A Vietnamese restaurant in Warsaw – one of dozens that have sprung up around the city in the last decade.
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 thecoup 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 nobody knows how many Ukrainians actually live in Poland on and off – shuttling back home only to renew their visas. NGOs that deal with Polish-Ukrainian relations estimate this number at anywhere between 100,000 and 200,000.
In Warsaw you will notice a large presence of Vietnamese, who have quickly become the largest minority in the city. Officially there are about 1000 of them, in reality – 20,000 to 40,000, as evidenced by the proliferation of Vietnamese restaurants. Recently, pho soup was even voted one of the most typical Varsovian dishes. At the same time the capital is a natural destination for immigrants and expats from all parts of the globe – from Nigerians to Russians, Spaniards to Indians.
There are (officially) some 12,000 Roma in Poland. Many of them were forced to settle and take up jobs in factories in communist days, hence a large presence in industrial towns such as Nowa Huta (nowa district of Kraków), Mielec or Puławy and in the largest cities. It is estimated that 30% of Roma children in Poland do not go to school, but on the other hand there are pioneering projects such as Roma textbooks and dedicated learning programmes. In many Polish cities wealthy members of the community are famous for the dazzling houses they build. The Roma neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of Poznań, along the old road to Warsaw, is becoming something of an alternative tourist attraction.
