When you come to cities in different countries around the world, you can observe how multinational the local population is in most cases. But there are states where the presence of other nationalities is minimal. Poland is one of them.
It is worth understanding why this is the case, and what is the reason for such a situation in the country.
Poland is currently one of the countries with the least diversity of nationalities. If you look at the Poland population 2023, you can observe a gradual demographic decline in the state. This is also due to the mono-ethnicity of the country.
Based on data from the census, which was conducted several years ago, about 90 percent of the country's residents consider themselves to be ethnic Poles.
At the same time, there are also several fairly large ethnic groups. Among them:
Belarusians;
Ukrainians;
Germans;
Silesians;
Gypsies;
Jews.
This situation of monoethnicity has much to do with the historical events that took place on the territory of Poland. Or to be more precise, with their consequences.
As you understand, we are talking about World War II and the terrible holocaust. After the war, the borders of the state changed. Also, we should not forget about the active displacement of the German, Ukrainian and Polish population. Plus, an important role was played by the ethnic policy pursued in Poland.
Over the past 20-30 years, as the official statistics shows, there has not been a significant influx of immigrants into Poland. The only exception is refugees from Chechnya, of whom there were a few thousand.
Polish law severely restricts opportunities for refugees. Yes, they can legally stay in the country. But they are not allowed to:
Conduct labor activities to earn a living;
receive state benefits.
In fact, refugees can live solely on the money given to them by local charitable and humanitarian organizations.
All this has led to the fact that Poland is not an attractive country for refugees, displaced persons and immigrants. In fact, this state is used as a transit zone to reach more attractive countries in Europe and beyond.
But lately, there has been more and more talk in the Polish government about the need to give refugees more opportunities and rights. It is believed that this would have a positive impact not only on the demographics, but also on the economic situation in the country.