Poles facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Poles
Polacy

The Baptism of Poland. Detail from Jan Matejko's Christianisation of Poland AD 966.
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
Israel	1,250,000 (ancestry, passport eligible); 202,300 (citizenship)
Canada	1,010,705
France	1,000,000
Other countries    United Kingdom 911,000    Argentina 500,000    Belarus 295,000    Russia 273,000    Australia 216,056    Lithuania 164,000    Ukraine 144,130    Ireland 122,515    Norway 120,000    Italy 109,018    Sweden 75,323    Belgium 70,600    Spain 70,606    Austria 69,898    Netherlands 60,000    Latvia 44,783    Denmark 37,876    Kazakhstan 34,057    South Africa 30,000    Czech Republic 20,305    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: Silesians, Kashubs, Czechs, Slovaks, Moravians, Sorbs, Hanoverian Wends(†), Obotrites(†), Veleti(†)

The Polish people, or Poles (Polish: Polacy, singular Polak), are a group of people who come from Poland. They are an ethnic group and a nation with a shared history and culture. Most Poles live in Poland, but many also live in other countries around the world.

Poles speak the Polish language, which is part of the West Slavic language family. Their writing uses a special version of the Latin alphabet. Most Poles follow the Roman Catholic religion.

There are about 60 million Poles worldwide. Large groups of Poles live in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. You can also find Polish communities in Ukraine and many other places.

Famous Poles You Should Know

Many Poles have become famous for their amazing contributions to the world.

• Pope John Paul II was the head of the Catholic Church. He was the first non-Italian Pope in over 450 years.
• Maria Skłodowska-Curie was a brilliant scientist. She won two Nobel Prizes for her work in physics and chemistry. She discovered two new elements: polonium and radium.
• Nicolaus Copernicus was a famous astronomer. He was the first to say that the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun. This idea changed how people understood the universe.
• Lech Wałęsa was a brave leader. He helped bring democracy to Poland and won the Nobel Peace Prize. He was also the first president of Poland after the end of communism.

Polish Names and Surnames

Polish names often have special endings. Many surnames end with "-ski", "-ska", "-cki", or "-cka". These endings often mean "from" or "belonging to". For example, "Kowalski" might mean "from Kowal".

The most common Polish surnames are Nowak and Kowalski.

Images for kids

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  A page from an old book (1073) showing the word "Polans," which refers to early Polish people.

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  This old book, the Book of Henryków, contains the very first known sentence written in the Old Polish language.

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  A painting from 1874 by Wojciech Gerson. It shows King Casimir III the Great welcoming Jewish people to Poland.