Polacy

Poles
Polacy

Total population
c. 60 million
Regions with significant populations
Poland   38,000,000
United States	10,600,000
Brazil	3,000,000
Germany	2,850,000
Canada	1,010,705
France	1,000,000
Other countries    United Kingdom 630,000    Argentina 500,000    Belarus 295,000    Russia 273,000    Australia 216,056    Lithuania 212,800    Ukraine 144,130    Ireland 122,585    Norway 120,000    Italy 109,018    Sweden 75,323    Belgium 70,600    Spain 70,606    Austria 69,898    Netherlands 60,000    Czech Republic 51,968    Latvia 44,783    Denmark 37,876    Kazakhstan 34,057    South Africa 30,000    Paraguay 16,748    United Arab Emirates 14,500    Greece 14,145    Iceland 10,540    Venezuela 9,000    Peru 7,000    Hungary 5,730    Moldova 4,174    Romania 3,671    Slovakia 3,084    Finland 3,000    New Zealand 2,166    Estonia 1,747
Languages
Polish • Kashubian • Silesian
Religion
Christianity: Predominantly Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Other West Slavs (Kashubians, Silesians, Sorbs, Slovaks, and Czechs)

1,747

The Poles (Polish: Polacy, pronounced [pɔˈlat͡sɨ]; singular masculine: Polak, singular feminine: Polka) are a nation and West Slavic ethnic group native to Poland who share a common ancestry, culture, history and are native speakers of the Polish language. The population of Poles in Poland is estimated at 37,394,000 out of an overall population of 38,538,000 (based on the 2011 census). Poland's population inhabits several historic regions, including Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Mazovia, Silesia, Pomerania, Kuyavia, Warmia (Ermland), Masuria, and Podlachia.

Over a thousand years ago, the Polans – an influential tribe in Greater Poland region, inhabiting the areas around Giecz, Gniezno, and Poznań – succeeded in uniting various Lechitic tribes under what became the Piast dynasty, thereby creating the Polish state.

A wide-ranging Polish diaspora (the Polonia) exists throughout Europe (Germany, France, Belarus, the United Kingdom, Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Ireland, Scandinavia, Italy, Belgium, Spain), the Americas (the United States, Brazil, Canada, Argentina) and in Australasia (Australia and New Zealand). Today the largest urban concentration of Poles is the Katowice urban agglomeration (the Silesian Metropolis) of 2.7 million inhabitants.