Demographic history of Poland

The Poles come from different West Slavic tribes living on territories belonging later to Poland in the early Middle Ages.

Kingdom of Poland (966–1569)

Around the year 1000, the population of the Duchy of Poland is estimated at 1,000,000), breaking them down by ethnicity at 3.25 million Poles, 3.75 million Ruthenians and 0.5 million Lithuanians. During the Great Northern War, Poland's population contracted by 25% in 1709–1711.

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 nobility such conversion meant a final step of Polonization that followed the adoption of the Polish language and culture.

In the late 18th century, the first statistical estimates of Commonwealth population appeared. Aleksander Busching estimated the number of Commonwealth population for 8.5 million; Józef Wybicki in 1777 for 5,391,364; Stanisław Staszic in 1785 for 6 million; and Fryderyk Moszyński in 1789 for 7,354,620. with a population of over four to five million people (about a third of its population of 14 million before the partitions).

After the Second Partition, Commonwealth lost about 307 000 km2, being reduced to 223 000 km2.

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).

thumb|right|Mother tongue in Poland, based on 1931 census

Second Polish Republic and World War II (1918–1945)

Before World War II, the Polish lands were noted for the variety of their ethnic communities. Following the Polish-Soviet War, a large part of its population belonged to national minorities. The census of that year allocates 30.8% of the population in the minority. Norman Davies included the Ruthenians with the Ukrainians however the Polish census figures list them as separate group with 3.82% of the population. The classification of the ethnic groups in Poland during the Second Polish Republic is a disputed topic, Tadeusz Piotrowski maintains that the 1931 Polish census "involved questionable methodology, especially the use of mother tongue as an indicator of nationality", noting that it had underestimated the number of non-Poles. The official figures for nationality from the 1931 Polish census based on the mother tongue put the percentage of ethnic Poles at 68.9%, Jews 8.6% and other minority groups 22.5%. Piotrowski cited a study by the Polish historian Jerzy Tomaszewski that puts that the adjusted census figures (taking religious affiliation into account) of ethnic Poles at 64.7%, Jews 9.8% and other minority groups 25.5% of Poland's population. Polish demographer Piotr Eberhardt maintains that it is commonly agreed that the criterion of declared language to classify ethnic groups led to an overestimation of the number of Poles in pre-war Poland. He notes that in general, the numbers declaring a particular language do not mesh with the numbers declaring the corresponding nationality. Members of ethnic minority groups believe that the language criterion led to an overestimation of Poles.

The detailed figures for the census published by the Polish government provided a breakdown by religion for the various language groups, the details of the Polish census of 1931 published by the Central Statistical Office the Polish Republic according to language and religion are as follows.:

Breakdown of Total 1931 Polish Population by Language and Religion

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Language !! Total!! Roman Catholics !! Greek Catholics !! Eastern Orthodox !! Protestant !! Other Christian !! Jewish !! Other

| Polish|| 21,993,444|| 20,333,333|| 487,034|| 497,290|| 218,993|| 55,148 || 371,821 || 4,410

| Ukrainian|| 3,221,975||12,617|| 1,676,763|| 1,501,308 || 6,705|| 23,241 || 255 || 31

| Ruthenian|| 1,219,647||12,914|| 1,163,749|| 38,754|| 541|| 2,694|| 292|| 84

| Belarusian|| 989,852||77,790|| 2,303|| 903,557|| 519|| 4,153|| 200|| 1,020

| Russian|| 138,713||18,777|| 908|| 99,636|| 5769|| 34,957|| 444|| 105

| Lithuanian || 83,116 || 82,723|| 5|| 105 || 200 || 11 || 18||1

| Czech|| 38,097|| 8,984 || 251 || 21,672 || 5,769 || 1,237|| 95 ||2

| German || 740,992|| 118,470|| 284||64 ||598,944 ||15,863 ||6,827 ||8

| Yiddish || 2,489,034|| - || - || - || - || - || 2,487,844||0

| Hebrew || 243,539|| - || - || - || - || - || 243,527||0

| Local || 707,088|| 1,477 || 524 || 696,397 || 786 || 7,678 || 75 ||42

| Other|| 11,119|| 6,088|| 581||1,157|| 1384||269 ||454|||940

| Not Declared|| 39,163|| 13,778|| 3,762||2,544|| 758|| 167||2081||107

|Total|| 31,915,779|| 20,670,051||3,336,164|| 3,762,484|| 835,258|| 145,418||3,113,933|| 6,750

Figures may not add due to omitted answers and those not practicing or declaring a religion. Source: Polish Main Statistical Office (1931)

Breakdown of Total 1931 Polish Population by Language and Religion

Figures as % of Total Population

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Language !! Total!! Roman Catholics !! Greek Catholics !! Eastern Orthodox !! Protestant !! Other Christian !! Jewish !! Other

| Polish|| 68.91% || 63.71% || 1.53% || 1.56% || 0.69% || 0.17% || 1.17% || 0.01%

| Ukrainian|| 10.10% || 0.04% || 5.25% || 4.70% || 0.02% || 0.2% || -||-

|Ruthenian|| 3.82% || 0.04% || 3.65% || 0.12% || - || - || -||-

| Belarusian|| 3.10% || 0.24% || - || 2.83% || - || 0.01% || -||-

| Russian|| 0.43% || 0.06% || - || 0.31% || 0.02% || 0.2% || 0.11%||-

| Lithuanian|| 0.26% || 0.26% || -|| - || - || - || -||-

| Czech|| 0.12% || 0.03% || - || 0.07% || 0.02% || -|| - ||-

| German|| 2.32% || 0.37%|| -|| -|| 1.88% || 0.05% || 0.02%||-

| Yiddish|| 7.8% || - || - || - || - || - || 7.8%||-

| Hebrew|| 0.76% || - || - || - || - || - || 0.76%||-

| Local|| 3.10% || - || - || 2.18% || - || 0.02% || -||-

| Other|| 0.03% || 0.02% || - || - || -|| - || - ||-

|Total||100%||64.76%||10.45%||11.79%||2.62%||.46%||9.76%||0.02%

Figures may not add due to omitted answers and those not practicing or declaring a religion. Source: Polish Main Statistical Office (1931)

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 highlander 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 Kyiv (in Ukraine) (see Polish minority in the Soviet Union, Polish Autonomous District).

Second World War (1939–1945)

:See supplements: Occupation of Poland, World War II crimes in Poland, Holocaust in Poland

thumbnail|right|Population of Poland 1900-2010

In the beginning of the war (September 1939) the territory of Poland was divided between the Nazi Germany and the USSR. By late-1941 following Operation Barbarossa Nazi Germany controlled the entire territory of the former Second Polish Republic, but in 1944-1945 the Red Army's offensive claimed the region for the USSR.

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. In August 2009 the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) researchers estimated Poland's dead (including Polish Jews) at between 5.47 and 5.67 million (due to German actions) and 150,000 (due to Soviet), or around 5.62 and 5.82 million total.. In 1950 only about 40,000 of the pre-war ethnic German group remained in Poland in 1950, most of whom emigrated later in the 1950s..

|War Dead: In August 2009 the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) put the figure of Poland's dead at between 5,620,000 and 5,820,000. The IPN's figures include 3 million Polish Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust (200,000 included with Polish speakers); as well as Poles killed in 1943-44 during the massacres of Poles in Volhynia. According to the national census, which took place on 14 February 1946, the number of inhabitants was 23,930,000, out of which 32% lived in cities and towns, and 68% lived in the countryside. The 1950 census (3 December 1950) showed the population rise to 25,008,179, and the 1960 census (6 December 1960) placed the population of Poland at 29,776,000.

General statistics

Demographics 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.|| 20000|| || || || || || || || || || || ||

| 1622 || || || || || 70000 || 18000 || || 8400 || || || 10500|| || 29000|| || || || ||

| 1791 || || 23591 || || || || || || || || || || || ||

| 1792 || 120000

| 1882 || 383000 || || || || || || || || || || || || ||

|1885 || || || || || || || || ||102900|| || || || ||

| 1886|| || || || || || || || || || || || ||232000||

| 1890 || 383000 || 69100 ||69627|| ||

References

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External links

Commonwealth of Diverse Cultures: Poland's Heritage
historical demographical data for Poland - 19th and 20th centuries