Editing Second Polish Republic (section)

==Demographics==
[[File:Percent Polish 1931 census.png|thumb|% of ethnic Poles by voivodeship according to the 1931 census]]
Historically, Poland was almost always a multiethnic country. This was especially true for the Second Republic, when independence was once again achieved in the wake of the [[First World War]] and the subsequent [[Polish–Soviet War]], the latter war being officially ended by the [[Peace of Riga]]. The [[Polish census of 1921|census of 1921]] shows 30.8% of the population consisted of ethnic minorities,<ref name="MJ"/> compared with a share of 1.6% (solely identifying with a non-Polish ethnic group) or 3.8% (including those identifying with both the Polish ethnicity and with another ethnic group) in 2011.<ref name="stat">{{cite journal |url=http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/Przynaleznosc_narodowo-etniczna_w_2011_NSP.pdf |title=Przynależność narodowo-etniczna ludności – wyniki spisu ludności i mieszkań 2011 |trans-title=Ethnic makeup of Polish citizenry according to census of 2011 |journal=Materiał Na Konferencję Prasową W Dniu 2013-01-29 |pages=3, 4 |via=PDF file, direct download 192 KB |access-date=20 July 2016 |archive-date=15 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515165423/https://stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/Przynaleznosc_narodowo-etniczna_w_2011_NSP.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The first spontaneous flight of about 500,000 Poles from the Soviet Union occurred during the reconstitution of sovereign Poland. In the second wave, between November 1919 and June 1924, some 1,200,000 people left the territory of the USSR for Poland. It is estimated that some 460,000 of them spoke Polish as the first language.<ref name="ePWN">{{cite book |title=Encyklopedia PWN |chapter=Rosja. Polonia i Polacy |others=Stanisław Gregorowicz |chapter-url=http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo/Rosja-Polonia-i-Polacy;4575227.html |publisher=[[Polish Scientific Publishers PWN]] |author=PWN |year=2016 |access-date=20 July 2016 |archive-date=6 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406045946/http://encyklopedia.pwn.pl/haslo/Rosja-Polonia-i-Polacy;4575227.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the [[1931 Polish Census]]: 69% of the population was Polish, 14% were Ukrainian, around 10% Jewish, 3% Belarusian, 2% German and 3% other, including Lithuanian, Czech, Armenian, Russian, and Romani. The situation of minorities was a complex subject and changed during the period.<ref name="Davies"/>

Poland was also a nation of many religions. In 1921, 16,057,229 Poles (approx. 62.5%) were [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman (Latin) Catholics]], 3,031,057 citizens of Poland (approx. 11.8%) were [[Eastern Rite Catholic Churches|Eastern Rite Catholics]] (mostly [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church|Ukrainian Greek Catholics]] and [[Armenian Catholic Church|Armenian Rite Catholics]]), 2,815,817 (approx. 10.95%) were [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]], 2,771,949 (approx. 10.8%) were Jewish, and 940,232 (approx. 3.7%) were Protestants (mostly [[Lutheran]]).<ref name="PSL"/>

By 1931, Poland had the second largest Jewish population in the world, with one-fifth of all the world's Jews residing within its borders (approx. 3,136,000).<ref name="MJ"/> The urban population of interbellum Poland was rising steadily; in 1921, only 24% of Poles lived in the cities, in the late 1930s, that proportion grew to 30%. In more than a decade, the population of Warsaw grew by 200,000, Łódź by 150,000, and Poznań – by 100,000. This was due not only to internal migration, but also to an extremely high birth rate.<ref name="liberte.pl"/>

===Largest cities in the Second Polish Republic===
[[File:Polska II RP gestosc zaludnienia.jpg|thumb|Poland's population density in 1930]]
[[File:GUS languages1931 Poland.jpg|thumb|Contemporary map showing language frequency in 1931 across Poland; red: more than 50% native Polish speakers; green: more than 50% native language other than Polish, including [[Yiddish]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], Ukrainian, Belarusian, Russian and less frequent others]]
[[File:Artyleria górska II Brygady Legionów Polskich.jpg|thumb|Officers from the Second Mountain Brigade of the [[Polish Legions in World War I|Polish Legions in the First World War]] establishing the Polish-Czechoslovak border; they are pictured near the summit of Popadia in [[Gorgany]] during the formation of the Second Republic, 1915.]]
{|class="wikitable"
!width=3%|
!width=25%|City
!width=20%|Population
!width=20%|Voivodeship
|-
|align=center|1 ||align=left|[[File:POL Warszawa COA.svg|25px|Herb Warszawy]] [[Warsaw]] ||align=center|1,289,000 ||align=left|[[Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–39)|Warsaw Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|2 ||align=left|[[File:POL Łódź COA.svg|25px|Herb Łodzi]] [[Łódź]] ||align=center|672,000 ||align=left|[[Łódź Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|3 ||align=left|[[File:POL Lwów COA.svg|25px|Herb Lwowa]] [[Lwów]] ||align=center|318,000 ||align=left|[[Lwów Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|4 ||align=left|[[File:POL Poznań COA.svg|25px|Herb Poznania]] [[Poznań]] ||align=center|272,000 ||align=left|[[Poznań Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|5 ||align=left|[[File:POL Kraków COA.svg|25px|Herb Krakowa]] [[Kraków]] ||align=center|259,000 ||align=left|[[Kraków Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Kraków Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|6 ||align=left|[[File:Coat of Arms of Vilnius.svg|30x30px|Herb Wilna]] [[Wilno]] || align="center" |209,000 ||align=left|[[Wilno Voivodeship (1926-1939)|Wilno Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|7 ||align=left|[[File:POL Bydgoszcz COA.svg|25px|Herb Bydgoszczy]] [[Bydgoszcz]] ||align=center|141,000 ||align=left|[[Poznań Voivodeship]]<br />later [[Pomeranian Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|8 ||align=left|[[File:POL Częstochowa COA (II RP).svg|25px|Herb Częstochowy]] [[Częstochowa]] ||align=center|138,000 ||align=left|[[Kielce Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|9 ||align=left|[[File:Katowice Herb.svg|25px|Herb Katowic]] [[Katowice]] ||align=center|134,000 ||align=left|[[Silesian Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|10 ||align=left|[[File:POL Sosnowiec COA.svg|25px|Herb Sosnowca]] [[Sosnowiec]] ||align=center|130,000||align=left|[[Kielce Voivodeship]]
|-
|align="center" |11 ||align="left" |[[File:POL Chorzów COA.svg|25px|Herb Chorzowa]] [[Chorzów]]||align="center" |128,000 ||align="left" |[[Silesian Voivodeship]]
|-
|align="center" |12 ||align="left" |[[File:POL Lublin COA 1.svg|25px|Herb Lublina]] [[Lublin]]||align="center" |122,000 ||align="left" |[[Lublin Voivodeship]]
|-
|align="center" |13 ||align="left" |[[File:POL Gdynia COA.svg|25px|Herb Gdyni]] [[Gdynia]]||align="center" |120,000 ||align="left" |[[Pomeranian Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|14 ||align=left|[[File:POL Białystok formal COA.svg|25px|Herb Białegostoku]] [[Białystok]] ||align=center|107,000 ||align=left|[[Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Białystok Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|15 ||align=left|[[File:POL Kalisz COA 1.svg|25px|Herb Kalisza]] [[Kalisz]] ||align=center|81,000 ||align=left|[[Łódź Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|16 ||align=left|[[File:Radom coa basic4.svg|25px|Herb Radomia]] [[Radom]] ||align=center|78,000 ||align=left|[[Kielce Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|17 ||align=left|[[File:POL Toruń COA.svg|25px|Herb Torunia]] [[Toruń]] ||align=center|62,000 ||align=left|[[Pomeranian Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|18 ||align=left|[[File:POL Stanisławów COA.svg|25px|Herb Stanisławowa]] [[Iwano-Frankiwsk|Stanisławów]] ||align=center|60,000 ||align=left|[[Stanisławów Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|19 ||align=left|[[File:Herb miasta Kielce.svg|25px|Herb Kielc]] [[Kielce]] ||align=center|58,000 ||align=left|[[Kielce Voivodeship]]
|-
|align=center|20 ||align=left|[[File:POL Włocławek COA.svg|25px|Herb Włocławka]] [[Włocławek]] ||align=center|56,000||align=left|[[Pomeranian Voivodeship]]
|-
|align="center"|21 ||align=left|[[File:POL Grudziądz COA.svg|25px|Herb Grudziądza]] [[Grudziądz]] ||align=center|54,000 ||align=left|[[Pomeranian Voivodeship]]
|-
|align="center"|22 ||align=left|[[File:POL Brześć nad Bugiem COA.svg|25px|Herb Brześcia nad Bugiem]] [[Brześć|Brześć nad Bugiem]] ||align=center|51,000 ||align=left|[[Polesie Voivodeship]]
|-
|align="center"|23 ||align=left|[[File:POL Piotrków Trybunalski COA 1.svg|25px|Herb Piotrkowa Trybunalskiego]] [[Piotrków Trybunalski]] ||align=center|51,000 ||align=left|[[Łódź Voivodeship]]
|-
|align="center"|24 ||align=left|[[File:POL Przemyśl COA.svg|25px|Herb Przemyśla]] [[Przemyśl]] ||align=center|51,000 ||align=left|[[Lwów Voivodeship]]
|}

===Prewar population density===
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"
! Date !! Population !! Percentage of<br />rural population !! Population density<br />(per km<sup>2</sup>) !! Ethnic minorities (total)
|-
|align="left"|[[1921 Polish Census|30 September 1921 (census)]]
|align="center"|27,177,000 ||align="center"|75.4% ||align="center"|69.9 ||align="center"|30,77%<ref name="MJ"/>
|-
|align="left"|[[1931 Polish Census|9 December 1931 (census)]]
|align="center"|32,348,000 ||align="center"|72.6% ||align="center"|82.6 ||align="center"|31.09%
|-
|align="left"|31 December 1938 (estimate)
|align="center"|34,849,000 ||align="center"|70.0% ||align="center"|89.7 ||align="center"|<small>''Upward trend in immigration''</small>
|}