- published: 12 Jan 2016
- views: 170
Most residents of Poland adhere to the Christian faith, with 89.8% belonging to the Roman Catholic Church. Catholicism plays an important role in the lives of many Poles and the Roman Catholic Church in Poland enjoys social prestige and political influence. The Church is widely respected by its members, who see it as a symbol of Polish heritage and culture. The rest of the population consists mainly of Eastern Orthodox (about 806,000 believers, Polish and Belarussians), Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (about 85,000) and various Protestant (about 250,000, with about 130,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in the largest religious minorities.
According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005:
According to the most recent CBOS opinion poll published in the fall of 2008:
From the beginning of its statehood, different religious coexisted in Poland and some minorities were tolerated by rulers of Poland. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Poland was famous for its unique religious tolerance (see Statute of Kalisz (1264) and Warsaw Confederation (1573)).
Poland i/ˈpoʊlənd/ (Polish: Polska), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska; Kashubian: Pòlskô Repùblika; Silesian: Polsko Republika), is a country in Central Europe, bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. Poland has a population of over 38 million people, which makes it the 34th most populous country in the world and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, being its most populous post-communist member. Poland is a unitary state made up of 16 voivodeships. Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Economic Area, International Energy Agency, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Atomic Energy Agency, G6, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Visegrád Group, Weimar Triangle and Schengen Agreement.