German Minority in Poland | German Minority Poland

The registered German minority in Poland at the 2011 national census consisted of 126,000 people, of whom 58,000 declared both German and Polish nationalities and 36,000 solely German nationality. At a 2002 census there were 152,900 people declaring German nationality therefore the last census noted a 43,000 decrease in the number of Germans in Poland. There are controversies over the correctness of the census.

The German language is used in certain areas in Opole Voivodeship (German: Woiwodschaft Oppeln), where most of the minority resides and Silesian Voivodeship (German: Woiwodschaft Schlesien). The German Minority electoral list currently has one seat in the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (there were four from 1993 to 1997), benefiting from the current provision in Polish election law which exempts national minorities from the 5% national threshold.

There are 325 Polish schools that use the German language as the first language of instruction, with over 37,000 students. Most members of the German minority are Roman Catholic, and some are Protestants (the Evangelical-Augsburg Church). A number of German language newspapers and magazines are published in Poland.

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