Poland which was once the land of many ethnicities, since the second world war, saw dramatically decrease the various ethnic groups that have always inhabited the lands between the rivers Dnieper and Odra. With the democratization of the system of government in 1989, the country returned to open. Poles of Jewish origin who had been expelled in 1968 can now regain their Polish citizenship.
According to 2002 population data, the structure of nationalities and ethnic groups in
Poland was thus:
Nationality | Ethnic group | Percentage |
Polish | 36,658,166 | 95.63% |
Silesian | 173,200 | 0.45% |
German | 152,900 | 0.40% |
Belarusians | 48,700 | 0.13% |
Ukrainians | 31,000 | 0.08% |
Gypsies | 12,900 | 0.03% |
Russians | 6,100 | 0.01% |
Lemkos | 5,900 | 0.01% |
Lithuanians | 5,800 | 0.01% |
Other | 471,500 | 1.23% |
Unknow | 774,900 | 2.03% |
Center of Warsaw