Polish Diaspora - many of these 20 million actually speak Polish?

There are roughly 15 to 20 million people of Polish ancestry living outside Poland, making the Polish diaspora one of the largest in the world.[1] Reasons for this displacement vary from border shifts, to forced resettlement, to political or economic emigration. Major populations of Polish ancestry can be found in Germany, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, France, United Kingdom, Sweden, Ireland and many other European countries, the United States, Canada, Brazil and elsewhere in the Americas. Many Poles can also be found in most Asian, African and Australasian countries. There have also been some Poles in Antarctica, though these journeys have been expeditionary in nature.

My question is: How much/many of these 20 million actually speak Polish?

In Canada, there is a significant Polish Canadian population: there are 242,885 speakers of Polish according to the 2006 census, with a particular concentration in Toronto (91,810 speakers)

In the United States, Polish Americans number more than 11 million (see: Polish language in the United States) but most of them cannot speak Polish fluently. According to the United States 2000 Census, 667,414 Americans of age 5 years and over reported Polish as the language spoken at home, which is about 1.4% of people who speak languages other than English or 0.25% of the U.S. population. The largest concentrations of Polish speakers reported in the census (over 50%) were found in three states: Illinois (185,749), New York (111,740) and New Jersey (74,663).[7]

My question is: How much/many of these 20 million actually speak Polish?

Depends - for instance, in Europe, there's two distinct "waves" - the first wave, post WW2 won't have passed the language on, but the second wave is much more recent (2004-now) and, of course, they'll all speak Polish.

Also worth pointing out that in Europe, people tend to assimilate quicker - you'll often find that the 2nd generation is already considered to be part of the host nation.

AND then there's the whole issue of whether they're actually Polish - having a Polish great-grandmother will not qualify you in the majority of peoples' eyes.

I am unsure of the exact number of Poles in Britain (~1,000,000 maybe?).

Many of these I assume left from Poland not to long ago. Surely Percentage wise Britain has more Polish speakers than US?

If one were to include people living around the world who have just 1/8 or 1/4 Polish ancestry, the Polish diaspora would be about 30 million people or more in the world.

But then you'd have to start counting whether or not they are actually Polish, or whether they were "polluted" with Czech/German/Ukrainian/Lemko/etc blood along the way.

Could be as high as 2 million, no-one knows the exact number. Likely to be over a million, though.

there's two distinct "waves" - the first wave, post WW2 won't have passed the language on, but the second wave is much more recent (2004-now) and, of course, they'll all speak Polish.

Many of these I assume left from Poland not to long ago. Surely Percentage wise Britain has more Polish speakers than US?

Dessi, thats the way things work in your country with its long held obsession with making damn sure people knew their place ,people are not simply allowed to be American,they have to be "something-American"

No only petty fools and racists feel that they "have" to perform this "counting". A person with Polish and any other ancestry is still Polish and people who are Czech or Lemko etc. without any Polish ancestry do not just assume Polish ancestry on a whim. This attempt to call into question the Polishness of the Polish diaspora is the resort of jealous fools that are upset that Polonia is so vast and so beloved.

But when it comes to reality different people have different exceptions of who is a Pole. I dont think its just fools and racists.

A person with Polish and any other ancestry is still Polish and people who are Czech or Lemko etc. without any Polish ancestry do not just assume Polish ancestry on a whim.

Polonia is so vast and so beloved.

dangerously sexually potent.

Des, you show precious little understanding of European history if you think that just because someone's deranged great-grandmother said she was "Polish", it doesn't make them so.

Dopeyandomine, you are an idiot for thinking immigrants to the USA, or elsewhere, would lie about being Polish when they were really some other ethnicity. You are the deranged person here not anyone's great-grandmother.

you've never been here

Dopeyandomine, you are an idiot for thinking immigrants to the USA, or elsewhere, would lie about being Polish when they were really some other ethnicity. You are the deranged person here not anyone's great-grandmother.

good point. there is no sense in lying about your background

an awful lot of Americans seem to claim being Irish

People tend to relate more to their country

In most parts it COUNTY (region)rather than country......:)

Look at the names - many "Polish" people had clearly non-Polish names.

Ukrainians and Belarusians would have identified as being Polish, partially because they were Polish citizens (albeit reluctantly).

Ukrainians and Belarussians were Orthodox and if they spoke Polish it was not their first language

perhaps they thought they might receive better treatment in the States if they 'marketed' themselves as being Polish

Petending these people would claim to be Polish because they were "confused" is ridiculous.

But then you'd have to start counting whether or not they are actually Polish, or whether they were "polluted" with Czech/German/Ukrainian/Lemko/etc blood along the way.