Polish people: Difference between revisions
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|group=Polish people<br /> ''(Polacy)'' |
|group=Polish people<br /> ''(Polacy)'' |
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|image=[[File:Blank300.png|344px]]<br />[[File:Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix 043.jpg|66px]][[File:Mikolaj Kopernik.jpg|74px]][[File:Mariecurie.jpg|68px]][[File:Prus 002.jpg|66px]][[File:SiemiginowskiJerzy.1693.PortretJanaIIISobieskiego.jpg|65px]]<br />[[File:MR 1932 small.jpg|70px]][[File:Thaddeus Kosciuszko.jpg|70px]][[File:Joseph Conrad.PNG|72px]][[File:Jozef Pilsudski1.jpg|64px]][[File:Jan Matejko-Auto portrait.jpg|63px]]<br />[[File:Lech Walesa - 2009.jpg|66px]][[File:Czeslaw Milosz, 1986.jpg|96px]][[File:Szymborska(closeup).jpg|63px]][[File:Domeyko.jpg|62px]][[File: |
|image=[[File:Blank300.png|344px]]<br />[[File:Eugène Ferdinand Victor Delacroix 043.jpg|66px]][[File:Mikolaj Kopernik.jpg|74px]][[File:Mariecurie.jpg|68px]][[File:Prus 002.jpg|66px]][[File:SiemiginowskiJerzy.1693.PortretJanaIIISobieskiego.jpg|65px]]<br />[[File:MR 1932 small.jpg|70px]][[File:Thaddeus Kosciuszko.jpg|70px]][[File:Joseph Conrad.PNG|72px]][[File:Jozef Pilsudski1.jpg|64px]][[File:Jan Matejko-Auto portrait.jpg|63px]]<br />[[File:Lech Walesa - 2009.jpg|66px]][[File:Czeslaw Milosz, 1986.jpg|96px]][[File:Szymborska(closeup).jpg|63px]][[File:Domeyko.jpg|62px]][[File:Pola Negri Trading Card.jpg|55px]]<br />[[File:John Paul II Medal of Freedom 2004.jpg|61px]][[File:Henryk Sienkiewicz 02.jpg|68px]][[File:Adam Mickiewicz według dagerotypu paryskiego z 1842 roku.jpg|65px]][[File:Ignacy Jan Paderewski.PNG|73px]][[File:Krzysztof Kieślowski.jpg|68px]]<br /><small> [[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]] • [[Copernicus]] • [[Marie Curie|Skłodowska-Curie]] • [[Bolesław Prus|Prus]] • [[John III Sobieski]]<br>[[Marian Rejewski|Rejewski]] • [[Tadeusz Kościuszko|Kościuszko]] • [[Joseph Conrad|Conrad]] • [[Józef Piłsudski|Piłsudski]] • [[Jan Matejko|Matejko]]<br>[[Lech Wałęsa|Wałęsa]] • [[Czesław Miłosz|Miłosz]] • [[Wisława Szymborska|Szymborska]] • [[Ignacy Domeyko|Domeyko]] • [[Pola Negri|Negri]]<br>[[Pope John Paul II]] • [[Henryk Sienkiewicz|Sienkiewicz]] • [[Adam Mickiewicz|Mickiewicz]] • [[Ignacy Jan Paderewski|Paderewski]] • [[Krzysztof Kieślowski|Kieślowski]]</small> |
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|population ='''60 million''' (est.)<ref name="Swiat_Polonii">[http://www.wspolnota-polska.org.pl/index.php?id=pwko Świat Polonii, witryna Stowarzyszenia Wspólnota Polska: „Polacy za granicą”] (''Polish people abroad'' as per summary by Świat Polonii, internet portal of the Polish Association ''Wspólnota Polska'')</ref> <br /> |
|population ='''60 million''' (est.)<ref name="Swiat_Polonii">[http://www.wspolnota-polska.org.pl/index.php?id=pwko Świat Polonii, witryna Stowarzyszenia Wspólnota Polska: „Polacy za granicą”] (''Polish people abroad'' as per summary by Świat Polonii, internet portal of the Polish Association ''Wspólnota Polska'')</ref> <br /> |
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|popplace = {{Flag|Poland}} 38,860,000 <ref>[http://www.stat.gov.pl/english/opracowania_zbiorcze/b-s/2006/06_06/tabele/tabela14.xls Excel spreadsheet from Polish Central Statistical Office]</ref> |
|popplace = {{Flag|Poland}} 38,860,000 <ref>[http://www.stat.gov.pl/english/opracowania_zbiorcze/b-s/2006/06_06/tabele/tabela14.xls Excel spreadsheet from Polish Central Statistical Office]</ref> |
Revision as of 10:51, 6 March 2011
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The Polish people, or Poles (Polish: Polacy [pɔˈlat͡sɨ], singular Polak) are an nation indigenous to Poland. They are bonded by the Polish language, which belongs to the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe. A wide-ranging Polish diaspora exists throughout Western and Eastern Europe, the Americas and Australia. Polish citizens live predominantly in Poland. The city of Chicago has the world's second largest population of Polish people, after Poland.
There is no commonly accepted definition of the Polish people. According to the preamble of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the Polish nation consists of all citizens of Poland. The Polans of Giecz, Gniezno, and Poznań were one of the most influential tribes of Greater Poland and managed to unite many other Lechitic tribes in the area under the rule of what became the Piast dynasty,[39] thus giving birth to a new state. The Polish word for a Polish person is Polak (masculine) and Polka (feminine). The feminine form typically refers in English to the style of music (i.e. Polka).
The inhabitants of Poland live in a number of traditional and historically-geographical regions. There are seven such major areas - Masovia, Pomerania, Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Warmia, Mazury and Silesia.
Proto-European lineage
Polish people show the characteristic R1a genes of a common Paleolithic male ancestorship at a frequency of 55.9-56.4%. This lineage includes haplotype Eu19 distinguished by M17 lineage. Its frequency increases eastward from south-western France and reaches a maximum in Poland, Hungary, and west Ukraine.[40]
As a result of genocide on Polish lands, evacuation, repatriation, and expulsion during and after World War II, and territorial changes which were assigned by the Big Three allies to Poland after World War II.[41] as well as the ensuing mass migrations and border shifts, "the population of Poland became one of the most ethnically homogeneous in the world," according to Encyclopædia Britannica. "In addition, minority ethnic identity was not cultivated publicly until after the collapse of communism in 1989."[42] The CIA World Factbook defines the ethnic composition of Poland as being 96.7% Polish with 0.4% Germans, 0.1% Belarusians, 0.1%, Ukrainians, and 2.7% other and unspecified (2002 census).[43] The present day homogeneity contrasts with the World War II period, informs the U.S. Department of State: "when there were significant ethnic minorities - 4.5 million Ukrainians, 3 million Jews, 1 million Belarusians, and 800,000 Germans." The majority of the Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Most Germans left ahead of the Nazi-Soviet front, while most Ukrainians and Belarusians remained in territories incorporated into the USSR. "Small Ukrainian, Belarusian, Slovakian, and Lithuanian minorities reside along the Polish borders, and a German minority is concentrated near the southwest city of Opole. "[44]
In the first half of the 16th century, the historian Marcin Kromer in his work "de Situ Polonia; et gente Polona" donated to the Henry III, wrote: "colors for faces of Polish people (peasants) were white, yellowish or whitish hair, handsome figure, with average height"[45] They were not racially homogeneous, but composed of mixtures of the types, according to Czekanowski, with a few trivial exceptions. Before 1939 the inhabitants of Poland were divided between four distinct types — the Nordic, Alpine, Mediterranean and Armenoid neighbors or brothers. Some of these types centred around Western Poland, Masovia, Pomerania, Volhynia and Greater Poland. The Mediterranean and Alpine types were mainly represented in Silesia and Lesser Poland.[46]
The research conducted in 1955 had shown that 55% of Poles have light hair (16-12 scale of Fischer–Saller), and about 72% have light eyes (A-P scale of Fischer–Saller).[47] By the end of the 20th century, heights averaged at 178 cm (5'10") for 20-year-old males, and 166 cm (5'55") for 20-year-old females.[48]
Statistics
The majority of the Polish nation is descended from the ancient Leches of the Sagas, the same people as the Lygians of Tacitus, and the Lecicavians of the middle ages. At the early period, however, the Western of Visigoths, were settled on the banks of the Vistula, and formed, perhaps, in many places, the dominant race. It seems to be evident that the Poles were not descended from the Sarmatians.
Polish people are the sixth largest national group in Europe.[49] Estimates vary depending on source, though available data suggest a total number of around 60 million people worldwide (with roughly 21 million living outside of Poland, many of whom are not of Polish ethnicity, but Polish nationals).[1] There are almost 39 million Poles in Poland alone. There are also Polish minorities in the surrounding countries including Germany, and indigenous minorities in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus. There are some smaller indigenous minorities in nearby countries such as Moldova and Latvia. There is also a Polish minority in Russia which includes indigenous Poles as well as those forcibly deported during and after World War II; the total number of Poles in what was the former Soviet Union is estimated at up to 3 million.[50]
The term "Polonia" is usually used in Poland to refer to people of Polish origin who live outside Polish borders, officially estimated at around 10 to 20 million. There is a notable Polish diaspora in the United States, Canada, and Brazil. France has a historic relationship with Poland and has a relatively large Polish-descendant population. Poles have lived in France since the 18th century. In the early 20th century, over a million Polish people settled in France, mostly during world wars, among them Polish émigrés fleeing either Nazi occupation or later Soviet rule.
In the United States a significant number of Polish immigrants settled in Chicago, Ohio, Detroit, New York City, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and New England. The highest concentration of Poles in the United States is in New Britain, Connecticut. The majority of Polish Canadians have arrived in Canada since World War II. The number of Polish immigrants increased between 1945 and 1970, and again after the fall of Communism in 1989. In Brazil the majority of Polish immigrants settled in Paraná State. The city of Curitiba has the second largest Polish diaspora in the world (after Chicago) and Polish music, dishes and culture are quite common in the region. In recent years, since joining the European Union, many Polish people have emigrated to countries such as Ireland, where an estimated 200,000 Polish people have entered the labour market. It is estimated that over half a million Polish people have immigrated to the United Kingdom. The Polish community in Norway has increased dramatically and has grown to a total number of 120,000, making Polish people the largest immigrant group in Norway.
Before World War II many Polish Jews became followers of Zionism and subsequently emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine. Following the Holocaust, the vast majority of surviving Polish Jews moved to Israel, contributing to the largest single place of origin of Israeli Jews.
- (for ethnic Poles living abroad see Polonia, for those living and working in the United Kingdom see Polish British)
Culture
The culture of Poland is closely connected with its intricate 1000 year history[51] Its unique character developed as a result of its geography at the confluence of Western and Eastern Europe. With origins in the culture of the Lechites, over time Polish culture has been profoundly influenced by its interweaving ties with the Germanic, Latinate and other ethnic groups and minorities living in Poland.[52] The people of Poland have traditionally been seen as hospitable to artists from abroad and eager to follow cultural and artistic trends popular in other countries. Owing to this central location, the Poles came very early into contact with both civilizations - eastern and western, and as a result developed economically, culturally, and politically. The famous German general Helmut Carl von Moltke, in his Poland. An Historical Sketch (1885), stated that Poland prior to her partitions was "the most civilized country in Europe". In the 19th and 20th centuries the Polish focus on cultural advancement often took precedence over political and economic activity. These factors have contributed to the versatile nature of Polish art, with all its complex nuances.[52]
Language
Polish (język polski, polszczyzna) is a Lechitic languages and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions. Polish-speakers use the language in a uniform manner throughout most of Poland.
- The Encyclopædia Britannica says that "Lekhitic languages, also spelled Lechitic , group of West Slavic languages composed of Polish, Kashubian and its archaic variant Slovincian, and the extinct Polabian language. All these languages except Polish are sometimes classified as a Pomeranian subgroup. In the early Middle Ages, before their speakers had become Germanized, Pomeranian languages and dialects were spoken along the Baltic in an area extending from the lower Vistula River to the lower Oder River. Kashubian and Slovincian survived into the 20th century; there were still a considerable number of native speakers of Kashubian in Poland and Canada in the 1990s. The extinct Polabian language, which bordered the Sorbian dialects in eastern Germany, was spoken by the Slavic population of the Elbe River region until the 17th or 18th century; a dictionary and some phrases written in the language exist".[53]
Religion
Most Poles, by far, adhere to the Christian faith, with 89.8% belonging to the Roman Catholic Church.[54] Catholicism plays an important role in the lives of many Poles and the Roman Catholic Church in Poland enjoys immense social prestige and political influence.[55] The church is widely respected by both its members and non-members, who see it as a symbol of Polish heritage and culture.[56] The rest of the population consists mainly of Eastern Orthodox (about 506 000), Jehovah's Witnesses (about 220 000) and various Protestant (about 159 000, with about 76 000 in the largest Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland) religious minorities.[57]
Exonyms
Among the exonyms not native to the Polish people or language are: лях (lyakh) used in East Slavic languages. Today, the word Lachy is used by Eastern Slavs as synonyms for "Poles" and "Poland". The foreign exonyms include also: Lithuanian Lenkai, Hungarian Lengyelek and Turkish Leh (now considered obsolete and replaced by Polonya).[58] The former became the basis for Poland exonyms in a number of other Middle Eastern languages, including: Armenian Լեհաստան, Lehastan; Persian, Tajik لهستان, Lahestan.
Polish tribes
The following is a list of Polish tribes—tribes which constituted the lands of Poland in the Early Middle Ages, at the beginning of the Polish state. Some of them have remained separate ethnicities while others have been assimilated into the culture of Poland.[59][60][61]
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- See also: Bavarian Geographer, a list of tribes in Central-Eastern Europe, composed in the 870s.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Świat Polonii, witryna Stowarzyszenia Wspólnota Polska: „Polacy za granicą” (Polish people abroad as per summary by Świat Polonii, internet portal of the Polish Association Wspólnota Polska)
- ^ Excel spreadsheet from Polish Central Statistical Office
- ^ USA National Census 2000. Ancestries With 100,000 or More People in 2000.
- ^ Template:De icon Erstmals mehr als 16 Millionen Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland (German text about migrants in Germany)
- ^ Template:Pl icon Raport o sytuacji Polonii i Polaków za granicą 2009. Ministerstwo Spraw Zagranicznych 2009. p. 177, ISBN 978-83-89607-81-2
- ^ Stowarzyszenie Wspólnota Polska, Strona finansowana przez SENAT RP [1] [2]
- ^ Article on Ynet news site, Hebrew (Google translator).
- ^ http://www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/demo26a-eng.htm
- ^ http://www.prezydent.pl/
- ^ Template:En iconBritish Office for National Statistics, Population by Country of Birth & Nationality, Jan 2009 to Dec 2009
^ Template:En icon "UK lets in more Poles than there are in Warsaw", Steve Doughty, Daily Mail; see also: "Record numbers leave Britain as Poles head home - but new arrivals increase to half a million" by James Slack, Daily Mail, November 27, 2009. Please note: The British Office for National Statistics recorded the number of Poles who have travelled to the UK in 2006 at over 2,000,000; they are not to be mistaken for permanent residents. - ^ http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2004/04/27/t-749506.htm
- ^ Belarus National Census 2009 (preliminary results)(in rus.)
- ^ Population by ethnicity according to 2009 Lithuania Population and Housing Census data
- ^ Poles in Ireland
- ^ Poles in Ukraine
- ^ Aftenposten.no: - 120.000 polakker i Norge (Innenriks)
- ^ Istat.it
- ^ 2006 Census Community Profile Series : Australia
- ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Ine.es (PDF)
- ^ Polish minority in Russia, WorldNews.com
- ^ Czech Republic National Census 2001 (PDF)
- ^ [3]
- ^ "Polonia i Polacy na świecie," (Poles in the world) Stowarzyszenie Wspólnota Polska, strona finansowana przez SENAT RP (page sponsored by Senate of the Republic of Poland)
- ^ http://www2.cesla.uw.edu.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=193&Itemid=77
- ^ http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/CCD504EA-9D41-40C2-AE28-BFB0A51C2045/0/2005k3b15p096art.pdf
- ^ Kazakhstan National Census 2009
- ^ http://www.wspolnota-polska.org.pl/index.php?id=dubd2
- ^ http://www.immi.se/alfa/p.htm
- ^ Template:PDFlink
- ^ Mannfjöldi eftir fæðingarlandi 1981-2008: Pólland
- ^ http://www.joshuaproject.net/countries.php?rog3=DA&sf=population&so=asc
- ^ 2004 Moldovan census, including Transnistria
- ^ 2002 Romanian census.
- ^ http://www.helsinki.polemb.net/index.php?document=46
- ^ http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonia#Polacy_w_Estonii
- ^ a b Polonezkoy.com
- ^ Poles around the World (>polonia > statystyka)
- ^ Poles in the Netherlands (PDF)
- ^ Gerard Labuda. Fragmenty dziejów Słowiańszczyzny zachodniej, t.1-2 p.72 2002; Henryk Łowmiański. Początki Polski: z dziejów Słowian w I tysiącleciu n.e, t. 5 p.472; Stanisław Henryk Badeni, 1923. p. 270
- ^ Semino, A; Passarino G, Oefner PJ, Lin AA, Arbuzova S, Beckman LE, De Benedictis G, Francalacci P, Kouvatsi A, Limborska S, Marcikiae M, Mika A, Mika B, Primorac D, Santachiara-Benerecetti AS, Cavalli-Sforza LL, Underhill PA (2000). "The Genetic Legacy of Paleolithic *** sapiens sapiens in Extant Europeans: A Y Chromosome Perspective" [4](PDF). Science 290 (5494): 1155–59. doi:10.1093/molbev/msi185. PMID 15944443 .
- ^ An explanation note in "The Neighbors Respond: The Controversy Over the Jedwabne Massacre in Poland", ed. by Polonsky and Michlic, p.466
- ^ Britannica Online: Travel & Geography: Poland. Ethnic groups. Retrieved July 2003 2008
- ^ The CIA World Factbook: Poland.
- ^ Background Notes: Poland - U.S. Department of State
- ^ "Lud polski kolor twarzy ma jasny, włosy żółtawe lub białawe, postać przystojną, średni wzrost" [in:] Tomasz Święcicki. Opis starożytnej Polski. p. 46, op. cit. "Polonia sive de situ, populis, moribus, magistratibus et republica regni Polonici libri duo." [citation needed]
- ^ Jan Czekanowski. Antropologia polska w międzywojennym dwudziestoleciu 1919-1939. 1948. Syntetyczna mapa antropologiczna Polski, Czekanowski. 1920.[citation needed]
- ^ Stanisław Górny. Zdjęcie antropologiczne Polski. Materiały i prace antropologiczne. Polskie Towarzystwo Antropologiczne. 1972. Nr.84
- ^ Wiadomości statystyczne, 2006. t. 51, edit. 7-12 p. 80.[citation needed]
- ^ NationMaster.com 2003-2008. People Statistics: Population (most recent) by country. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
- ^ Gil Loescher, Beyond Charity: International Cooperation and the Global Refugee Crisis, published by the University of Oxford Press US, 1993, 1996. ISBN 0195102940. Retrieved 12-12-2007.
- ^ Adam Zamoyski, The Polish Way: A Thousand Year History of the Poles and Their Culture. Published 1993, Hippocrene Books, Poland, ISBN 0-7818-0200-8
- ^ a b Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, 2002–2007, AN OVERVIEW OF POLISH CULTURE. Access date 12-13-2007.
- ^ [5]. Retrieved July 2003 2008
- ^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pl.html
- ^ "Encyclopedia Britannica-Religion in Poland".
- ^ Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2007. "Poland".
- ^ Template:Pl icon Kościoły i związki wyznaniowe w Polsce. Retrieved on June 17, 2008.
- ^ Template:Tr icon Lehistan in Turkish Wikipedia
- ^ Raymond Breton, National Survival in Dependent Societies: Social Change in Canada and Poland, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 1990, p. 106,ISBN 0886291275 Google Books
- ^ John Blacking, Anna Czekanowska, Polish Folk Music: Slavonic Heritage - Polish Tradition - Contemporary Trends, Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 3, ISBN 0521027977 Google Books
- ^ Jerzy Strzelczyk [in:] The New Cambridge Medieval History, Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 521-522 ISBN 0521364477 Google Books; Robert Machray, The Problem of Upper Silesia, G. Allen & Unwin ltd. 1945, p. 13 Google Books; Paul Wagret, Helga S. B. Harrison, Poland, Nagel, 1964, p. 231. Google Books
External links
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