24 Life
Ethnic Groups 98% of citizens declare their nationality as Polish, but you will find many other ethnic groups contributing to the cultural landscape of modern Poland and the cities are becoming increasingly multicultural. For Poland it is actually back to normal. Before the Second World War around 30% of citizens were of nationalities other than Polish: Jewish, Ukrainian, Belarusian, German Looking at the official numbers, Germans are the largest minority in Poland, constituting around 150,000 Polish citizens. Most of them live in Silesia, in and around the city of Opole. This region used to be set on the fringe between Poland and Germany, changing hands over the centuries. Now, as the border was entirely redrawn in 1945, it sits right in the middle of southern Poland. Some villages are almost uniquely German, not just in language (notice the double signage), but also in their appearance – neat rows of squeaky clean houses with manicured front lawns. The German minority is large enough to win seats in the national parliament and to run local government in many parts of the region. In the east of Poland there is a natural presence of nationalities from across the border: Belarusians, Ukrainians and Lithuanians. Interestingly, you may see onion domes of an Orthodox church in the west too, as several thousand Belarusians found a new home near the German border after the Second World War. The same goes for the Łemko minority that used to populate the mountains of Bieszczady in the south east. Many of them were forced to move west by the communist state. The Łemko culture and architecture has been enjoying a bit of a revival recently. In 2008 the village Bielanka was officially given a second, Łemko name – Бiлянка. When travelling around Poland do not be surprised if you bump into a Greek. Many communists fled from Greece to Poland after the coup d’etat some forty years ago and ended up staying and starting families. Szczecin is probably the most Greek city in this country. Recent immigration makes things complicated for the statisticians but more interesting for everybody else. For instance, officially, there are 27,172 Polish citizens of Ukrainian descent. But