| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 20,553 (born in Poland) [1] | |
| Languages | |
| Polish language · English language · Icelandic language | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholicism |
Poles make up the largest group of immigrants in Iceland. On 1 January 2021, Statistics Iceland recorded 20,553 Polish-born people living in Iceland. [1] Although small compared to the size of migrant groups in other countries, that makes them the biggest minority ethnic group in Iceland. [2]
There have been several different migratory movements of Poles to Iceland. The first major migration occurred at the turn of the 19th century after Poland lost its statehood. However, for much of the Cold War period, most of the Polish population was restricted in their ability to travel outside of communist Poland at all. [2]
More recently in 2004, an influx occurred after Poland joined the European Union, thereby easing restrictions on Polish citizens' eligibility to work in other European Economic Area states. In 2006, Iceland's construction industry boomed and Polish workers were increasingly hired to fulfill work demands. Within a year, the number of Polish migrants in the country increased by 81%. Poland also joined Iceland in the Schengen Zone in 2007. [2] As a result, Poles do not need work or resident permits to live and work in Iceland. [3] The global financial crisis of 2008 decreased the levels of migration drastically and more Poles repatriated than arrived in Iceland during this year. [2]
The demographic is largely endogamous and insular. Poles in Iceland typically speak Polish, watch Polish television, continue to practice Catholicism and have opened Polish restaurants. [3]
The Icelandic public broadcaster RÚV maintains a news web page and podcast in Polish. [4] The page was started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. [5]
A study conducted in 2012 suggested that most Polish Icelanders used the English language more often than Icelandic in their daily lives, found English more useful and often learned it before learning Icelandic. [2]
Ahead of the 2024 Icelandic presidential election, several candidates published versions of their websites in Polish. [6] [7] [8] [9]
Poles living in Iceland can cast their vote in Polish elections. During the Polish presidential election in 2020 roughly 80% of Poles in Iceland voted for Rafał Trzaskowski (candidate of the Civic Platform) while only 20% voted for Andrzej Duda (candidate of the Law and Justice party). This contrasts with Poland where Andrzej Duda won the majority. [10]
Polish people, or Poles, are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Central Europe. The preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland defines the Polish nation as comprising all the citizens of Poland, regardless of heritage or ethnicity. The majority of Poles adhere to Roman Catholicism.
The Polish diaspora comprises Poles and people of Polish heritage or origin who live outside Poland. The Polish diaspora is also known in modern Polish as Polonia, the name for Poland in Latin and many Romance languages.
Presidential elections were held in Poland on 8 October 2000. Incumbent President Aleksander Kwaśniewski was easily re-elected in the first round with more than 50% of the vote, the only time a direct presidential election in Poland has not gone to a second round.
Beata Maria Szydło is a Polish politician who has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. A member of Law and Justice (PiS), she previously served as Prime Minister of Poland from 2015 to 2017. Szydło became the third woman to hold the office, after Hanna Suchocka and her immediate predecessor Ewa Kopacz. She currently is a vice-chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament.
Immigration to Europe has a long history, but increased substantially after World War II. Western European countries, especially, saw high growth in immigration post 1945, and many European nations today have sizeable immigrant populations, both of European and non-European origin. In contemporary globalization, migrations to Europe have accelerated in speed and scale. Over the last decades, there has been an increase in negative attitudes towards immigration, and many studies have emphasized marked differences in the strength of anti-immigrant attitudes among European countries.
The Polish minority in Ireland numbered 93,680, plus 17,152 people with dual Polish and Irish citizenship, according to 2022 census figures.
Canada–Poland relations are foreign relations between Canada and Poland. Both countries are full members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, NATO, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the World Trade Organization.
Two indirect presidential elections were held in Poland in December 1922. In the first election on 9 December Gabriel Narutowicz was elected president, but he was assassinated five days later. A second election on 22 December was won by Stanisław Wojciechowski.
The demographics of Poland constitute all demographic features of the population of Poland including population density, ethnicity, education level, the health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.
Presidential elections were held in Poland on 10 and 24 May 2015. In the first round of voting Law and Justice (PiS) candidate, lawyer and Member of the European Parliament, Andrzej Duda received the greatest number of votes with a share of 34.76%, followed by incumbent president Bronisław Komorowski, who ran as an independent with the endorsement of the Civic Platform (PO), which he had renounced his membership in after winning the 2010 elections. Independent candidate Paweł Kukiz came third with 20.80% of the votes. As no candidate had received more than 50% of the votes cast, a second round was held on 24 May between the two highest-placed candidates, Duda and Komorowski. This round was won by Duda with 51.5% of the votes, to Komorowski's 48.5%.
Since the fall of communism in 1989, the nature of migration to and from Poland has been in flux. After Poland's accession to the European Union and accession to the Schengen Area in particular, a significant number of Poles, estimated at over two million, have emigrated, primarily to the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Ireland. The majority of them, according to the Central Statistical Office of Poland, left in search of better work opportunities abroad while retaining permanent resident status in Poland itself.
Andrzej Sebastian Duda is a lawyer and politician who has served as President of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before he became President, Andrzej served as a member of the Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and the European Parliament from 2014 to 2015.
Grzegorz Michał Braun is a Polish politician who has served as a member of the Sejm for Rzeszów and as Chairman of the Confederation of the Polish Crown since 2019.
Presidential elections were held in Poland on 28 June 2020. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round was held on 12 July, in which incumbent president Andrzej Duda, running with the support of Law and Justice, faced off against Civic Platform vice-chairman and Mayor of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski. In the second round Duda was re-elected for a second term with 51% of the vote, becoming the first incumbent to win re-election since Aleksander Kwaśniewski in 2000.
The Civic Coalition is a catch-all political alliance currently ruling in Poland. The alliance was formed around Civic Platform in opposition to the then-ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.
The Confederation of the Polish Crown, often shortened to The Crown, is a monarchist and far-right political party in Poland. It is led by Grzegorz Braun.
The 2023 Polish parliamentary election took place on Sunday, 15 October 2023, per the Polish Constitution. Seats in both the lower house, the Sejm, and the Senate were contested. At the polls, a referendum - containing four questions concerning economic and immigration policy of the government - was also voted on.
The Polish constitutional crisis, also known as the Polish rule-of-law crisis, is a political conflict ongoing since 2015 in which the Polish government has been accused of failing to comply with European and Polish constitutional law. The 2015 elections resulted in the Law and Justice party winning control of both the presidency and the parliament. With this government trifecta, PiS used its power to appoint judges to the Constitutional Tribunal in 2015, leading to the 2015 Polish Constitutional Court crisis. The government of Poland continued to expand its hold on the judiciary resulting in the 2017 Supreme Court crisis, and the 2019 Polish judicial disciplinary panel law. These events allowed the legislature and executive of the Polish government to have de facto control over judges and their appointments.
Presidential elections will be held in Poland by 18 May 2025 at the latest, though they can be held earlier should the office become vacated as a result of death, resignation or removal from office of the incumbent. Due to constitutional term limits allowing a president to serve only two terms, incumbent president Andrzej Duda is ineligible for re-election. Presidential elections in Poland must take place on a free day between 75 and 100 days before the term's end.
Events in the year 2023 in Poland.
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