Polish minority in France
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (1,000,000 (2009) 2% of the French population) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Île-de-France, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Alsace, Lorraine, Centre-Val de Loire... | |
| Languages | |
| Polish, French | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (ethnic Poles) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Poles, French, Silesians |
Poles in France form one of the oldest Polish diaspora communities in Europe.
About one million people of Polish descent live in France, concentrated in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, in the metropolitan area of Lille and the coal-mining basin (Bassin Minier) around Lens and Valenciennes. Prominent members of the Polish community in France have included Frédéric Chopin, Adam Mickiewicz (temporarily), Aleksander Chodźko, Rene Goscinny, Marie Curie, Raymond Kopa, Ludovic Obraniak, Edward Gierek (who was raised there), Matt Pokora and famous singer Jean-Jacques Goldman, the son of a Polish Jew.
Large numbers of Poles settled in France during the rule of Napoleon when 100,000 Poles fled Russian rule of Poland in the early 19th century. Many enlisted to fight in the French army, like Józef Antoni Poniatowski, Ludwik Mateusz Dembowski and many other Polish commanders of the Napoleonic Wars and Polish legionnaires.
Most of the Great Emigration of political elites from Poland between 1831–1870 settled in France.
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Wikipedia