![Map of the Polish Diaspora in the World](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Map_of_the_Polish_Diaspora_in_the_World.svg)
The Polish diaspora comprises
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
and people of Polish heritage or origin who live outside
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. The Polish
diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
is also known in modern
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
as ''Polonia'', the name for Poland in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and many
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...
.
There are roughly 20,000,000 people of Polish ancestry living outside Poland, making the Polish diaspora one of the largest in the world and one of the most widely dispersed. Reasons for the displacement include border shifts, forced expulsions, resettlement by voluntary and forced exile, and political or economic
emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
.
Substantial populations of Polish ancestry can be found in their native region of
Central and Eastern Europe
Central and Eastern Europe is a term encompassing the countries in the Baltics, Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe (mostly the Balkans), usually meaning former communist states from the Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact in Europe. ...
and in many other
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an countries as well as in the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
The Polonia in English-speaking countries often uses a dialect of Polish called ''Ponglish.'' It is made up of a Polish core with many English words inside it.
There are also smaller Polish communities in most countries of
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, most notably in
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
History
Poles participated in the creation of the first European settlements in the Americas. In the 17th century, Polish missionaries arrived for the first time in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Vast numbers of Poles left the country during the
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...
for economic and political reasons as well as the ethnic persecution practised by
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
,
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.
Many of the Poles who emigrated were
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, who make up part of the
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora ( he, תְּפוּצָה, təfūṣā) or exile (Hebrew: ; Yiddish: ) is the dispersion of Israelites or Jews out of their ancient ancestral homeland (the Land of Israel) and their subsequent settlement in other parts of t ...
. The
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...
was home to the world's largest
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
population.
It was followed by invasions of Poland by Germany and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. More than 3 million Polish Jews were murdered in
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
by
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Most survivors subsequently migrated to
Mandate Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...
since Poland was the only
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
country to allow free Jewish
aliyah
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
without visas or exit permits at the end of the war.
[Devorah Hakohen]
''Immigrants in Turmoil: Mass Immigration to Israel and its Repercussions...''
Syracuse University Press, 2003 - 325 pages. p. 70. Many remaining Jews, including
Stalinist
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...
hardliners and members of
security apparatus
A security agency is a governmental organization that conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a nation. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies, and typically conduct counterintelligence to thwart other ...
,
[Wilson Center, "New Evidence on Poland in the Early Cold War" By Andrzej Werblan](_blank)
(PDF) left Poland during the
1968 political crisis, when the
Polish United Workers' Party
The Polish United Workers' Party ( pl, Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza; ), commonly abbreviated to PZPR, was the communist party which ruled the Polish People's Republic as a one-party state from 1948 to 1989. The PZPR had led two other lega ...
, pressured by
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...
, joined the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
"anti-
Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
" campaign that was triggered by the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
.
Andrzej Friszke
Andrzej Friszke (born 29 August 1956 in Olsztyn) is a Polish historian and lecturer. He specializes in the history of communist Poland and the democratic opposition to the communist regime.
Friszke graduated in 1979 from the Department of Histor ...
,
The March 1968 Protest Movement in Light of Ministry of Interior Reports to the Party Leadership
" Intermarium 1:1 (1997, translated from Polish, originally published in ''Więź'', March 1994). In 1998, Poland's Jewish population was estimated at 10,000 to 30,000.
available at Advameg, 2010 ''(bottom)''
A
recent, large emigration of Poles took place after Poland acceded to the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
and opening of the EU's labour market. About 2 million primarily young Poles took up jobs abroad.
Most Poles live in Europe, the Americas and Australia, but a few Poles have settled in smaller numbers in Asia, Africa and Oceania, as economic migrants or as part of Catholic missions.
Europe
''All countries and areas of residence thereafter are listed in alphabetical order.''
Austria
Azerbaijan
An estimated 2,000 ethnic Poles live in Azerbaijan.
Belarus
According to census, there are 396,000 Poles living in
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
(official 1999 census; the estimates are higher according to various NGOs). They form the second-largest ethnic minority in the country, after
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
. Most Poles live in western Belarus (including 294,000 in the
Grodno Region
Grodno Region ( pl, Grodzieńszczyzna) or Grodno Oblast or Hrodna Voblasts ( be, Гродзенская вобласць, ''Hrodzienskaja vobłasć'', , ''Haradzienščyna''; russian: Гродненская область, ''Grodnenskaya oblast' ...
, pl, Grodzieńszczyzna).
During the Second World War, the Soviet Union forcibly resettled large numbers of Belarusian Poles to Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Few Belarusian Poles now live in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
and the
Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...
, and some of those who managed to survive resettlement returned to Poland after 1956.
The
census of 1959 had 538,881 ethnic Poles in Belarus (332,300 in
Grodno Region
Grodno Region ( pl, Grodzieńszczyzna) or Grodno Oblast or Hrodna Voblasts ( be, Гродзенская вобласць, ''Hrodzienskaja vobłasć'', , ''Haradzienščyna''; russian: Гродненская область, ''Grodnenskaya oblast' ...
, 83,800 in
Vitebsk Region
Vitebsk Region or Vitebsk Oblast or Viciebsk Voblasts ( be, Ві́цебская во́бласць, ''Viciebskaja voblasć'', ; rus, Ви́тебская о́бласть, Vitebskaya oblast, ˈvʲitʲɪpskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a region (oblast ...
, 70,000 in
Minsk Region
Minsk Region or Minsk Oblast or Minsk Voblasts ( be, Мі́нская во́бласць, ''Minskaja voblasć'' ; russian: Минская о́бласть, ''Minskaya oblast'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center is Minsk, ...
including
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
, 42,100 in
Brest Region
Brest Region or Brest Oblast or Brest Voblasts ( be, Брэ́сцкая во́бласць ''(Bresckaja vobłasć)''; russian: Бре́стская о́бласть (''Brestskaya Oblast)'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative cent ...
, 7,200 in
Gomel Region
Gomel Region or Gomel Oblast or Homiel Voblasts ( be, Го́мельская во́бласць, Homielskaja vobłasć, russian: Гомельская область, Gomelskaya oblast) is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center i ...
and 3,500 in
Mogilev Region
Mogilev Region or Mogilev Oblast or Mahiliow Voblasts ( be, link=no, Магілёўская вобласць; ''Mahiloŭskaja voblasć''; russian: link=no, Могилёвская область; ''Mogilyovskaya Oblast''), is a region (''oblast'' ...
).
Benelux
Polish immigration to the Netherlands has steadily increased since Poland joined the
EU, and now 173,231 Polish people live in the country (2021, first generation. Most of them are guest workers from the European Union contract labour program, as more Poles obtain light industrial jobs. The number of Polish nationals could double in the next decade, depending on economic conditions in Poland. Most
Poles in the Netherlands are in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
(30,000), but Polish émigrés have been long settled in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
and industrial towns or cities like
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
and
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
. Polish immigrants arrived to find employment in the country in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Belgium has 70,000 Poles, but the number of Belgians of Polish descent could be as high as 200,000). Present
queen of the Belgians
The wives of Belgian monarchs have all been titled Queen and styled Majesty, with the exception of Leopold III of Belgium's second wife Mary Lilian Baels, who was titled Princess of Belgium and Princess de Rethy, Princess of Réthy. All Belgian mo ...
,
Queen Mathilde, is daughter to a Pole,
Countess Anna Maria d'Udekem d'Acoz, ''née'' Komorowska.
Luxembourg has almost 3,000.
Czech Republic
![Czciesz 742](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Czciesz_742.jpg)
The Polish community in the Czech Republic is concentrated in
Cieszyn Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( pl, Śląsk Cieszyński ; cs, Těšínské Slezsko or ; german: Teschener Schlesien or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český Tě ...
(or
Zaolzie
Trans-Olza ( pl, Zaolzie, ; cs, Záolží, ''Záolší''; german: Olsa-Gebiet; Cieszyn Silesian: ''Zaolzi''), also known as Trans-Olza Silesia (Polish: ''Śląsk Zaolziański''), is a territory in the Czech Republic, which was disputed betwee ...
), in the northeast of the country. It traces its origins to border changes after the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
that partitioned the area between Poland and what was then
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
, leaving many Poles on what is now the Czech side of the border. The Polish population was 51,968 at the 2001 census.
Denmark
It is estimated that around 40,000 Poles live in Denmark. Most live in the capital,
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
.
Faroe Islands
Poles make up 0.2% of the population of the Faroe Islands, followed by
Norwegians
Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the N ...
. Most live in the capital,
Tórshavn
Tórshavn (; lit. "Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...
.
Finland
The history of the Polish community in Finland dates from the early 19th century when many Poles from the Russian-controlled part of the country settled there. In 1917, there were around 4,000 Poles in Finland, mostly soldiers of the
Russian Imperial Army
The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...
, and almost all had returned to their homeland by 1921. Finland has never been a major destination for Polish immigrants, and only around 5,400 Poles live there. Most are well-educated: musicians, medical doctors, engineers and architects with families. Around half lives in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, and the biggest Polish organization there is the Polish Association, founded on April 3, 1917.
France
Between 500,000 and one million people of Polish descent live in France. They are concentrated in the
Nord-Pas de Calais
Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-C ...
region, the metropolitan areas of
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and the coal-mining basin (''Bassin Minier'') around
Lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...
and
Valenciennes
Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.
It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...
. Prominent members have included
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...
,
Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...
,
René Goscinny
René Goscinny (, ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the ''Astérix'' comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. Raised largely in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he attended French schoo ...
,
Marie Curie
Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie ( , , ; born Maria Salomea Skłodowska, ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first ...
,
Michel Poniatowski
Michel Poniatowski (16 May 1922 – 15 January 2002) was a French politician, member of a legitimized line of Poland's princely Poniatowski family. He was a founder of the Independent Republicans and a part of the administration for President ...
,
Raymond Kopa
Raymond Kopa (né Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a French professional footballer, integral to the France national team of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s, winning three Eu ...
,
Ludovic Obraniak
Ludovic Joseph Obraniak (; born 10 November 1984) is a football manager and former professional footballer. He primarily played as an attacking midfielder. Born in France, he played for the Poland national team. He was appointed to his first he ...
and
Edward Gierek
Edward Gierek (; 6 January 1913 – 29 July 2001) was a Polish communism in Poland, Communist politician and ''de facto'' leader of Poland between 1970 and 1980. Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as General Secretary of the Communist Party, F ...
. For centuries, there was an alliance between the
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
: the longest-reigning
queen consort of France has been a Pole,
Marie Leszczyńska
Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczyńska (; ; 23 June 1703 – 24 June 1768), also known as Marie Leczinska, was Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XV from their marriage on 4 September 1725 until her death in 1768. The daughter of Stanis ...
. Many Poles settled in France after the rule of
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
and the collapse of the
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...
, when 100,000 Poles, largely political refugees, fled the Russians and Prussians, who took over Poland. The
Great Emigration
The Great Emigration ( pl, Wielka Emigracja) was the emigration of thousands of Poles and Lithuanians, particularly from the political and cultural élites, from 1831 to 1870, after the failure of the November Uprising of 1830–1831 and of oth ...
, from the first half of the 19th century onwards, caused many Poles to be enlisted to fight in the
French army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...
. Another wave of Polish migration took place between the two World Wars when many were hired as contract workers to work temporarily in France. Polish refugees also fled the Nazi and Soviet occupations in the 1940s. From 100,000 to 200,000 Poles have been estimated to live in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. Many EU immigrants are in southern France, including the cities of
Arles
Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...
,
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
and
Perpignan
Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...
.
Germany
The second-largest Polonia in the world and the largest in Europe is the
Polish minority in Germany
Poles in Germany are the second largest Polish diaspora (''Polonia'') in the world and the biggest in Europe. Estimates of the number of Poles living in Germany vary from 2 million to about 3 million people living that might be of Polish descent. ...
. Estimates of the number of Poles living in Germany vary from 2 million
to about 3 million.
The main Polonia organization is Kongres Polonii Niemieckiej / Polnischer Kongress in Deutschland. Polish surnames are very common in Germany.
Greece
The Polish minority in Greece numbers more than 50,000, most of whom are first-generation immigrants. There might be many more since the Greek Orthodox Church administers Greek names for marriage and christening. Statistics show that over 300,000 Poles visit Greece each year for tourism, especially during the summer months. Famous people with mixed Polish and Greek ethnicity include Polish singer
Eleni Tzoka
Eleni Tzoka (née Milopoulou; 27 April 1956, Bielawa) is a Polish singer of Greek descent.
Biography
Tzoka was born to a Greek family which emigrated to Poland in the 1950s.Papiernik, Joanna"Eleni - wielkie greckie serce" ludzie.senior.pl; acce ...
.
Hungary
The
Polish minority in Hungary is around 10,000 and has a long history of over 1000 years. The
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
included 16 towns of Hungarian territories and the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
(1867–1918) included the Polish region of
Galicia.
Hungary–Poland relations
Hungary–Poland relations are the foreign relations between Hungary and Poland. Relations between the two nations date back to the Middle Ages. The two Central European peoples have traditionally enjoyed a very close friendship, brotherhood and ...
are strong and positive and best described in a poem, "
Pole, Hungarian, two good friends
"Pole and Hungarian brothers be" (the Polish version) and "Pole and Hungarian, two good friends" (the Hungarian version) are English translations of a popular saying about the traditional kinship, brotherhood, and camaraderie between Poles and H ...
," about the fraternal sense of commonality in both Polish and Hungarian cultures.
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
is home to a large Polish community, and there are also ethnic Poles in the northern part of the country, bordering
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
and
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. Most Polish-Hungarians are practising
Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, but many are members of the Eastern Catholic Church, Eastern (Polish-Carpathian or Carpato-Ukrainian) and Greek Catholic Churches.
Iceland
The Polish minority in Iceland is relatively new. As of 2019, Poles constitute roughly 5% of the total population of Iceland and are, by far, the largest ethnic minority in the country.
Ireland
![Polish shop dublin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Polish_shop_dublin.jpg)
After Poland joined the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
in 2004, Ireland immediately opened its borders and welcomed Polish workers as relatively cheap qualified labour (only the United Kingdom and Sweden did the same). Ireland quickly became a key destination for young Poles seeking work outside the country. According to the 2011 census, there are 122,585 Poles living in Ireland, the largest ethnic minority in the country.
Italy
The Polish minority in Italy is 97,986, but estimates have 130,000 Poles in Italy. Most Poles are late-20th-century immigrants drawn by the Italian economy's desire for imported labour. Large Polish immigrant communities are found in Rome, Milan and Venice. Polish immigration to Italy might continue while the EU contract labour program between the two countries remains in place.
Latvia
Poles form about 2.3% of Latvia, Latvia's total population and number 51,548 people. They are mainly concentrated in Latvia's largest cities: Riga and Daugavpils. Since most of them don't use Latvian language, Latvian as the primary language their citizenship status can vary.
Lithuania
According to 2021 census, Poles are 6.52% of Lithuania's population and over 16% of Vilnius population.
Malta
Norway
Norway has recently experienced an influx of Polish migrant workers. This is because Norway is a member of the European Economic Area, providing the same free movement of labour as between members of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. According to the Statistisk sentralbyrå, Norwegian Statistics Burea, there are 108,255 Poles in Norway (2019 Official Norway estimate) and make up 2.10% of the Norwegian population. It is the largest ethnic minority in the country.
Portugal
There are, as of 2020, approximately 3,061 Poles in Portugal, mainly recent immigrants.
Romania
According to the 2002 census, 3,671 Poles live in Romania, mainly in the villages of the Suceava County ( pl, Suczawa). There are even three exclusively Polish villages: ''Nowy Sołoniec'' (Cacica#Solonețu Nou, Soloneţu Nou), ''Plesza'' (Pleşa, Suceava, Pleşa), and ''Pojana Mikuli'' (Poiana Micului). Poles in Romania form an officially recognised national minority and have one seat in the Chamber of Deputies (Romania), Chamber of Deputies (currently held by Ghervazen Longher) and access to Polish elementary schools and cultural centres (known as "Polish Houses").
Russia and former Soviet Union
During the Second World War, the Soviet Union annexed large parts of Poland's former eastern territories of Kresy. Many Poles were expelled, but a significant number remained in what is now Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. The Soviet authorities also forcibly resettled large numbers of Poles to Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The following post-Soviet countries retain significant Polish minorities.
*
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
– 396,000. See Polish minority in Belarus for details.
*
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
– between 60,000 and 100,000. See Poles in Kazakhstan.
* Lithuania – between 250,000 and 300,000. See the #Lithuania, Lithuania section in this article and the Polish minority in Lithuania article for details.
* Latvia – between 60,000 and 75,000. See the #Latvia, Latvia section in this article and the Polish minority in Latvia article for details.
* Moldova and Transnistria – between 4,000 and 20,000. See Poles in Moldova and Poles in Transnistria for details.
* Russia – about 300,000. See Polish minority in Russia for details.
*
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
– 144,000. See the Polish minority in Ukraine article for details.
Serbia
There is a small community of descendants of Silesians, Silesian miners in Ostojićevo. In the 2011 census, 741 declared themselves as Poles.
Slovakia
According to the 2011 Slovak census results, there are 3,084 (0.1%) Poles living in Slovakia. Compared to the Hungarian census of 1910, there has been a significant decrease, as then there were 10,569 Polish-language speakers in the territory of present Slovakia.
Spain
The Polish minority in Spain numbers between 45,000 and 60,000.
The Polish population is mainly guest workers who took advantage of Spain's economic boom during the 1990s. Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, San Sebastián, San Sebastian and Valencia, Spain, Valencia have significant Polish populations. The Polish minority in Spain is relatively young, 74% are between 20 and 49 years old.
Sweden
Like only the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sweden let Poles work in the country once Poland joined the European Union in 2004. The Poles in Sweden has been estimated to be around 103,191 people, 88,704 of who were born in Poland and 14,487 with both of their parents being born in Poland. Poles are thus Sweden's fifth-largest immigrant group, after Finns, Iraqis, former Yugoslavs (Bosnians, Croats, Serbs) and Syrians. Most of them are guest workers who have been invited to Sweden since 1990 by contracts with the Swedish government. Most Polish residents live in Stockholm, and the rest live south of the city, toward the Baltic Sea. Historically, Poland and Sweden had some cultural exchange, and the Swedish Empire occupied the Polish Baltic Sea coast (Gdańsk and Pomerania) in various times from the 13th to the 18th centuries.
Switzerland
Like the Polish community of Finland, some Polish diasporans from Germany were come from the Rhine-Ruhr basin, as immigrant workers to Switzerland. The biggest Polish diaspora community lives in Northern Switzerland.
Turkey
In 1842, Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski, Adam Czartoryski founded the village of Adampol for Polish immigrants who came to Turkey after the failed November Uprising. The village still exists and is now called Polonezköy (Turkish language, Turkish for ''Polish Village''). It is the main centre of the small but historic Polish community in Turkey. The Polish minority in Turkey has been estimated to be around 4,000 people. However, it is higher than the Turkish census indicates because of Turkified Poles who marry Turks. For example, Leyla Gencer's mother was Atiye Çeyrekgil, who was born Alexandra Angela Minakovska and converted to Islam after the death of her husband. Also, Nazım Hikmet Ran's mother, Ayşe Celile Hanım, was a descendant of Mustafa Celaleddin Pasha, who was born as Konstantin Borzecki in 1826. He immigrated to Ottoman Empire after Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Greater Poland Uprising and embraced Islam in 1848. He later became an Ottoman General and died in 1876.
Ukraine
![Polish Children Choir in Lviv](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Polish_Children_Choir_in_Lviv.jpg)
According to the 2001 Ukrainian census, 144,130 Poles were residing in the country.
Poles began settling in the territory of present Ukraine in the 14th century, after Red Ruthenia had become part of the Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385), Kingdom of Poland. The number of Poles in Ukraine gradually increased over the centuries, but after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, it drastically decreased, as a result of the Soviet mass deportation of the Poles in Ukraine to Siberia and other eastern regions of the USSR as well as a campaign of ethnic cleansing, which was carried out in the early 1940s by Ukrainian nationalists in the western part of the country (see Massacres of Poles in Volhynia). There was a Polish Autonomous District near Zhytomyr that was created in 1926, but it was disbanded in 1935 and its Polish inhabitants were either murdered or deported to
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
. The majority of those who survived the war in Ukraine were forcibly deported to the former eastern territories of Germany after Poland was shifted to the west by the Allied Potsdam Agreement after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
United Kingdom
It was only after the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
that Poles settled in large numbers in London – many from the Prisoner of War camps in Alexandra Palace and Feltham. During the Second World War many Poles came to the United Kingdom as political émigrés and to join the Polish Armed Forces in the West being recreated there. When the Second World War ended, a Communist government was installed in Poland and was hostile to servicemen returning from the West. Many Poles felt betrayed by their wartime allies and were understandably reluctant to return home. Many soldiers refused to return to Poland, and around 150,000, after occupying resettlement camps, later settled in the UK. The Polish Government in Exile, Polish Government in London was not dissolved until 1991 when a freely elected president took office in Warsaw.
![Eastern European grocery shops in North East England](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Eastern_European_grocery_shops_in_North_East_England.jpg)
After Poland entered the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
in May 2004, Poles gained the right to work in some other EU countries. While France and Germany put in place temporary controls to curb Central European migration, the United Kingdom (along with only Sweden and Ireland) did not impose restrictions. Many young Poles have come to work in the UK since then.
Estimates for the total number of people now living in the UK and born in Poland or of Polish descent vary significantly. There were an estimated 831,000 Polish-born residents in 2015
and one million by 2017.
Other than London, Poles have settled in Southampton in Hampshire, Manchester, Bolton and Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury in Greater Manchester and Chorley in Lancashire. There are also large concentrations in Bradford, Leeds, Coventry and Nottingham, as well as South Yorkshire, South Wales, Herefordshire, Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby, Banbury, Slough, Redditch and Swindon.
The Economic crisis of 2008, economic crisis in the UK and the growing economy in Poland reduced the economic incentive for Poles to migrate to the UK. By the last quarter of 2008, it was claimed by the IPPR that up to half of those that had come to the UK to work may have returned home. However, the 2011 UK Census also indicates that it was probably never true.
According to the UK Office for National Statistics, Poland had overtaken India as the most common overseas country of birth for foreign-born people living in the United Kingdom in 2015.
Vatican City
Although they do not settle in Vatican City, the world's smallest country, many Polish priests spend time of their training studying in one of the Pontifical university, universities of the Holy See in Rome. The most famous Pole that has settled in Vatican City has been, for Pope, institutional reasons, former Archbishop of Kraków cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal Karol Wojtyła, as Pope John Paul II (1978–2005).
North America
![Polish Village](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Polish_Village.jpg)
The United States and Canada were the major focus of Polish political and economic migration since 1850 up until revolutions of 1989, the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Canada
According to the Canada 2016 Census, there are 1,106,585 Polish Canadians. The population is widely dispersed across Canada. The first Polish immigrants came to Canada in the 19th century. One of the largest concentrations of Polish-Canadians is in the Roncesvalles, Toronto, Roncesvalles area of Toronto. The area holds an annual Polish Festival, Canada's largest. The Canadian Polish Congress is an umbrella organization, founded in 1944 by Polish Canadians to coordinate the activities and to articulate the concerns of the community on public policy issues.
Haiti
About 5,000 Poles fighting in Polish Legions in the Napoleonic armies were sent to fight against the rebelling Haitians. Many of the Poles who were sent there felt it wrong to fight against the Haitians who were fighting for their freedom—just like the Poles in the Napoleonic armies—and some 400 Poles changed sides. After the war, the Haitian constitution stated that because the Poles switched sides and fought for their cause, all Poles could become Haitian citizens. Many of the Poles who were sent to Haiti stayed there. Most of their descendants live in Cazale and Fond-des-Blancs.
Mexico
![Muestra_folklórica_de_la_comunidad_polaca_de_México](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Muestra_folkl%C3%B3rica_de_la_comunidad_polaca_de_M%C3%A9xico.JPG)
The first Polish immigrants to Mexico arrived in the late 19th century. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Mexico received thousands of refugees from Poland, primarily of Jewish origin, who settled in the states of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua and Nuevo León.
United States
There are approximately 10 million Polish Americans living in the United States.
![Lagrange street Polish Festival items booth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Lagrange_street_Polish_Festival_items_booth.JPG)
There are approximately 185,000
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
-speakers in the Chicago metropolitan area. The Poles in Chicago are felt in a large number of Polish-American organizations the city such as the Polish Museum of America, the Polish American Association, the Polish National Alliance and the Polish Highlander's Alliance of North America.
Pittsburgh, Toledo, Ohio, Toledo, Cleveland, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Minneapolis, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Philadelphia,history of the Poles in Baltimore, Baltimore and New Britain, Connecticut, New Britain also have very large Polish populations. Older Polish Americans are rapidly migrating to the Southeast (Florida), the Southwest (Arizona) and the West Coast (California) but also to Poland itself since the 1990s.
![Weterani z Placowki 57 SWAP w Elizabeth NJ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Weterani_z_Placowki_57_SWAP_w_Elizabeth_NJ.jpg)
Buffalo is seen as Polonia's second city in the US, as it is also home to many Polish-Americans. Its steel mills and automobile factories provided jobs for many Polish immigrants in the early 20th century. The only city to have official celebrations inspired by the popular Polish custom of Dyngus Day is Buffalo. A section of New Britain was officially designated "Little Poland" in 2007 by a unanimous vote of the city's Common Council.
The major Polonia organization is the Polish American Congress.
South America
There has been political and economic migration of Poles to South America since the mid-19th century. The largest number went to Brazil, followed by Argentina.
Argentina
In Argentina, Poles are one of the most significant minorities, with around 500,000. The Parliament of Argentina has declared June 8 to be Polish Settlers' Day.
Brazil
![Curitiba - Bosque do Papa - Galpão de Colono Polones](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Curitiba_-_Bosque_do_Papa_-_Galp%C3%A3o_de_Colono_Polones.jpg)
The number of people of Polish descent in Brazil is estimated at 3 million. Most Polish Brazilians are Catholic, but there are nonreligious minorities. The oldest (1871) and largest concentration of Poles is in the city of Curitiba, Paraná (state), Paraná. Another large community is to be found in Espírito Santo. Both are in the South and Southeastern Regions.
Chile
A small number of Poles came to Chile. The first came during the Napoleonic Wars. In the early 20th century, there were around 300 Poles in Chile, but they were considered Germans, Germans. After World War II, from 1947 to 1951, around 1,500 Poles, mostly ''Zivilarbeiter''o as well as some former soldiers and Nazi concentration camp inmates settled in Chile, and in 1949, the Association of Poles in Chile was founded.
An estimate of 45,000 ethnic Poles live in Chile. Most live in Santiago de Chile. One of the notable Polish Chileans is Ignacy Domeyko.
Colombia
It is estimated that around 3,000 Poles live in Colombia, mostly in Bogotá.
[Polska Diaspora na świecie](_blank)
Stowarzyszenie Wspólnota Polska, 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
Uruguay
Polish immigration in Uruguay brought Poles to settle in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. An estimated 10,000–50,000 Polish descendants are thought to live in Uruguay, mostly in Montevideo, the capital. Often, Poles came when the Germans and the Russians ruled Poland and so were known as "Germans" or "
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
".
Venezuela
The Polish colony in Venezuela is well dispersed throughout the country, but most of the Poles and their descendants live in big cities like Caracas, Maracaibo and Valencia, Carabobo, Valencia.
Oceania
Australia
![Polish Dozynki Festival in Adelaide, Australia, 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Polish_Dozynki_Festival_in_Adelaide%2C_Australia%2C_2007.jpg)
The first Polish settlers arrived in South Australia in 1856. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, many displaced persons migrated from Poland to Australia, including soldiers from the Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade (the "Rats of Tobruk").
There are now 160,000 to 200,000 Polish Australians.
New Zealand
In 1944, more than 700 Polish orphans, survivors of forced resettlement of Poles to Soviet
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
, and their caregivers were temporarily resettled at a refugee camp at Pahiatua, New Zealand. It was initially planned for the children to return to Poland after World War II ended, but as they had no homes or families to return to, they were eventually allowed to stay in New Zealand after the end of the war.
At the 2013 census, Polish New Zealanders numbered 1,944 by birth and 2,163 by ethnicity; of them, 42 percent lived in the Auckland Region and 23 percent in the Wellington Region.
Asia
Azerbaijan
In the nation, there is a long history of Poles in Azerbaijan (Polish: Polacy w Azerbejdżanie, Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan polyakları). However the current Polish population of the Republic of Azerbaijan is smaller than in former times, the number of people of Polish descent in Baku is around 2,000 and several thousand self-identified Poles live in Azerbaijan. Poles as an ethnic group have lived in Azerbaijan for centuries. The Russian Empire included Azerbaijan and parts of Poland during the 19th century, this was a large cause of the Polish minority in Azerbaijan.
India
The Indian maharaja Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji, following the news of Poland being divided by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
at the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, had welcomed a large number of Polish refugees, mostly children. They were the first Polish group to be in India. After the war, a small number of Poles decided to stay, forming the first Polish diaspora group in India.
Japan
Recently 1,626 residents from Poland were registered in Japan from 2000 to 2018.
Kazakhstan
The first Pole to travel to Kazakhstan was probably Benedict of Poland, sent as part of the delegation of Pope Innocent IV to the Khagan Güyük of the Mongol Empire. Later more Poles came to Kazakhstan during the Post-Soviet times. Today these Poles live in Karaganda with a population of 47,300 people.
Israel
In the early years of Zionism, Jewish immigrants from Poland (then divided between Austria-Hungary, The Kingdom of Prussia and the Russian Empire) were a significant part of the ideologically motivated immigration to the then Palestine (region), Palestine during the Second Aliya and the Third Aliyah. Many Jews of Polish origin had prominent roles in building up the Yishuv, the autonomous Zionist-oriented Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine from which Israel developed. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, many displaced persons camps in post-World War II Europe, Jewish Displaced Persons in Europe who eventually got to Israel were also of Polish origin. In later generations, they generally abandoned the Polish and Yiddish languages, in favour of Modern Hebrew.
About 4,000 non-Jewish ethnic Poles live in Israel. There are also about 50,000 Jewish immigrants from Poland, with an affinity to the Polish language and culture and about 150,000 of their descendants with very little of that affinity left.
Pakistan
Philippines
During Spanish colonization, most Poles immigrated to the Philippines mostly for the Catholic clergy missionary work in other Asian countries. One of these Polish men was Wojciech Męciński a Jesuit missionary from Krakow. Later on, other Poles came to the Philippines but mostly they were Polish Americans, including Michael Sendzimir, a second lieutenant who worked in the 98th Infantry Division during World War II. Today the Polish community in the Philippines has about 93 people. Some of these Poles today come to the Philippines as immigrants, ex-pats, foreign exchange students, or settled down in the Philippines by their Filipino spouses. some members of the Polish community in the Philippines, include Robert Jaworski a basketball player and an ex-senator, Zaldy Zshornack (1937-2002) and an Australian Polish man Peter Pysk founded a Polish restaurant called Babci Kuchnia. Most of the Poles live in Metro Manila, and the Polish community is the Fourth-largest Central European community after the German, Hungarian and Albanian communities in the country.
United Arab Emirates
Recently there are 2,000 Poles living in UAE, the Poles came to the UAE for work. Today the Polish Community in the UAE is the largest Polish population in the Arab World.
Africa
South Africa
According to the Council of Polonia in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, 25,000 to 30,000 Poles live there.
The Polish community in South Africa dates to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
when the South African government agreed to the settlement of 12,000 Polish soldiers as well as around 500 Polish orphans who were survivors of forced resettlement of Poles to Soviet
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
. More Poles came in the 1970s and 1980s, with several of them specialists coming for work contracts and deciding to stay there.
Magda Wierzycka, who is Poles, Polish, is the wealthiest woman in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
List of countries by the population of Polish ethnicity
See also
* Demographics of Poland
*
Great Emigration
The Great Emigration ( pl, Wielka Emigracja) was the emigration of thousands of Poles and Lithuanians, particularly from the political and cultural élites, from 1831 to 1870, after the failure of the November Uprising of 1830–1831 and of oth ...
* Hotel Lambert
* Polish Charter
* World Polonia Games
References
Bibliography
* Marek Żukow-Karczewski
''Polonia zagraniczna w czasach II Rzeczypospolitej'' (Foreign Polonia during the Second Polish Republik), "Życie Literackie", No. 33, 1989, p. 10.
External links
*
Reassessing what we collect website – Polish LondonHistory of Polish London with objects and images
Cultural Fusion: Poles in Latin America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polish Diaspora
Polish diaspora,
European diasporas
Polish diaspora in Italy