CHARACTERISTICS OF ETHNIC AND NATIONAL MINORITIES IN POLAND

Polandis inhabited by members of 9 national minorities: Belorussians, Czechs, Lithuanians, Germans, Armenians, Russians, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Jews and 4 ethnic minorities: Karaites, Lemkos, Roma and Tartars. In addition, in the Pomorskie Voivodship there are Kashubians a community speaking their own regional language.
On the basis of the nationwide census which was carried out in  2002 it was possible to specify a precise number of the representatives of national and ethnic inorities.

Poland is inhabited by the following national and ethnic minorities:

• Germans
• Ukrainians
• Belorussians
• Lithuanians
• Slovaks
• Russians
• Jews
• Armenians
• Czechs
• Roma people
• Tartars
• Lemkos (Łemkowie)
• Karaites

 Germans are the largest  national minority in Poland. In the 2002 national census a total of 147 094 citizens of Poland proclaimed their nationality as German, with 104 399 citizens in Opolskie Voivodship, 30 531 in Śląskie Voivodship, 1 792 in Dolnośląskie Voivodship, 4 311 in Warmińsko–Mazurskie Voivodship, 2 016 in Pomorskie Voivodship, 1 014 in Zachodnio-Pomorskie Voivodship, 820 in Wielkopolskie Voivodship, 636 Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodship, 513 in Lubuskie Voivodship,  351 in Mazowieckie Voivodship, and 263 in  Łódzkie Voivodship.

In some municipalities of Opolskie Voivodship, the representatives of the German minority account for the majority of local population and take most of the seats in local councils. German candidates ranked in the second place and this is why they now co-rule the province in the last local elections. The German minority is the only one that is represented in Polish Parliament by its two deputies (Henryk Kroll and Helmut Paździor).

German language schools account for the majority of all educational institutions intended for national minorities. A total number of educational institutions where the German language is taught is 325 with 37 005 pupils.
Most members of the German minority are Catholic and only some of them are Protestant (the Evangelical-Augsburg Church).
 

 The Ukrainian minority is estimated at 27 172 citizens. In the 2002 national census which residents of the following voivodships described themselves as Ukrainian: Mazurskie Voivodship 11 881 residents, Zachodniopomorskie Voivodship 3 703, Podkarpackie Voivodship  2 984, Pomorskie Voivodship 2 831, Dolnośląskie Voivodship 1 422, Podlaskie Voivodship 1 366, Lubuskie Voivodship 615, Mazowieckie Voivodship 579, Małopolskie Voivodship 472, Lubelskie Voivodship 389, Śląskie Voivodship 309.
In the framework of the Vistula project launched in 1947 Ukrainians resident in the regions of south-eastern Poland were resettled. Now the largest Ukrainian communities may be found in Zachodnio-Pomorskie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Dolnośląskie Voivodships. Some Ukrainians managed to avoid resettlement from their indigenous regions, and some were allowed to return to the land of their forefathers. Consequently, there are also Ukrainian communities living in Podkarpackie and Małopolskie Voivodships.
The Ukrainian minority is represented in local governments, mainly in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodship, where Ukrainians are involved in various levels of government, including the head of the local parliament.
The statistical data on educational activity conducted in the last decade demonstrate that the number of Ukrainian minority schools and schoolchildren is on the increase. The Ukrainian language is taught in 136 schools to 2 774 pupils. The number of Ukrainian teachers has also been growing. Most of them have higher education.
In terms of religion, Ukrainians resident in Poland are members of the Catholic Church of Byzantine-Ukrainian Rite and Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church. 
 

 Belorussians represent a minority of 47 640 citizens of Poland mostly resident in Podlaskie Voivodship where they account for a significant percentage of the local population. In the 2002 nationwal census residents of the following voivodships described themselves as Belorussian: Podlaskie Voivodship 46 041 residents, Mazowieckie Voivodship 541, Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodship 226, Lubelskie Voivodship 137, Pomorskie Voivodship 117, Zachodnio-Pomorskie Voivodship 117.

The Belorussian minority has its representatives in local councils, mainly in Podlaskie Voivodship. It is also represented in the Polish Parliament by MPs Eugeniusz Czykwin, Aleksander Czuż, and Sergiusz Plewa.
The Belorussian language is taught to 3 664 pupils in 40 public schools. Nearly all Belarussian teachers are qualified to teach the language, being graduates of philological faculties.
Most of them are members of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

 Lithuanians constitute another national minority in Poland. In the 2002 national census  a total of 5 639 citizens of Poland proclaimed their nationality as Lithuanian. There are 5 097 members of the Lithuanian minority in Podlaskie Voivodship, 99 in Mazowieckie Voivodship, 83 Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodship, 75 in Pomorskie Voivodship, 67 in Zachodnio-Pomorskie Voivodship, and 53 in Dolnośląskie Voivodship. There are homogenous Lituanian communities in the municipalities of Puńsk, Szypliszki, Krasnopol and Sejny (Podlaskie Voivodship).
In the municipality of Puńsk, Lithuanians account for over 80% of the local population and, in effect, they hold the majority of seats in the local government. They are also represented in the council of the Sejny district.
They have a well-organized educational system. In 2003/2004 their mother tongue was taught at all school levels  in a total of 19 schools attended by 720 Lithuanian children and teenagers. All teachers of the Lithuanian language have university degrees.
The majority of Polish Lithuanians are members of the Catholic Church.
 

 The Slovak minority is estimated at 1 710 people. They live in the area of Spisz and Orawa.
There are 1 572 members of the Slovak minority in Małopolska Voivodship, 40 in Śląskie Voivodship, and 20 in Mazowieckie Voivodship. The Slovak language is taught in 11 schools to 331 pupils.
Slovaks belong to the Catholic Church.
 

  Russians represent a minority of 3 244 citizens of Poland who are mainly domiciled in Mazowieckie Voivodship (614), Podlaskie Voivodship (511), Dolnośląskie Voivodship (362), Śląskie Voivodship (275), Zachodnio-Pomorskie Voivodship (221), Pomorskie Voivodship (199), Łódzkie Voivodship (179), Wielkopolskie Voivodship (160), Lubuskie Voivodship (124), Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodship (112), Małopolska Voivodship (106).
The majority of Russians resident in Poland are members of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church. A small fraction of them are the old-believers, who have been represented by the Main Board of Old-believers since 1983. It was established in the second half of the 17th century as a result of a split of the Russian Church in the aftermath of the Council of 1654. At the end of the 18th century they arrived in the Suwalskie region.
 

 Jews amount to 1 055 citizens of Poland. They are dispersed throughout Poland, with 397 people living in Mazowieckie Voivodship, 204 in Dolnośląskie Voivodship, 92 in Śląskie Voivodship, 65 Łódzkie Voivodship, and 50 in Małopolskie Voivodship.
The earliest records of Jews living within Polish borders date back to the 10th century. The first official Polish document which vested the Jews with privileges and autonomy were the Calisia Statutes of the 13th century. The Second World War not only brought about the extermination of nearly 90% of Polish Jews, but it also broke the continuity of Jewish traditions, their religious and cultural life in Poland. Soon after World War II, the majority of those who had survived the Holocaust left Poland in two major emigration waves, but it was at the end of the 1960s (in March of 1968) when the Jewish issue was used as a political weapon and contributed to the final disintegration of the Jewish community in Poland.
Today there are no public schools in Poland where either Hebrew or Yiddish is taught as a mother tongue. In Warsaw and Wrocław two private schools have been established that offer Hebrew lessons. Courses of Yiddish are organised by the Social and Cultural Association of Jews in Poland.
Judaism is the Jewish religion.

 The Armenian minority, estimated at  262 citizens, is dispersed all over Poland, mainly in Mazowieckie Voivodship (73), Wielkopolska Voivodship (26), Śląskie Voivodship (23), Małopolskie Voivodship (22), Lubuskie Voivodship (20).

The earliest traces of Armenian settlement in Kiev Ruthenia date back to the 11th century. Armenian colonies acquired their autonomy in Kamieniec Podolski and Lviv in 1356. After World War II, the majority of Armenians resident in the south-eastern borderlands of Poland moved to the south-western regions of the country.
The Armenians domiciled in Poland are usually Catholics of the Armenian or Latin Rite.
 

  Czechs are another national minority in Poland. In the 2002 national census a total of 386 citizens of Poland described themselves as Czech . There are 111 members of the Czech minority in the Łódzkie Voivodship, 61 in the Śląskie Voivodship, 47 in the Dolnośląskie Voivodship, and 37 in the Mazowieckie Voivodship. This minority is mainly settled in the area of the Kłodzka Valley,Zelów (near Piotrków Trybunalski).
The first groups of Czechs came to Poland between the 16th and 18th century. They were mainly Evangelists who had to flee their country on account of religious persecutions.
In Poland there is no public school where they could learn their mother tongue.
 

 The Roma are an ethnic minority in Poland. In the 2002 national census a total of 12 731 citizens of Poland described themselves as Roma. There are 1 678 members of the Roma minority in the Małopolska Voivodship, 1 319 in Dolnośląskie Voivodship, 1 291 in Mazowieckie Voivodship, 1 189 in Śląskie Voivodship, 1 086 in Wielkopolskie Voivodship, 1 018 in Łódzkie Voivodship, 847 in Opolskie Voivodship, 712 in Podkarpackie Voivodship, 699 in Zachodnio-Pomorskie , 670 in Lubelskie Voivodship, 634 in Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodship, 426 in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodship, 365 in Podlaskie Voivodship, 338 in Świętokrzyskie Voivodship, 272 in Lubuskie Voivodship, and 187 in Pomorskie Voivodship.
Roma people live throughout the country, with the significant majority residing in towns. They are made up of four groups: Polish Roma, Carpathian Roma, also known as Bergitka Roma or Mountain Roma, and the associated groups of Kałderaszy (Kalderara) and Lowarzy (Lovara).
The first document reporting their presence in Poland dates back to 1401 and was written in Kraków. At the beginning of the 16th century, Poland became the destination for many German Roma people, who later labeled themselves as Polish Roma. Bergitka Roma are the descendants of a group of Gypsies who were traveling along the Carpathian range or who came to Poland from the direction of the Hungarian Lowlands. The Kałderasze (Kelderara – pot makers) and Lowarzy (Lovara – horse traders) came to Poland after 1850 from what is today Hungarian and Romanian territory.
The majority of Roma children and teenagers  attend public schools where they are covered by the integrated educational curriculum on par with Polish pupils. There are also a few purely Roma classes. The Parish Primary Roman School in Suwałki is an exception, as it is the only non-public school teaching children of Roma origin free of charge. But about 30% of Roma children do not attend any schools at all.
The Roma in Poland are mainly members of the Catholic Church but members of this community also belong to the Pentecostal Church and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
 

 Tartars amounting to 447 citizens of Poland, live in indigenous Tartar colonies in Podlaskie Voivodship (Bohoniki and Kruszyniany) (319), Pomorskie Voivodship (28), Mazowieckie Voivodship (22), Wielkopolskie Voivodship– (20).

Until the end of the 14th century, Polish Tartars used to live in the lands of the Grand Lithuanian Duchy. Their predecessors were either émigrés or refugees from the Golden Horde or Crimea.
The mother tongue of the Polish Tartars have become extinct and they have no schools of their own.
They are Muslim.
 

  Lemkos (Łemkowie), are a population of 5 850 citizens, who used to live in the so-called Łemkowszczyzna region, situated in the Lower Beskid Mountains and part of the Beskid Sądecki Mountains. As a result of the Vistula project of 1947, most Lemkos were resettled. Nowadays Lemkos live in Dolnośląskie Voivodship (3 082), Małopolska Voivodship (1 580), Lubuskie Voivodship (784), Podkarpackie Voivodship (147), and Zachodniopomorskie Voivodship (66).
Some Lemkos view themselves as Ukrainian ethnic group, while others describe themselves as a separate national minority.
The Lemkos Association and some public schools offer the Lemko language courses.
The Lemkos are members of the Catholic Church of the Byzantine-Ukrainian Rite and Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church. In terms of religion, Ukrainians resident in Poland are members of the Catholic Church of Byzantine-Ukrainian and Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church.
 

 Karaites are the smallest ethnic minority in Poland. In the 2002 national census  43 citizens of Poland described themselves as Karait. Karaites are dispersed around Warsaw and its vicinity, the Gdańsk/Gdynia/Sopot agglomeration, Opole, Wrocław, Szczecin and Kraków.

The Karaites are  of Turkish extraction. Their forefathers came to Poland from the Crimea in the 13th century and settled in the Halicz-Volhynia Duchy (Łuck, Halicz, Lviv).
The Karaites lost their mother tongue and this is why it is not taught in any public school.
The Karaites stand out among other national minorities as they have their own distinct religion which stems from Judaism.