-46. The number of Poles and Jews who remained in the USSR after the war was estimated at 1.4 million by Polish scholar and historian Krystyna Kersten[38] Included with the Poles remaining in the USSR are about 600,000 Eastern Orthodox & Greek Catholic adherents who are sometimes classified with the Ukrainian and Belarusian groups. 9- War losses The official Polish government report prepared in 1947 claimed 6,028,000 war victims from the Polish and Jewish ethnic groups, excluding ethnic Germans and others. The estimate for war losses was revised by several scholars, such as Franciszek Porch and Tadeusz Piotrowski.[31] According to Porch, Polish war losses include 5,040,000 victims of Nazi German military campaigns and occupation (including the Holocaust), and 1,050,000 deaths of Polish citizens during the Soviet occupation in 1940-41.[39] Piotrowski presents a smaller number of Polish losses: 5,600,000 total, including 5,150,000 victims of the German occupation and the Holocaust, 350,000 deaths of Polish citizens during the Soviet occupation in 1940-41 and 100,000 Poles killed in 1943-44 during the massacres of Poles in Volhynia[31] Included in the total of 5,600,000 war dead are 2,000,000 Poles, 3,100,000 Jews and about 400,000 ethnic Ukrainians/Belarusians in the Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union[38] Contemporary Russian sources also include these losses with Soviet war deaths.[40] Mateusz Gniazdowski in 2007 presented an estimate for the losses that included 3,000,000 million Jews and 1,800,000 to 1,900,000 million Poles as victims of German occupation policies and the war.[41] Overall, most scholars agree on the rough estimate of five million victims for the losses inflicted by the Germans, but the losses inflicted by the Soviets are much less well understood, with estimates ranging from half a million to a million. 10- Population December 1950 Per Census The total population per the December 1950 census was 25 million. A breakdown by ethnic group was not given. However, we can estimate the Jewish population based on the postwar census taken by the Jewish community.[32] Data for the Germans and others who remained in Poland after the war can be estimated using the 1946 Polish census[30] [edit] Post-Second World War (1945-present)[edit] Early post-war periodBefore World War II, a third of Poland's population was composed of ethnic minorities. After the war, however, Poland's minorities were mostly gone, due to the 1945 revision of borders, and the Holocaust. Under the National Repatriation Office (Państwowy Urząd Repatriacyjny), millions of Poles were forced to leave their homes in the eastern Kresy region and settle in the western former German territories. At the same time approximately 5 million remaining Germans (about 8 million had already fled or had been expelled and about 1 million had been killed in 1944-46) were similarly expelled from those territories into the Allied occupation zones. Ukrainian and Belarusian minorities found themselves now mostly within the borders of the Soviet Union; those who opposed this new policy (like the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in the Bieszczady Mountains region) were suppressed by the end of 1947 in the "Wisła" Action. The population of Jews in Poland, which formed the largest Jewish community in pre-war Europe at about 3.3 million people, was all but destroyed by 1945. Approximately 3 million Jews died of starvation in ghettos and labor camps, were slaughtered at the German Nazi extermination camps or by the Einsatzgruppen death squads. Between 40,000 and 100,000 Polish Jews survived the Holocaust in Poland, and another 50,000 to 170,000 were repatriated from the Soviet Union, and 20,000 to 40,000 from Germany and other countries. At its postwar peak, there were 180,000 to 240,000 Jews in Poland, settled mostly in Warsaw, Łódź, Kraków and Wrocław.[42] According to the national census, which took place on February 14, 1946, population of Poland was 23 930 000, out of which 32% lived in cities and towns, and 68% lived in the countryside. The 1950 census (December 3, 1950) showed the population rise to 25 008 000, and the 1960 census (December 6, 1960) placed the population of Poland at 29 776 000[43]. In 1950, Warsaw was the biggest city of the country, with population of 804 000. Second was Lodz (pop. 620 000), third Krakow (pop. 344 000), fourth Poznan (pop. 321 000), and fifth Wroclaw (pop. 309 000). Females were in the majority in the country. In 1931, there were 105.6 women for 100 men. In 1946, the difference grew to 118.5/100, but in subsequent years, number of males grew, and in 1960, the ratio was 106.7/100. [edit] Current situationFor more details on this topic, see Demographics of Poland. Most Germans were expelled from Poland and the annexed east German territories at the end of the war, while many Ukrainians, Rusyns and Belarusians lived in territories incorporated into the USSR. Small Ukrainian, Belarusian, Slovak, and Lithuanian minorities reside along the borders, and a German minority is concentrated near the southwestern city of Opole and in Masuria. Groups of Ukrainians and Polish Ruthenians also live in western Poland, where they were forcefully resettled by communists. As a result of the migrations and the Soviet Unions radically altered borders under the rule of Joseph Stalin, the population of Poland became one of the most ethnically homogeneous in the world. Virtually all people in Poland claim Polish nationality, with Polish as their native tongue. Ukrainians resp. Rusyns, the largest minority group, are scattered in various northern districts. Lesser numbers of Belarusians and Lithuanians live in areas adjoining Belarus and Lithuania. The Jewish community, almost entirely Polonized, has been greatly reduced. In Silesia a significant segment of the population, of mixed Polish and German ancestry, tends to declare itself as Polish or German according to political circumstances. Minorities of Germans remain in Pomerania, Silesia, East Prussia, and Lubus. Small populations of Polish Tatars still exist. Some Polish towns, mainly in northeastern Poland have mosques. Tatars arrived as mercenary soldiers beginning in the late 1300s. The Tatar population reached approximately 100,000 in 1630 but is less than 500 in 2000. See also Islam in Poland.[44] [edit] References
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