Lithuanians

Top: Mindaugas Top middle:Gediminas, Kęstutis, Vytautas, Jogaila. Middle middle: Barbora Radvilaitė, Mikalojus Radvila Juodasis, Laurynas Gucevičius, Simonas Daukantas Bottom middle:Motiejus Valančius, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Antanas Baranauskas, Vydūnas. Bottom:Jonas Basanavičius.
Total population
c. 4 million
Regions with significant populations
Lithuania 2,721,500 (2011)[1]
United States 712,165 (2008)[2]  United Kingdom 200,000[citation needed]  Brazil 200,000 (2002)[3]  South Africa 60,000[4]  Canada 46,690 (2006)[5]  Russia 31,377 (2010)[6]  Ireland 24,628 (2006)[7] ~120, 000 (2010)  Latvia 24,426 (2011)[8]  Germany 20,285 (2008)[9]  Spain 15,144[10]  Australia 12,317[11]  Ukraine 11,000  Poland 5,846 (2010)[12]  Belarus 5,087 (2009)[13]  France 4,000  Estonia 2,100 (2000)[14]  Iceland 1,300
Languages
Lithuanian
Religion
Mainly Roman Catholic (see also Religion in Lithuania)
Related ethnic groups
Latvians, Prussian Lithuanians, Old Prussians

Lithuanians (Lithuanian: lietuviai, singular lietuvis/lietuvė) are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people.^[15] Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language is Lithuanian, one of only two surviving members of the Baltic language family. According to the census conducted in 2001, 83.45% of the population of Lithuania proper identified themselves as Lithuanians, 6.74% as Poles, 6.31% as Russians, 1.23% as Belarusians, and 2.27% as members of other ethnic groups. Most Lithuanians belong to the Roman Catholic Church, while the Lietuvininkai who lived in the northern part of East Prussia prior to World War II, were mostly Evangelical Lutherans.

History[link]

The territory of the Balts, including modern Lithuania, was once inhabited by several Baltic tribal entities (Aukštaitians, Sudovians, Old Lithuanians, Curonians, Semigallians, Selonians, Samogitians, Skalvians, Old Prussians (Nadruvians)), as attested by ancient sources and dating from prehistoric times. Over the centuries, and especially under the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, some of these tribes consolidated into the Lithuanian nation, mainly as a defence against the marauding Teutonic Order and Eastern Slavs. One of the last Pagan peoples in Europe, they were eventually converted to Christianity in 1387.

The territory inhabited by the ethnic Lithuanians has shrunk over centuries; once Lithuanians made up a majority of population not only in what is now Lithuania, but also in northwestern Belarus, in large areas of the territory of the modern Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, and in some parts of modern Latvia and Poland.^[16]

However, there is a current argument that the Lithuanian language was considered non-prestigious by some elements in Lithuanian society, and a preference for the Polish language in certain territories of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, as well as a preference for the German language in territories of the former East Prussia (now Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia) caused the number of Lithuanian speakers to decrease. The subsequent imperial Russian occupation accelerated this process; it pursued a policy of «Russification», which included a ban on public speaking and writing in Lithuanian (see, e.g., «Knygnešiai», the actions against the Catholic Church). It was believed by some at the time that the nation as such, along with its language, would become extinct within a few generations.

At the end of the 19th century a Lithuanian cultural and linguistic revival occurred. Some of the Polish- and Belarusian-speaking persons from the lands of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania expressed their affiliation with the modern Lithuanian nation in the early 20th century, including Michał Pius Römer, Stanisław Narutowicz, Oscar Milosz and Tadas Ivanauskas. Lithuania declared independence after the World War I, which helped its national consolidation. A standard Lithuanian language was approved. However, the eastern parts of Lithuania, including the Vilnius region, were annexed by Poland, while the Klaipėda Region was taken over by Nazi Germany in 1939. In 1940, Lithuania was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union, and forced to join it as the Lithuanian SSR. The Germans and their allies attacked the U.S.S.R. in June 1941, and from 1941—1944, Lithuania was occupied by Germany. The Germans retreated in 1944, and Lithuania fell under Soviet rule once again. The long-standing communities of Lithuanians in the Kaliningrad Oblast («Lithuania Minor») were almost destroyed as a result.

The Lithuanian nation as such remained primarily in Lithuania, in a few villages in northeastern Poland, southern Latvia and also in the diaspora of emigrants. Some indigenous Lithuanians still remain in Belarus and the Kaliningrad Oblast, but their number is small compared to what they used to be. Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, and was recognized by most countries in 1991. It became a member of the European Union on May 1, 2004. A low birth rate and increased emigration after joining EU is threatening the nation’s future.

Ethnic composition of Lithuania[link]

Among the Baltic states, Lithuania has the most homogeneous population. According to the census conducted in 2001, 83.45% of the population identified themselves as ethnic Lithuanians, 6.74% as Poles, 6.31% as Russians, 1.23% as Belarusians, and 2.27% as members of other ethnic groups such as Tatars, Finns, Danes, Jews and other.

Poles are concentrated in the Vilnius region, the area controlled by Poland in the interwar period. Especially large Polish communities are located in the Vilnius district municipality (61.3% of the population) and the Šalčininkai district municipality (79.5%). This concentration allows Election Action of Lithuania's Poles, an ethnic minority-based political party, to exert political influence. This party has held 1 or 2 seats in the parliament of Lithuania for the past decade. The party is more active in local politics and controls several municipality councils.

Russians, even though they are almost as numerous as Poles, are much more evenly scattered and do not have a strong political party. The most prominent community lives in the Visaginas municipality (52%). Most of them are workers who moved from Russia to work at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. A number of ethnic Russians left Lithuania after the declaration of independence in 1990.

In the past, the ethnic composition of Lithuania has varied dramatically. The most prominent change was the extermination of the Jewish population during the Holocaust. Before World War II, about 7.5% of the population was Jewish^{[citation needed]}; they were concentrated in cities and towns and had a significant influence on crafts and business. They were called Litvaks and had a strong culture. The population of Vilnius, which was sometimes nicknamed the Northern Jerusalem, was about 30% Jewish.^{[citation needed]} Almost all its Jews were killed during the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Lithuania or later emigrated to the United States and Israel. Now there are about 3,200 Jews living in Lithuania.^[1]

Historical ethnographic regions

Cultural Subgroups[link]

Apart from the various religious and ethnic groups currently residing in Lithuania, Lithuanians themselves are usually divided into 5 groups: Žemaičiai, Suvalkiečiai, Aukštaičiai, Dzūkai and Prūsai,^[17] the last of which is virtually extinct. City dwellers are usually considered just Lithuanians, especially ones from large cities such as Vilnius or Kaunas. The four groups are delineated according to certain region-specific traditions, dialects, and historical divisions. There are some stereotypes used in jokes about these subgroups, for example, Sudovians are supposedly frugal while Samogitians are stubborn.

Genetics[link]

Since the Neolithic period the native inhabitants of the Lithuanian territory have not been replaced by any other ethnic group, so there is a high probability that the inhabitants of present day Lithuania have preserved the genetic composition of their forebears relatively undisturbed by the major demographic movements,^[18] although without being actually isolated from them.^[19] The Lithuanian population appears to be relatively homogeneous, without apparent genetic differences among ethnic subgroups.^[20]

A 2004 analysis of MtDNA in a Lithuanian population revealed that Lithuanians are close to (Indo-European) and Finno-Ugric-speaking populations of Northern Europe. Y-chromosome SNP haplogroup analysis showed Lithuanians to be closest to Latvians, Estonians and Finnish people.^[21]

The CCR5-D32 allele, which confers resistance to HIV infection, is present in about 16% of the Lithuanian population. Its relatively high frequency may have arisen as a response to epidemics of smallpox or plague in the region.^[22]

Lithuanian Ashkenazi Jews have also interested geneticists, since they display a number of unique genetic characteristics; the utility of these variations has been the subject of debate.^[23] One variation, which is implicated in familial hypercholesterolemia, has been dated to the 14th century, corresponding to the establishment of Ashkenazi settlements in response to the invitation extended by Vytautas the Great in 1388.^[24]

Lithuanians, like most other Baltic/Scandinavian cultures, have been known for being people of above average height. At the end of the 19th century, the average height of males was 163.5 cm (5.36 feet) and the average height of females was 153.3 cm (5.03 feet). By the end of the 20th century, heights averaged 181.3 cm (5'11") for males and 167.5 cm (5'6") for females.^[25]

Lithuanians and Latvians are closely in the Baltic Nations (including Estonia, populated by non-Indo European speaking Estonians), they have similar yet separate languages and cultural traditions.

Lithuanian diaspora[link]

Apart from the traditional communities in Lithuania and its neighboring countries, Lithuanians have emigrated to other continents during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

• Communities in the United States make up the largest part of this diaspora; as many as one million Americans can claim Lithuanian descent. Emigration to America began in the 19th century, with an interruption during the Soviet occupation, when travel and emigration were severely restricted. The largest concentrations of Lithuanian Americans are in the Great Lakes area and the Northeast. Nearly 20,000 Lithuanians have immigrated to the United States since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.^[26]
• Lithuanian communities in Mexico and South America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay) developed before World War II, beginning in the late 19th and early 20th century. Currently, there is no longer a flow of emigrants to these destinations, since economic conditions in those countries are not better than those in Lithuania (see Lithuanians in Brazil).
• Jewish Lithuanian communities were formed in South Africa during the late 19th and 20th century, the majority being Jewish.
• Lithuanian communities in other regions of the former Soviet Union were formed during the Soviet occupation; the numbers of Lithuanians in Siberia and Central Asia increased dramatically when a large portion of Lithuanians were involuntarily deported into these areas. After de-Stalinization, however, most of them returned. Later, some Lithuanians were relocated to work in other areas of the Soviet Union; some of them did not return to Lithuania, after it became independent.
• The Lithuanian communities in Western Europe (UK, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, and Norway) are very new and began to appear after the restoration of independence to Lithuania in 1990; this emigration intensified after Lithuania became part of the European Union. It should be noted that London and Glasgow (especially the Bellshill and Coatbridge areas of Greater Glasgow) have long had large Catholic and Jewish Lithuanian populations. The Republic of Ireland probably has the highest concentration of Lithuanians relative to its total population size in Western Europe; its estimated 45,000 Lithuanians (about half of whom are registered) form over 1% of Ireland’s total population.
• Lithuanian communities in Australia exist as well; due to its great distance from Europe, however, emigration there was minuscule. There are Lithuanian communities in Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart and Perth.

Culture and traditions[link]

The Lithuanian national sport is usually considered to be basketball (krepšinis), which is popular among Lithuanians in Lithuania as well as in the diasporic communities. Basketball came to Lithuania through the Lithuanian-American community in the thirties. Lithuanian basketball teams were bronze medal winners in the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Summer Olympics. But there are a huge number of football fans in Lithuania and their number is increasing constantly.

Joninės (also known as Rasos) is a traditional national holiday, celebrated on the summer solstice. It has pagan origins. Užgavėnės (Shrove Tuesday) takes place on the day before Ash Wednesday, and is meant to urge the retreat of winter. There are also national traditions for Christian holidays such as Easter and Christmas.

Lithuanian cuisine[link]

Lithuanian cuisine has much in common with other European cuisines and features the products suited to its cool and moist northern climate: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialties. Nevertheless, it has its own distinguishing features, which were formed by a variety of influences during the country’s long and difficult history.

Because of their long common history, Lithuanians and Poles share many dishes and beverages. Thus there are similar Lithuanian and Polish versions of dumplings (pierogi or koldūnai), doughnuts (pączki or spurgos), and crepes (blini or blynai). German traditions also influenced Lithuanian cuisine, introducing pork and potato dishes, such as potato pudding (kugelis) and potato sausages (vėdarai), as well as the baroque tree cake known as šakotis. Dishes kibinai and čeburekai similar to pasty are popular in Lithuania.

For Lithuanian Americans both dishes of Halušky (cabbage and noodles) and Halupki (Balandėliai) (rolled cabbage) are growing increasingly more popular.

Cepelinai, a stuffed potato creation, is the most famous national dish. It is popular among Lithuanians all over the world. Other national foods include dark rye bread, cold beet soup (šaltibarščiai), and kugelis (a baked potato pudding). Some of these foods are also common in neighboring countries. Lithuanian cuisine is generally unknown outside Lithuanian communities. Most Lithuanian restaurants outside Lithuania are located in areas with a heavy Lithuanian presence.

Lithuanians in the early 20th century were among the thinnest people in the developed countries of the world.^[27] In Lithuanian cuisine there is some emphasis on attractive presentation of freshly prepared foods.

Lithuanian ancestors Balts were using Midus a type of Lithuanian Mead for thousands of years.^[28]

Locally brewed beer (alus), vodka (degtinė), and kvass (gira) are popular drinks in Lithuania. Starka is a part of the Lithuanian heritage, still produced in Lithuania.

Lithuanian literature[link]

When the ban against printing the Lithuanian language was lifted in 1904, various European literary movements such as Symbolism, impressionism, and expressionism each in turn influenced the work of Lithuanian writers. The first period of Lithuanian independence (1918–40) gave them the opportunity to examine themselves and their characters more deeply, as their primary concerns were no longer political. An outstanding figure of the early 20th century was Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius, a novelist and dramatist. His many works include Dainavos šalies senų žmonių padavimai (Old Folks Tales of Dainava, 1912) and the historical dramas Šarūnas (1911), Skirgaila (1925), and Mindaugo mirtis (The Death of Mindaugas, 1935). Petras Vaičiūnas was another popular playwright, producing one play each year during the 1920s and '30s. Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas wrote lyric poetry, plays, and novels, including the novel Altorių šešėly (In the Shadows of the Altars, 3 vol., 1933), a remarkably powerful autobiographical novel.

Keturi vėjai movement started with publication of The Prophet of the Four Winds by talented poet Kazys Binkis (1893—1942). It was rebellion against traditional poetry. The theoretical basis of Keturi vėjai initially was futurism which arrived through Russia from the West and later cubism, dadaism, surrealism, unanimism, and German expressionism. The most influensive futurist for Lithuanian writers was Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky.^[29]

Oskaras Milašius (Oscar Vladislas de Lubicz Milosz) (1877—1939) is a paradoxical and interesting phenomenon in Lithuanian culture. He never lived in Lithuania but was born and spent his childhood in Cereja (near Mogilev, Belarus) and graduated from Lycée Janson de Sailly in Paris. His longing for his fatherland was more metaphysical. Having to choose between two conflicting countries — Lithuania and Poland — he preferred Lithuania which for him was an idea even more than a fatherland. In 1920 when France recognized the independence of Lithuania, he was appointed officially as Charge d’Affairs for Lithuania. He published: 1928, a collection of 26 Lithuanian songs; 1930, Lithuanian Tales and Stories; 1933, Lithuanian Tales; 1937, The origin of the Lithuanian Nation.

Folk music[link]

Lithuanian folklore band Kulgrinda performing in Vilnius

Lithuanian folk music is based around songs (dainos), which include romantic and wedding songs, as well as work songs and archaic war songs. These songs used to be performed either in groups or alone, and in parallel chords or unison. Duophonic songs are common in the renowned sutartinės tradition of Aukštaitija. Another style of Lithuanian folk music is called rateliai, a kind of round dance. Instrumentation includes kanklės, a kind of zither that accompanies sutartinės, rateliai, waltzes, quadrilles and polkas, and fiddles, (including a bass fiddle called the basetle) and a kind of whistle called the lumzdelis; recent importations, beginning in the late 19th century, including the concertina, accordion and bandoneon. Sutartinė can be accompanied by skudučiai, a form of panpipes played by a group of people, as well as wooden trumpets (ragai and dandytės). Kanklės is an extremely important folk instrument, which differs in the number of strings and performance techniques across the country. Other traditional instruments include švilpas whistle, drums and tabalas (a percussion instrument like a gong), sekminių ragelis (bagpipe) and the pūslinė, a musical bow made from a pig’s bladder filled with dried peas.^[30]

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: People of Lithuania

• Lithuania
• Baltic states
• List of Lithuanians
• Lithuanian American
• Lithuanians in the United Kingdom
• Lithuanian Scots
• Lithuanians in Brazil

References[link]

Polish people
(Polacy)





Władysław Elbow-high • Copernicus • Kochanowski • Krasicki • Kościuszko
Staszic • Chopin • Łukasiewicz • Wieniawski • Prus
Malczewski • Conrad • Zamenhof • Skłodowska-Curie • Piłsudski
Malinowski • Tatarkiewicz • Rejewski • Rotblat
Sendler • Koprowski • Lem • Wajda • Wolszczan

Total population
ca. 60 million (est.)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Poland 37,152,500 [2][3]
United States (Polish ancestry) 10,000,000 [4]    Germany 2,000,000 - 3,000,000 [1][5][6]    Brazil 1,500,000 [7]    Canada 984,565 [8]    United Kingdom 500,000 - 1,000,000 [1][9]    Argentina 500,000 [10]    Belarus 294,549 [11]    Lithuania 212,800 [12]    Ireland 122,585 [13]    Australia 78,340 [14]    Ukraine 144,130 [15]    Norway 120,000 [16]    Italy 109,018 [17]    France 90,000 [18]    Russia 73,000 [19]    Czech Republic 51,968 [20]    Latvia 44,783 [21]    Netherlands 39,500 [22]    Kazakhstan 34,057 [23]    South Africa 30,000 [24]    Sweden 27,518 [25]    Austria 21,000 [26]    Iceland 10,540 [27]    Denmark 5,300 [28]    Moldova 4,174 [29]    Romania 3,671 [30]    Slovakia 3,084 [31]    Finland 3,000 [32]
Languages
Polish
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism, also Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism and Judaism.
Related ethnic groups
related ethno-linguistic people group: Czechs, Slovaks, Sorbs

The Polish people, or Poles (Polish: Polacy [pɔˈlat​͡sɨ]; singular: Polak), are a nation indigenous to Poland. They speak the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe. The Polish word for a Polish person is "Polak" (masculine) and "Polka" (feminine).

The preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland defines the Polish nation as comprising all the citizens of Poland. Poland's inhabitants live in the following historic regions of the country: Wielkopolska, Małopolska, Mazovia, Pomerania, Warmia, Mazury, Podlasie, Kujawy and Silesia. A wide-ranging Polish diaspora exists throughout Europe (Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine), the Americas (the United States, Brazil and Argentina) and Australia. Chicago, in the United States, has the world's largest urban Polish population after Warsaw.^[33]

Over a thousand years ago, the Polans of Giecz, Gniezno and Poznań — an influential tribe in Wielkopolska — succeeded in uniting Lechitic tribes under what became the Piast dynasty,^[34] thus giving rise to the Polish state.

Statistics[link]

Polish people are the sixth largest national group in European Union.^[35] Estimates vary depending on source, though available data suggest a total number of around 60 million people worldwide (with roughly 21 million living outside of Poland, many of whom are not of Polish ethnicity, but Polish nationals).^[1] There are almost 39 million Poles in Poland alone. There are also Polish minorities in the surrounding countries including Germany, and indigenous minorities in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus. There are some smaller indigenous minorities in nearby countries such as Moldova and Latvia. There is also a Polish minority in Russia which includes indigenous Poles as well as those forcibly deported during and after World War II; the total number of Poles in what was the former Soviet Union is estimated at up to 3 million.^[36]

The term "Polonia" is usually used in Poland to refer to people of Polish origin who live outside Polish borders, officially estimated at around 10 to 20 million. There is a notable Polish diaspora in the United States, Canada, and Brazil. 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 or later Soviet rule.

In the United States a significant number of Polish immigrants settled in Chicago, Ohio, Detroit, New York City, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and New England. The highest concentration of Poles in the United States 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 the end of Communism in Poland in 1989. In Brazil the majority of Polish immigrants settled in Paraná 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.

In recent years, since joining the European Union, many Polish people have emigrated to countries such as Ireland, where an estimated 200,000 Polish people have entered the labour market. It is estimated that over half a million Polish people have come to work in the United Kingdom from Poland. Since 2011, Poles have been able to work freely throughout the EU and not just in the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Sweden where they have had limited rights since Poland's EU accession in 2004. The Polish community in Norway has increased substantially and has grown to a total number of 120,000, making Poles the largest immigrant group in Norway.

Before World War II many Polish Jews became followers of Zionism and subsequently emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine. Following the Holocaust, the vast majority of surviving Polish Jews moved to Israel. Poland is the largest single place of origin of Israeli Jews.

(for ethnic Poles living abroad see Polonia, for those living and working in the United Kingdom see Polish British)

Culture[link]

The state flag of Poland as used by Polish government and diplomatic authorities

The culture of Poland has a history of 1000 years.^[37] Located in Central Europe, its character developed as a result of its geography at the confluence of fellow Central European cultures (German, Western Ukrainian, Czech and Austrian) the Western European cultures (French and Dutch), Southern European cultures (Italian and Turkish), Northern European cultures (Lithuanian, Swedish and Danish) and Eastern European cultures (East Ukrainian and Russian) along with cultural influence of the Jewish culture. Confluences were conveyed by immigrants (Jewish, German and Dutch), political alliances (with Lithuania, Hungary, Saxony, France and Sweden), conquests of the Polish state (Ukraine, Belarus and Latvia) or conquerors of the Polish lands (Tsardom of Russia, Kingdom of Prussia and the Habsburg Monarchy, later on Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary).

With origins in the culture of the Lechites, over time Polish culture has been greatly influenced by its ties with the Germanic, Latinate and other ethnic groups and minorities living in Poland like the Jews.^[38] The people of Poland have traditionally been seen as hospitable to artists from abroad (especially Italy) and open to cultural and artistic trends popular in other European countries. Owing to this central location, the Poles came very early into contact with both civilizations - eastern and western, and as a result developed economically, culturally, and politically. A German general Helmut Carl von Moltke, in his Poland. A historical sketch (1885), stated that Poland prior to her partitions was "the most civilized country in Europe".

In the 19th and 20th centuries the Polish focus on cultural advancement often took precedence over political and economic activity, experiencing severe crisis, especially during the II World War and in the coming years. These factors have contributed to the versatile nature of Polish art, with all its complex nuances.^[38]

Language[link]

John III Sobieski's coat of arms crowning the Royal Chapel in Gdańsk, 1681

Polish (język polski, polszczyzna) is a Lechitic languages and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions. Polish-speakers use the language in a uniform manner throughout most of Poland, though numerous languages, speeches and dialects coexist along the standard Polish language. The Encyclopædia Britannica says that "Lekhitic languages, also spelled Lechitic, group of West Slavic languages composed of Polish, Kashubian and its archaic variant Slovincian, and the extinct Polabian language. All these languages except Polish are sometimes classified as a Pomeranian subgroup. In the early Middle Ages, before their speakers had become Germanized, Pomeranian languages and dialects were spoken along the Baltic in an area extending from the lower Vistula River to the lower Oder River. Kashubian and Slovincian survived into the 20th century; there were still a considerable number of native speakers of Kashubian in Poland and Canada in the 1990s. The extinct Polabian language, which bordered the Sorbian dialects in eastern Germany, was spoken by the Slavic population of the Elbe River region until the 17th or 18th century; a dictionary and some phrases written in the language exist".^[39]

Religion[link]

Most Poles, by far, adhere to the Christian faith, the majority belonging to the Roman Catholic Church.^[40] The rest of the population consists mainly of Eastern Orthodox, Jehovah's Witnesses, various Protestant and Judaism.^[41] Roman Catholics live all over the country, while Orthodox Christians can be found mostly in north-east, in the area of Białystok, and Lutherans in Cieszyn Silesia.

Exonyms[link]

Among the exonyms not native to the Polish people or language are: лях (lyakh) used in East Slavic languages. Today, the word Lachy is used by Eastern Slavs as synonyms for "Poles" and "Poland". The foreign exonyms include also: Lithuanian Lenkai, Hungarian Lengyelek and Turkish Leh.^[42] The former became the basis for Poland exonyms in a number of other Middle Eastern languages, including: Armenian: Լեհաստան Lehastan; Persian: لهستان‎ Lehestân; Tajik: لهستان Lahestan).

See also[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: People of Poland

Other

• Polish Americans

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