Ethnic minorities in Poland

The population of Post-World War II Poland became nearly ethnically homogeneous as a result of the Nazi Holocaust, the radically altered borders, the deportations ordered by the Soviet authorities, who wished to remove the sizeable Polish minorities from Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine and deportations of Ukrainians from Poland (see territorial changes of Poland and historical demography of Poland for details).

Although the concept of an ethnic minority is mostly used with regards to modern period, historically, Poland has been a very multi-ethnic country. Early on, the influx of Jewish and German settlers was particularly notable, forming significant minorities, or even majorities in urban centers. After the Polish-Lithuanian union of mid-14th century and the Union of Lublin formally establishing the Commonwealth in 1569, Lithuanians and Ruthenians constituted a major part of the Commonwealth populace.

An estimate for 1493 gives the combined population of Poland and Lithuania at 7.5 million, breaking them down by ethnicity at

In 1618, after the Truce of Deulino the population of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth increased together with its territory, reaching 12 million. Its inhabitants could be roughly divided into:

At that time the szlachta, or Polish nobility, formed 10% and burghers, 15%.

With the population and territorial losses of the mid and late-17th century, in 1717 the population of the Commonwealth had declined to only 9 million, which breaks down into the following ethnic groups:

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