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Polish people

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The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages . They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic languages diversified into their historically attested forms over the 10th to 14th centuries.

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54-787: Polish people , or Poles , are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation who share a common history , culture , the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Central Europe . The preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland defines the Polish nation as comprising all the citizens of Poland, regardless of heritage or ethnicity. The majority of Poles adhere to Roman Catholicism . The population of self-declared Poles in Poland

108-567: A gens , Sclavini merely a genus , and there was no "Slavic" gens . He further states that " Wends occur particularly in political contexts: the Wends, not the Slavs, made Samo their king." Other such alleged early West Slavic states include the Principality of Moravia (8th century–833), the Principality of Nitra (8th century–833), and Great Moravia (833–c. 907). Christiansen (1997) identified

162-573: A prisoner in foreign land. Furthermore, little is known about their religious rituals and the date of baptism of the tribe. It was possibly around the same period, c. 874, when they were subjugated by king Svatopluk I of Moravia , and the Vistulan duke was forced to accept baptism . The area inhabited by the Vistulans probably ranged from the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in the south, to

216-500: A separate language. The Goral people in the mountainous south use their own nonstandard dialect, accenting and different intonation . The geographical distribution of the Polish language was greatly affected by the border changes and population transfers that followed the Second World War – forced expulsions and resettlement during that period contributed to the country's current linguistic homogeneity. The culture of Poland

270-662: A total number of 120,000, making Poles the largest immigrant group in Norway. Only in recent years has the population abroad decreased, specifically in the UK with 116.000 leaving the UK in 2018 alone. There is a large minority of Polish people in Ireland that makes up approximately 2.57% of the population. West Slav Today, groups which speak West Slavic languages include the Poles , Czechs , Slovaks , Silesians , Kashubians , and Sorbs . From

324-641: Is closely connected with its intricate 1,000-year history , and forms an important constituent in the Western civilisation . Strong ties with the Latinate world and the Roman Catholic faith also shaped Poland's cultural identity. Officially, the national and state symbol is the white-tailed eagle ( bielik ) embedded on the Coat of arms of Poland ( godło ). The national colours are white and red, which appropriately appear on

378-606: Is estimated at 37,394,000 out of an overall population of 38,512,000 (based on the 2011 census), of whom 36,522,000 declared Polish alone. A wide-ranging Polish diaspora (the Polonia ) exists throughout Eurasia , the Americas , and Australasia . Today, the largest urban concentrations of Poles are within the Warsaw metropolitan area and the Katowice urban area . Ethnic Poles are considered to be

432-591: Is hearty and Poles are one of the more obese nations in Europe – approximately 58% of the adult population was overweight in 2019, above the EU average. According to data from 2017, meat consumption per capita in Poland was one of the highest in the world, with pork being the most in demand. Alcohol consumption is relatively moderate compared to other European states; popular alcoholic beverages include Polish-produced beer , vodka and ciders . Poles have traditionally adhered to

486-615: Is the Bavarian Geographer , and third is Alfred the Great 's Germania . Scholars consider that the Vistulans could also have been mentioned in the Old English and Nordic epic poems. King Alfred 's translation of Orosius contains a description of Europe which states be eastan Maroara londe is Wisle lond, ⁊ be eastan þæm sint Datia, þa þe iu wæron Gotan ('To the east of the Moravians' land

540-556: Is the Vistula land, and to the east of them are the Dacians, that formerly were Goths'.) A verse in Old English poem Widsith (10th century): It is considered that parts of the epic poem could be dated to the 6th century. The syntagma ymb Wistlawudu has seen different translations by the scholars depending on the consideration whether Wistla is a borrowing from a German, Latin, or Slavic language. As such *Wīstle could be identified with

594-698: Is usually used in Poland to refer to people of Polish origin who live outside Polish borders. There is a notable Polish diaspora in the United States , Brazil , and Canada . 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 (1939–1945) or Communism (1945/1947–1989). In

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648-561: The Chronicle of Fredegar and Paul the Deacon are neither clear nor consistent in their ethnographic terminology, and whether "Wends" or "Veneti" refer to Slavic people, pre-Slavic people, or to a territory rather than a population, is a matter of scholarly debate. The early Slavic expansion reached Central Europe in the 7th century, and the West Slavic dialects diverged from common Slavic over

702-430: The Bavarian Geographer made a list of West Slavic tribes who lived in the areas of modern-day Poland , Czech Republic , Germany and Denmark : Vistulans The Vistulans , or Vistulanians ( Polish : Wiślanie ), were an early medieval Lechitic tribe inhabiting the western part of modern Lesser Poland . Their name derives from the hydronym of the river Vistula , meaning "inhabitants of Vistula";

756-567: The Catholic Church , in 966 CE, marked Poland's advent to the community of Western Christendom . However, throughout its existence, the Polish state followed a tolerant policy towards minorities resulting in numerous ethnic and religious identities of the Poles, such as Polish Jews . The Polish endonym Polacy is derived from the Western Polans , a Lechitic tribe which inhabited lands around

810-646: The European Union in 2004 and with the opening of the EU's labor market; an approximate number of 2 million, primarily young, Poles taking up jobs abroad. It is estimated that over half a million Polish people went to work in the United Kingdom from Poland. Since 2011, Poles have been able to work freely throughout the EU where they have had full working rights since Poland's EU accession in 2004 . The Polish community in Norway has increased substantially and has grown to

864-488: The Migration Period , central Europe was becoming increasingly settled by the early Slavs (500–700 AD). They organized into tribal units , of which the larger ones further west were later known as the Polish tribes ( Lechites ); the names of many tribes are found on the list compiled by the anonymous Bavarian Geographer in the 9th century. In the 9th and 10th centuries the tribes gave rise to developed regions along

918-541: The Pagan sanctuaries of the closed (long) type, while the East Slavic sanctuaries had a round (most often open) shape ( see also : Peryn ). Early modern historiographers such as Penzel (1777) and Palacky (1827) have claimed Samo's Empire to be first independent Slavic state in history by taking Fredegar's Wendish account at face value. Curta (1997) argued that the text is not as straightforward: according to Fredegar, Wends were

972-588: The Pannonian Basin and extended their influence northward on the Slavs (Vistulans, Croats) in the Upper Vistula valley, seen in Avarian archaeological remains up to Gniezno in central-western Poland. Little is known about early history of the Vistulans. Their territory might have been conquered by Greater Moravia , though no conclusive evidence exists to prove this theory. According to archaeological findings, in

1026-401: The Polish alphabet , which is the basic Latin alphabet with the addition of six diacritic marks , totalling 32 letters. Bearing relation to Czech and Slovak , it has been profoundly influenced by Latin , German and other languages over the course of history. Poland is linguistically homogeneous – nearly 97% of Poland's citizens declare Polish as their mother tongue. Polish-speakers use

1080-675: The River Warta in Greater Poland region from the mid-6th century onward. The tribe's name stems from the Proto-Indo European *pleh₂- , which means flat or flatland and corresponds to the topography of a region that the Western Polans initially settled. The prefix pol- is used in most world languages when referring to Poles (Spanish polaco , Italian polacche , French polonais , German Pole ). Among other foreign exonyms for

1134-533: The end of Communism in Poland in 1989 . In Brazil, the majority of Polish immigrants settled in Paraná State. Smaller, but significant numbers settled in the states of Rio Grande do Sul , Espírito Santo and São Paulo (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. A recent large migration of Poles took place following Poland's accession to

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1188-475: The flag of Poland ( flaga ), banners, cockades and memorabilia. Personal achievement and education plays an important role in Polish society today. In 2018, the Programme for International Student Assessment ranked Poland 11th in the world for mathematics, science and reading. Education has been of prime interest to Poland since the early 12th century, particularly for its noble classes . In 1364, King Casimir

1242-411: The mazurka , krakowiak and polonaise , were popularized by Polish composer Frédéric Chopin , and they soon spread across Europe and elsewhere. Latin songs and religious hymns such as Gaude Mater Polonia and Bogurodzica were once chanted in churches and during patriotic festivities, but the tradition has faded. According to a 2020 study, Poland ranks 12th globally on a list of countries which read

1296-546: The Christian faith; an overwhelming majority belongs to the Roman Catholic Church , with 87.5% of Poles in 2011 identifying as Roman Catholic . According to Poland's Constitution , freedom of religion is ensured to everyone. It also allows for national and ethnic minorities to have the right to establish educational and cultural institutions, institutions designed to protect religious identity, as well as to participate in

1350-688: The Croatian lands into Eastern and Western parts. Based on Lubor Niederle 's thesis that the Vistulans are remnants of the once strong alliance of Croatian tribes which fell apart after the migration of the Croats to the Western Balkans in the 7th century, Tadeusz Lehr-Spławiński additionally noted that the name Vistulans was only known among Western Slavs and Germans, while in the East, in Byzantine and Arabian sources,

1404-648: The Great founded the Kraków Academy , which would become Jagiellonian University , the second-oldest institution of higher learning in Central Europe. People of Polish birth have made considerable contributions in the fields of science, technology and mathematics both in Poland and abroad, among them Vitello , Marie Skłodowska–Curie , Rudolf Modrzejewski , Rudolf Weigl , Bronisław Malinowski , Stefan Banach , Stanisław Ulam , Leonid Hurwicz , Benoit Mandelbrot and Alfred Tarski . Poland's folk music , especially

1458-619: The Polish authorities in 1995, are the Native Polish Church ( Rodzimy Kościół Polski ), which represents a pagan tradition going back to Władysław Kołodziej 's 1921 Holy Circle of Worshippers of Światowid ( Święte Koło Czcicieli Światowida ), and the Polish Slavic Church ( Polski Kościół Słowiański ). There is also the Native Faith Association ( Zrzeszenie Rodzimej Wiary , ZRW ), founded in 1996. Polish people are

1512-474: The Polish people are Lithuanian Lenkai ; Hungarian Lengyelek ; Turkish Leh ; Armenian : Լեհաստան Lehastan ; and Persian : لهستان ( Lahestān ). These stem from Lechia , the ancient name for Poland, or from the tribal Lendians . Their names are equally derived from the Old Polish term lęda , meaning plain or field. Slavs have been in the territory of modern-day Poland for over 1500 years. During

1566-451: The Republic of Poland can register their institution with the Ministry of Interior and Administration creating a record of churches and other religious organizations who operate under separate Polish laws. This registration is not necessary; however, it is beneficial when it comes to serving the freedom of religious practice laws. Slavic Native Faith ( Rodzimowiercy ) groups, registered with

1620-734: The United States, a significant number of Polish immigrants settled in Chicago (billed as the world's most Polish city outside of Poland), Milwaukee, Ohio, Detroit, New Jersey , New York City, Orlando , Pittsburgh , Buffalo , and New England . The highest concentration of Polish Americans in a single New England municipality 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

1674-576: The West Slavic group can be divided into three subgroups: Lechitic , including Polish , Silesian , Kashubian , and the extinct Polabian and Pomeranian languages ; Sorbian in the region of Lusatia ; and Czecho–Slovak in the Czech lands . In the Early Middle Ages , the name " Wends " (probably derived from the Roman-era Veneti ) may have applied to Slavic peoples. However, sources such as

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1728-464: The battle between Goths and Huns, Heidrek died in Harvaða fjöllum (Carpathian Mountains) which is sometimes translated as "beneath the mountains of Harvathi", considered somewhere beneath Carpathian Mountains near river Dnieper . Tadeusz Lewicki  [ pl ] argued that Anglo-Saxons , as in the case of Alfred the Great who called Croats Horithi , often distorted foreign Slavic names and it

1782-460: The country, while Orthodox Christians can be found mostly in the far north-eastern corner, in the area of Białystok , and Protestants in Cieszyn Silesia and Warmia-Masuria regions. A growing Jewish population exists in major cities, especially in Warsaw , Kraków and Wrocław . Over two million Jews of Polish origin reside in the United States, Brazil, and Israel. Religious organizations in

1836-515: The death of his father Mieszko I of Poland (992), Chrobry united Kraków with Poland, with the consent of the Vistulan ruling class. So far historians have not been able to name any Vistulan dukes, but Vita Methodii does mention a "very powerful pagan prince settled on the Vistula" who "began mocking the Christians and doing evil" because of which was contacted by Saint Methodius who said it would be better to be baptized of one's own free will than as

1890-510: The descendants of the ancient West Slavic Lechites and other tribes that inhabited the Polish territories during the late antiquity period. Poland's recorded history dates back over a thousand years to c. 930–960 AD, when the Western Polans – an influential tribe in the Greater Poland region – united various Lechitic clans under what became the Piast dynasty , thus creating the first Polish state. The subsequent Christianization of Poland by

1944-738: The domination of the Holy Roman Empire after the Wendish Crusade in the Middle Ages and had been strongly assimilated by Germans at the end of the 19th century. The Polabian language survived until the beginning of the 19th century in what is now the German state of Lower Saxony . Various attempts have been made to group the West Slavs into subgroups according to various criteria, including geography, historical tribes, and linguistics. In 845

1998-788: The following West Slav tribes in the 11th century from "the coastlands and hinterland from the aby of Kiel to the Vistula, including the islands of Fehmarn, Poel, Rügen, Usedom and Wollin", namely the Wagrians , Obodrites (or Abotrites), the Polabians , the Liutizians or Wilzians, the Rugians or Rani, the Sorbs, the Lusatians, the Poles, and the Pomeranians (later divided into Pomerelians and Cassubians). They came under

2052-571: The following centuries. The West Slavic tribes settled on the eastern fringes of the Carolingian Empire , along the Limes Saxoniae . Prior to the Magyar invasion of Pannonia in the 890s, the West Slavic polity of Great Moravia spanned much of Central Europe between what is now Eastern Germany and Western Romania. In the high medieval period, the West Slavic tribes were again pushed to the east by

2106-684: The gords at Kraków, Stradów, Demblin , Naszczowice , Podegrodzie , Stawy , Trzcinica , Wiślica and on Bocheniec hill in Jadowniki . Most probably, the capital of the Vistulans was located in Kraków, which is confirmed by the size of the local gord, together with a fortified stronghold, located on the Wawel hill. Furthermore, the Vistulans probably built several mounds , such as the Krakus Mound , but historians argue whether these are of earlier, Celtic origin. In

2160-400: The incipient German Ostsiedlung , decisively so following the Wendish Crusade in the 11th century. The early Slavic expansion began in the 5th century, and by the 6th century the groups that would become the West, East , and South Slavic groups had probably become geographically separated. One of the distinguishing features of the West Slavic tribes was manifested in the structure of

2214-405: The language in a uniform manner throughout most of Poland, though numerous dialects and a vernacular language in certain regions coexist alongside standard Polish. The most common lects in Poland are Silesian , spoken in Upper Silesia , and Kashubian , widely spoken in historic Eastern Pomerania ( Pomerelia ), today in the northwestern part of Poland. Kashubian possesses its own status as

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2268-407: The late 9th century several gords in southern Lesser Poland were destroyed. This might have been during the conquest of the Vistulans by Great Moravia, but it might have been the result of a conflict between the Vistulans and other tribes, like the Golensizi . In the 950s, the land of the Vistulans was probably conquered by Czech Duke Boleslaus I , which is confirmed by Abraham ben Jacob , whose work

2322-714: The most, and approximately 79% of Poles read the news more than once a day, placing it 2nd behind Sweden . As of 2021, six Poles received the Nobel Prize in Literature . The national epic is Pan Tadeusz (English: Master Thaddeus), written by Adam Mickiewicz . Renowned novelists who gained much recognition abroad include Joseph Conrad (wrote in English; Heart of Darkness , Lord Jim ), Stanisław Lem (science-fiction; Solaris ) and Andrzej Sapkowski (fantasy; The Witcher ). Various regions in Poland such as Greater Poland , Lesser Poland , Mazovia , Silesia , and Pomerania developed their own distinct cultures, cuisines, folk costumes and dialects. Also, Poland for centuries

2376-406: The ninth century onwards, most West Slavs converted to Roman Catholicism , thus coming under the cultural influence of the Latin Church , adopting the Latin alphabet , and tending to be more closely integrated into cultural and intellectual developments in western Europe than the East Slavs , who converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and adopted the Cyrillic alphabet . Linguistically,

2430-432: The older name of Croats was retained for the same territory. Such an interpretation of the reference to ymb Wistlawudu ("in the Vistula woods") in the Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith argues that instead of 5th century events, the poem instead intended to refer to 6th century events contemporaneous with the Lombard king Alboin , when the Pannonian Avars led by Bayan I ( Attila's people ) expanded between 568 and 595 into

2484-464: The people, while Wistlawudu interpreted as "by the Vistulan woods" or "by the Vistulan wooden hills" ( Beskids and Western Carpathians ). However, the Hræda which is genitive plural of *Hraede , gives further insight to the meaning and age of the poem. Although it is usually related with the Goths from the same poem ( Hred-Gotum , Hreth-Gotan , Hreidhgotar ), this verse is similar to the one in Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks (13th century), where prior

2538-458: The region is mentioned as Uuislane by the Bavarian Geographer , v Vislè and v Vislèh in the Vita Methodii , and Visleland by Alfred the Great in the 9th century. Even though some historians, such as Przemysław Urbańczyk , claim that the Vistulans did not exist, there are three documents from the 9th century which can be tied to this tribe. First is the so-called Vita Methodii or Pannonian Legend (The Life of St. Methodius ), second

2592-415: The resolution of matters connected with their cultural identity. There are smaller communities primarily comprising Protestants (especially Lutherans ), Orthodox Christians (migrants), Jehovah's Witnesses , those irreligious , and Judaism (mostly from the Jewish populations in Poland who have lived in Poland prior to World War II) and Sunni Muslims ( Polish Tatars ). Roman Catholics live all over

2646-606: The sixth-largest national group in the European Union (EU). Estimates vary depending on source, though available data suggest a total number of around 60 million people worldwide (with roughly 18-20 million living outside of Poland, many of whom are not of Polish descent, but are Polish nationals). There are almost 38 million Poles in Poland alone. There are also strong Polish communities in neighbouring countries, whose territories were once occupied or part of Poland – Czech Republic , Slovakia , Lithuania , Latvia , western Ukraine , and western Belarus . The term " Polonia "

2700-477: The sources of the Pilica and Warta in the north. In the east, it reached the Dunajec , and in the west, the Skawa . The first Slavic gords were not built here until the mid 8th century, which means that the Vistulans probably frequently migrated, changing locations. Since the 8th century, the Vistulans began construction of spacious gords, whose areas frequently reached over 10 hectares . Most gords were ring-shaped, and located on hills. Among major ones were

2754-399: The upper Vistula (the Vistulans ), the Baltic Sea coast and in Greater Poland . The ultimate tribal undertaking (10th century) resulted in a lasting political structure and the creation of a Polish state . Polish is the native language of most Poles. It is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group and the sole official language in the Republic of Poland. Its written form uses

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2808-399: Was a refuge to many Jews and to Armenians , who became an important part of Polish society and similarly developed their own unique cultures. Popular everyday foods in Poland include pork cutlets ( kotlet schabowy ), schnitzels, kielbasa sausage, potatoes, coleslaw and salads, soups ( barszcz , tomato or meat broth ), pierogi dumplings, and bread rolls . Traditional Polish cuisine

2862-424: Was not uncommon for the same Slavic tribe to be known by different names, in this case, Vistulans being another name for the White Croats . Henryk Łowmiański also argued that both the Vistulans and the Lendians were tribes of White Croats, but other scholars disagree. Leontii Voitovych believed that the Vistulans were the main tribe among those Silesian and Lechitic tribes who invaded this territory, dividing

2916-410: Was used by Muslim geographer al-Bakri in his Book of Roads and Kingdoms . It is not known when and how the land of the Vistulans joined into the state of the Polans. Archaeological research has not found any evidence of armed conflicts between the Polans and the Vistulans. Most likely, Bolesław I the Brave , future king of Poland, was named the ruler of Kraków by his grandfather, Boleslaus I. After

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