1921 Polish census

Polish census of 1921

1921 Census of Poland, vol. 31: Population by Religion and Nationality (go to p. 80: PDF)

The Polish census of 1921 or First General Census in Poland (Polish: Pierwszy Powszechny Spis Ludności) was the first census in the Second Polish Republic, performed on September 30, 1921 by the Main Bureau of Statistics (Główny Urząd Statystyczny). It was followed by the Polish census of 1931.

## Content

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Due to war, not all of interwar Poland was enumerated. Upper Silesia was formally assigned to Poland by the League of Nations after the census was conducted elsewhere. Meanwhile, the conditions in eastern Galicia were still unstable and chaotic, and the census data had to be adjusted after the fact, wrote Joseph Marcus, thus leading to more questions than answers.[1] The army and personnel under military jurisdiction were not included in the results. Also, specific areas of considerable size lacked complete returns due to absence of war refugees.[2]

Entire categories considered essential today were absent from the questionnaires, subject to historic interpretation at any given time. For example, the Ukrainians were lumped with the Rusyns (as Ruthenes) with the only distinguishing factor possible being religion. Within a single total number of Ruthenes (narodowość rusińska), separate categories existed only for Greek Catholics (68.4 percent or 2,667,840 of them) and Orthodox Christians (31 percent or 1,207,739 of the total),[page 80]  but did not address language in the same way as the next Polish census of 1931. Neither the Ukrainians, Carpatho-Rusyns (or Rusnaks), nor Polesians were defined by their name. The categories listed in the census included verbatim: Narodowość: polska (polonais), rusińska (ruthènes), żydowska (juifs), białoruska (biėlorusses), niemiecka (allemands), litewska (lithuaniens), rosyjska (russes), tutejsza (indigène), czeska (tchèques), inna (autre), niewiadoma (inconnue).[3]

Some scholars claim that minorities had been undercounted, with some claiming as much as 40% of Poland's population was a minority, 18 percent Ukrainian, 10 percent Jewish, 6 percent Byelorussian, and 5 percent German.[4]

## Results

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### Nationality

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Religion/Nationality  | Total  | Poles  | Rusyns  | Jews  | Belarusians  | Germans  | Lithuanians  | Russians  | Local peoples  | Czechs  | Others  | Not specified

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Total  | 25,694,700  | 17.789.287  | 3.898.428  | 2.048.878  | 1.035.693  | 769.392  | 24.044  | 48.920  | 38.943  | 30.628  | 9.856  | 631
Roman Catholics  | 16.057.229  | 15.850.890  | 16.239  | 1.316  | 60.123  | 94.017  | 21.639  | 1.144  | 113  | 7.398  | 4.310  | 40
Greek Catholics  | 3.031.057  | 361.294  | 2,667,840  | 125  | 197  | 383  | 6  | 0  | 348  | 32  | 325  | 3
Orthodox  | 2.815.817  | 545.457  | 1.207.739  | 140  | 960.539  | 303  | 2.227  | 3.597  | 38.135  | 18.404  | 891  | 14
Jews  | 2,771,949  | 707.400  | 3.751  | 2.044.637  | 3.983  | 9937  | 74  | 1.081  | 346  | 91  | 644  | 5
Protestants  | 940.234  | 274.471  | 1.992  | 300  | 205  | 656.865  | 76  | 12  | 1  | 3.952  | 1.968  | 31
Mariavites  | 33.003  | 32.865  | 9  | 5  | 5  | 111  | 1  | 41.968  | 0  | 4  | 3  | 0
Ost. Orthodox  | 21.707  | 7.875  | 47  | 2  | 10.078  | 50  | 6  | 373  | 0  | 0  | 51  | 1
Evangelicals  | 12.426  | 3.374  | 720  | 41  | 41  | 7.375  | 3  | 178  | 0  | 726  | 133  | 1
Beyond Confessions  | 5.972  | 3.309  | 50  | 2.287  | 10  | 135  | 7  | 46  | 0  | 17  | 111  | 0
Other non-Christians  | 4.397  | 2.098  | 35  | 16  | 510  | 173  | 2  | 191  | 0  | 1  | 1.370  | 1
Not specified  | 909  | 254  | 6  | 9  | 2  | 43  | 3  | 4  | 0  | 3  | 50  | 535
All | Polish | Ruthenians[5] | Jewish | Belarusian | German | Lithuanian[6] | Russian | Tutejszy[6] | Czech | other | unknown

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25.694.700 | 17.789.287 | 3.898.428 | 2.048.878 | 1.035.693 | 769.392 | 24.044 | 48.920 | 38.943 | 30.628 | 9.856 | 631
100% | 69,23% | 15,17% | 7,97% | 4,03% | 2,99% | 0,09% | 0,19% | 0,15% | 0,12% | 0,04% | ~0,002%

### Religion

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All | Roman Catholics | Greco Catholics | Other Catholic (Mariavite and others) | Orthodox | Other Eastern Christians | Evangelicals | Other Evangelicals | Jews | Other Non-Christians | Agnostics | Unknown

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25 694 700 | 16 057 229 | 3 031 057 | 33 003 | 2 815 817 | 21 707 | 940 234 | 12 426 | 2 771 949 | 4 397 | 5 972 | 909

Source: [3]

## References

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1. ^ Joseph Marcus (1983). Social and Political History of the Jews in Poland, 1919-1939. Walter de Gruyter. p. 17\. ISBN 90-279-3239-5.
2. ^ Henry J. Dubester (1948). National censuses and vital statistics in Europe, 1918-1939: an annotated bibliography. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 145 - via Google Books.
3. ^ a b Central Statistical Office of the Polish Republic (1927). Population of Poland according to religious denominations and nationality [Ludność według wyznania religijnego i narodowości] (PDF). Warszawa: GUS. page 80/109 in PDF, page 56 in census results: Table XI. Retrieved 14 October 2015. `{{cite book}}`: `|work=` ignored (help)
4. ^ Blanke, Richard (7 July 2014). Orphans of Versailles. The Germans in Western Poland 1918-1939. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0-8131-5633-0.
5. ^ The exonym Ruthenians (Ruthenes in the 1921 census) have been applied to East Slavic nationalities, including Ukrainians, Rusyns and related ethnic groups: see Rusyn, Ruthenian, Carpatho-Rusyn, Lemko or Rusnak in Britannica.
6. ^ a b Data do not include: city of Vilnius, county of Vilnius-Trakai, Ashmyany, Švenčionys, Vilnius Region and Upper Silesia

## External links

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* Media related to Polish census of 1921 at Wikimedia Commons
* Partial results
* Partial results when searching for the following keyword: Spis powszechny - Polska 1921 r
* Nationalities (page 56, polish-french version) at Stat.gov.pl.