National and ethnic minorities in Poland Minority and regional languages.

Nationalities 96.7% of the people of Poland claim Polish nationality 97.8% declare they speak Polish at home (Census 2002)

Nationalities Armenians 8,000 to 15,000 Belarusians 48,700 Czechs 386 Germans 147 094 Greeks 4 - 5,000 Jews 25,000 Kashubians 500,000 Lemkish 60-70,000

Nationalities Lithuanians 5,639 Macedonians 4,000 to 5,000 Romani 12,731 Russians 3244 Silesians 2,000,000 Slovaks 1710 Tatars 447 Ukrainians 27,172 Americans, Turks, Hungarians, French, Italians, Serbs, Croats, Bulgarians, Romanians, Georgians, Africans, Palestinians, other Arabs, Kurds, Vietnamese

Minority and regional languages Baltic Romany Belarusian Cieszyn Silesian dialect German Pomeranian Kashubian Masurian dialect North Central Romany Romani language Silesian Slovincian Ukrainian

Minority Language(s) German, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Hebrew, Romany ARMENIAN - Old-Armenian form (called Grabar) used by several thousand of Polish Armenians exclusively in the liturgy of the Armenian-Catholic church. CZECH - Used by several hundred Polish Czechs in a few villages in Lower Silesia and in the town of Zelów in central Poland; mainly a home and church language; KARAIM - Spoken by several hundred of Polish Karaims (people of Turkic descent) in the church services of the Karaimic church; Lemkish (dialect of Ukrainian, regarded by some as a separate language) RUSSIAN - A mother tongue of approximately 2,000 Old-Believers living in northeastern Poland; TATAR - The Tatar language died long time ago; the community has several thousand members. YIDDISH AND HEBREW - Spoken by a vestigial group of the Polish Jews, Yiddish as a home language of the oldest generation and Hebrew as a sacral language; WILAMOWICEAN -Probably the least-spoken ethnolect in Poland and the last remnant of Germanic linguistic enclaves in southern Poland. Source: Mercator News, Language Minorities in Old and New Europe by Tomasz Wicherkiewicz, «National and Ethnic Minorities in Poland: Interpreting the 2002 National Census» by Grzegorz Babiński; The Polish Foreign Affairs Digest (The Polish Foreign Affairs Digest), issue: 3 (12) / 2004

Bilingual communes in Poland Polish/German bilingual gminas (Gemeinden) in Opole Voivodeship (part of Silesia): Gmina Biała (Gemeinde Zülz; since 06.03.2006) Gmina Bierawa (Gemeinde Birawa; since 23.04.2007) Gmina Chrząstowice (Gemeinde Chronstau; since 25.01.2006) Gmina Izbicko (Gemeinde Stubendorf; since 06.03.2006) Gmina Jemielnica (Gemeinde Himmelwitz; since 28.08.2006) Gmina Kolonowskie (Gemeinde Colonnowska; since 22.09.2006) Gmina Lasowice Wielkie (Gemeinde Groß Lassowitz; since 18.10.2006) Gmina Leśnica (Gemeinde Leschnitz; since 17.05.2006) Gmina Prószków (Gemeinde Proskau; since 11.07.2006) Gmina Radłów (Gemeinde Radlau; since 25.01.2006) Gmina Reńska Wieś (Gemeinde Reinschdorf; since 26.10.2006) Gmina Strzeleczki (Gemeinde Strehlitz; since 17.05.2006) Gmina Tarnów Opolski (Gemeinde Tarnau; since 15.02.2007) Gmina Turawa (Gemeinde Turawa; since 12.09.2008 r.) Gmina Ujazd (Gemeinde Ujest; since 28.08.2006)

Bilingual communes in Poland Gmina Walce (Gemeinde Walzen; since 04.04.2006) Gmina Zębowice (Gemeinde Zembowitz; since 23.10.2007) Other gminas in Opole Voivodeship and Silesian Voivodeship which are permitted by the Act to make German an auxiliary language are Cisek, Dobrodzień, Dobrzeń Wielki, Głogówek, Komprachcice, Łubniany, Murów, Olesno, Pawłowiczki, and Krzanowice. (A map can be found on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration [1].) Polish/Kashubian bilingual gminas in Pomeranian Voivodeship: Gmina Parchowo (Gmina Parchòwò; since 16.08.2006) Gmina Sierakowice (Gmina Serakòwice; since 23.10.2007) Polish/Lithuanian bilingual gmina in Podlaskie Voivodeship: Gmina Puńsk (Punsko valsčius; since 25.05.2006) Polish/Belarusian bilingual gmina in Podlaskie Voivodeship: Gmina Hajnówka (urban commune; Гайнаўка; since 3.12.2007) Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilingual_communes_in_Poland"

Kaszёbё Main organizations: • Zrzeszenie Kaszubsko-Pomorskie, • Instytut Kaszubski, • Fundacja „Kaszubski Uniwersytet Ludowy”, • Stowarzyszenie „Ziemia Pucka”. Press: Express kaszubski, Òdroda, Pomerania, Radio: Radio Kaszёbё, Na botach e w borach; Television: Rodno Zemia - TVP INFO. Biggest cultural events: Zjazdy Kaszubów – „Rodnô Mòwa”, „Remusowa kara”, „Piszã pò kaszëbskù” - królewiónka w pałacu”, „By nie zapomnieć mowy ojców” im. Jana Drzeżdżona.