Genetik
RU
Genetik/Peoples/Poles

Poles

Поляки · Q1026

language area per Glottologcensus counts
287,693
Belarus, census 2019 (ethnicity / nationality)
827,908
sum of censuses in 16 countries, 2001-2021
Indo-European
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Belarus: 287,693 people in the 2019 census.

Official figures exist for 16 countries; together they add up to 827,908. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2001-2021) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

In Russia's 2020 census (reference date 1 October 2021), 22,024 people identified with the nationality "Поляки" (Poles)1. That is 0.02% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 1 other self-designation to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Polish. Glottolog classifies it in the Indo-European family.

Where they live: census figures

Each figure comes from the country's official census. Censuses define belonging differently (self-identification, citizenship, mother tongue, ancestry); the type is given on each row.

Belarus2019 · ethnicity / nationality · «Поляки» · [2]
287,693
Lithuania2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [3]
183,421
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [4]
144,130
Belgium2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [5]
69,820
Czechia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · usual residents; ethnicity voluntary; persons stating two ethnicities counted under both · [6]
38,218
Latvia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [7]
37,203
Kazakhstan2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [8]
35,319
Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Поляки» · [1]
22,024
Slovakia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [9]
3,771
Romania2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [10]
2,137
Estonia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [11]
1,845
Moldova, Republic of2014 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [12]
1,404
Croatia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [13]
657
Slovenia2002 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [14]
140
North Macedonia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [15]
103
Tajikistan2010 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Polish» · [16]
23
Sum across 16 countries827,908

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex, urban and rural, Russian regions

Sex

Men 9,850 · 44.7%Women 12,174 · 55.3%

Urban and rural

Urban 16,743 · 76.0%Rural 5,281 · 24.0%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Moscow (city)
1,747
Kaliningrad Oblast
1,402
Omsk Oblast
1,365
Saint Petersburg (city)
1,266
Republic of Crimea (as listed by Rosstat)
1,145
Moscow Oblast
1,014
Krasnodar Krai
843
Republic of Karelia
727
Irkutsk Oblast
657
Sverdlovsk Oblast
654

Source [1]: Rosstat, 2020 census, vol. 5, table 1

Languages and their lineage

Polish

  1. Indo-Europeanindo1319
  2. Classical Indo-Europeanclas1257
  3. Balto-Slavicbalt1263
  4. Slavicslav1255
  5. West Slavicwest2792
  6. Lechiticlech1241
  7. Polish-Silesianpoli1262
  8. Polishpoli1260

People-to-language links: Wikidata (properties P103 and P2936), checked against ISO 639-3 codes. Language classification: Glottolog 5.3.

Peoples of the same language family

PakistanisRussiansMarathiGermansSpaniardsMexicansUkrainiansEnglishIrishAmericansItaliansRomaniansNepali (Khas-Arya)DutchBelarusiansTajiksCzechsScotsSerbsBulgariansSlovaksArmeniansCubansLithuanians

Sources

  1. Rosstat. National composition of the population of the Russian Federation. Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census (reference date 1 October 2021), vol. 5, table 1. Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx (archived copy)
  2. Национальный статистический комитет Республики Беларусь (Belstat). Статистический обзор ко Всемирному дню народонаселения (2019 census counts), 07.07.2023. https://www.belstat.gov.by/upload-belstat/upload-belstat-pdf/oficial_statistika/statobzor_…
  3. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Lithuania, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  4. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Ukraine, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  5. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Belgium, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  6. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Czechia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  7. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Latvia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  8. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Kazakhstan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  9. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Slovakia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  10. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Romania, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  11. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Estonia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  12. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Republic of Moldova, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  13. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Croatia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  14. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Slovenia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  15. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. North Macedonia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  16. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Tajikistan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  17. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)