Editing Rybnik (section)

=== Historical population ===
Historically, Rybnik was a small town, with population exceeding 1,000 people only in the late 1700s. It was similar in size to neighboring [[Żory]] and [[Wodzisław Śląski]], around half the size of [[Gliwice]] and 1/3 the size of [[Racibórz]]. The population development accelerated after [[Upper Silesia]] was annexed by [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] in 1740. In 1818, Rybnik became a county seat and in 1856 Rybnik was connected with Racibórz by rail. Two years later, in 1858, Rybnik gained a rail connection with Katowice, further accelerating growth. While the discovery of large [[coal]] deposits around Rybnik in late 1800s and early 1900s caused capital inflow and population growth of neighboring villages and settlements, Rybnik continued to be primarily a market town rather than transform into a large industrial city like other towns in the region, particularly in the [[Upper Silesian Industrial Region]]. This changed after [[World War II]], when the [[Polish People's Republic|Polish]] [[Communist Party of Poland|communist]] government doubled-down on its heavy industrialization platform, increasing [[Coal mining|coal production]] in existing coal mines around Rybnik and building [[Jastrzębie-Zdrój|a new city for miners nearby]]. Due to its central location and existing infrastructure, Rybnik became the center of the [[Rybnik Coal Area]], growing to 44,400 people in 1972.

In the 1970s, under administrative reform, Rybnik annexed a number of neighboring mining towns and villages, growing to 118,200 by the end of the decade. Labor shortages on the local market, created in part by emigration to Germany through the family reunification schemes since the 1950s,<ref>{{Cite web|title=1971: Ankunft erster Aussiedler aus Polen in der Bundesrepublik - Ein weiter Weg nach Westen|url=https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/1971-ankunft-erster-aussiedler-aus-polen-in-der.871.de.html?dram:article_id=491326|access-date=2021-09-24|website=Deutschlandfunk|language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kijonka|first=Justyna|date=2013|title=Migracje z Górnego Śląska do Republiki Federalnej Niemiec w latach 1970-1989, czyli między ojczyzną prywatną a ideologiczną|url=https://rebus.us.edu.pl/bitstream/20.500.12128/1910/1/Kijonka_Migracje_z_Gornego_Slaska_do_Republiki_Federalnej_Niemiec.pdf|journal=Górnośląskie Studia Socjologiczne|volume=4|pages=29–47}}</ref> motivated large state enterprises to recruit workers in other parts of the country. As a result, by 1970s and 80s approximately 30% of people in Rybnik were recent internal migrants.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Historia - Rybnik - serwis miejski|url=https://www.rybnik.eu/miasto/historia|access-date=2021-09-24|website=www.rybnik.eu}}</ref> That migration was a source of ethnic conflict since the 1950s, given that in the eyes of [[Polish people|Poles]] from other parts of the country, indigenous [[Silesians]] were [[Germans]], and the anti-German sentiment was still strong in Poland at the time.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Salamon|first=Izabela|date=2012|title=Jak się biły hanysy i gorole|work=Nowiny|url=https://enowiny.pl/artykul,29280,jak-sie-bily-hanysy-i-gorole|access-date=Sep 23, 2021}}</ref> Rybnik's population continued to grow until the peak in 1997 at 144,943.