Kashubians

Kashubians/Kaszubi
Kaszëbi

Flag and coat of arms of Kashubia
Total population
in Poland ~0.5 million (2002-07) of which 233,000 as ethnic-national identity (2011)
Regions with significant populations
Poland  United States  Canada  Germany
Languages
Kashubian, Polish, among emigrants English, German
Religion
Roman Catholicism, Protestantism
Related ethnic groups
Poles  · Slovincians  · Sorbs

Kashubians (Kashubian: Kaszëbi; Polish: Kaszubi; German: Kaschuben) also spelled as Kaszubians, Kassubians, Cassubians, Cashubes or Kashubs, and formerly known as Kashubes, are a West Slavic ethnic group in Pomerelia, north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia (Kashubian: Kaszëbë, Polish: Kaszuby, German: Kaschubei, Kaschubien). They speak the Kashubian language, classified either as a separate language closely related to Polish, or a Polish dialect. In analogy to the linguistic classification, Kashubians are considered either an ethnic or a linguistic group. Kashubians are closely related to Poles.

Kashubians are grouped with the Slovincians as Pomeranians. Similarly the Slovincian and Kashubian languages are grouped as the Pomeranian language, with Slovincian being either a closely related language or a Kashubian dialect.

Among larger cities, Gdynia (Gdiniô) contains the largest proportion of people declaring Kashubian origin. However, the biggest city of the Kashubia region is Gdańsk (Gduńsk), the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the traditional capital of Kashubia. Between 80.3% and 93.9% people of the people in Linia, Sierakowice, Szemud, Kartuzy, Chmielno, Żukowo, etc. are of Kashubian descent.