Polish minority in Ukraine
Concert of Polish Children Choir in the Lviv Roman Catholic cathedral
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|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (In the 2001 Ukrainian census, 144,130 identified themselves as ethnic Poles. Other sources (Wspolnota Polska): 800,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Zhytomyr Oblast, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Lviv Oblast | |
| Languages | |
| Ukrainian (71,0%), Russian (15,6%), Polish (12,9%) | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Roman Catholic | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Poles in Belarus, Poles in Russia, Poles in Lithuania |
The Polish minority in Ukraine officially numbers about 144,130 (according to the 2001 census), of whom 21,094 (14.6%) speak Polish as their first language. The history of Polish settlement in current territory of Ukraine dates back to 1030–31. In Late Middle Ages, following the extinction of Rurikid dynasty in 1323, the Kingdom of Poland extended east in 1340 to include the lands of Przemyśl and in 1366, Kamianets-Podilskyi (Kamieniec Podolski). The settlement of Poles became common there after the Polish–Lithuanian peace treaty signed in 1366 between Casimir III the Great of Poland, and Liubartas of Lithuania. Following the Union of Lublin (1569), principalities of Galicia and Western Volhynia were incorporated into the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland as the Ruthenian Voivodeship, while the rest of Red Ruthenia together with Kiev came under Lithuanian control.
In early medieval times the western territory of what is now Ukraine (Eastern Galicia)was known as Red Ruthenia. It was settled by tribes of Western Slavs - Lendians. According to the Nestor - Primary Chronicle tribe of Lendians were 'Lachy' (Lechites) and their Duke Wlodzislav took part in dealing with Byzantine empire together with the Rus. It is first attested in AD 981, when Vladimir the Great of Kievan Rus conquered the Red Ruthenian strongholds in his military campaign on the border with the land of Lendians. Nestor reports in his chronicle that: "Vladimir marched upon the Lyakhs (k Lyakbotri) and took their cities: Peremyshl (modern Przemyśl), Cherven (modern Czermno), and other towns."
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