Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic coast of northern Poland. With a population of 470,907, Gdańsk is the capital and largest city of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and the most prominent city in the geographical region of Pomerania. It is Poland's principal seaport and the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.
The Kashubians, also known as Cassubians or Kashubs, are a Lechitic ethnic group native to the historical region of Eastern Pomerania called Pomerelia, in north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia. They speak the Kashubian language, which is classified as a separate language closely related to Polish.
Kashubian or Cassubian is a West Slavic lect belonging to the Lechitic subgroup along with Polish and Silesian. Although often classified as a language in its own right, it is sometimes viewed as a dialect of Pomeranian or as a dialect of Polish.
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country located in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces, covering an area of 312,696 square kilometres (120,733 sq mi), and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With a population of nearly 38.5 million people, Poland is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union. Poland's capital and largest metropolis is Warsaw. Other major cities include Kraków, Łódź, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk, and Szczecin.
Polish is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group, written in Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In addition to being the official language of Poland, it is also used by Polish minorities in other countries. There are over 50 million Polish speakers around the world – it is the sixth-most-spoken language of the European Union. Polish is subdivided into regional dialects and maintains strict T-V distinction pronouns, honorifics and various forms of formalities when addressing individuals.
Pomerania is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to the German states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg, while the eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian and Pomeranian voivodeships of Poland. Its historical border in the west is the Mecklenburg-Western Pomeranian border valley, which now constitutes the border between the Mecklenburgian and Pomeranian part of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, while it is bounded by the Vistula River in the east. The easternmost sub-regions of Pomerania are alternatively known as Pomerelia and Kashubia, which are inhabited by ethnic Kashubians.
Slavic studies, Slavonic studies or Slavistics is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic areas, Slavic languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was primarily a linguist or philologist researching Slavistics, a Slavic (AmE) or Slavonic (BrE) scholar. Increasingly historians and other humanists and social scientists who study Slavic area cultures and societies have been included in this rubric.
The Poles, also referred to as the Polish people, are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation that shares a common history, culture, the Polish language and is identified with the country of Poland in Central Europe.
Kashubia or Cassubia is a language area in the historic Eastern Pomerania (Pomerelia) region of northern and northwestern Poland. It is defined by the widespread use of the Kashubian language.
Jerzy Samp was a Polish writer, publicist and historian of the literature and culture of Pomerania and especially of the Kashubian literature. He was also an activist in the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association.
Brunon Synak was a Kashubian sociologist, politician and local government activist. He was Chairman of the Main Board of the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association.
The University of Gdańsk is a prestigious public research university located in Gdańsk, Poland. It is one of the top 10 universities in Poland and is also an important centre for the studies of the Kashubian language.
The bilingual status of gminas (municipalities) in Poland is regulated by the Act of 6 January 2005 on National and Ethnic Minorities and on the Regional Languages, which permits certain gminas with significant linguistic minorities to introduce a second, auxiliary language to be used in official contexts alongside Polish. So far 44 gminas have done this:
Greeks in Poland form one of the country's smaller minority groups, numbering approximately 3,600.
The population of post-World War II Poland became nearly completely ethnically homogeneous as a result of the German-Nazi Holocaust, the radically altered borders, and the deportations ordered by the Soviet authorities, who wished to remove the sizeable Polish minorities from the Baltics (Lithuania) and Eastern Europe.
Aleksander Majkowski was a Kashubian writer, poet, journalist, editor, activist, and physician. He was the most important figure in the Kashubian movement before World War II. He was the editor of "Gryf" and author of the greatest Kashubian novel Żëcé i przigodë Remusa, and The History of the Kashubs.
Jan Trepczyk was a Kashubian poet, songwriter, ideologist, lexicographer, and teacher. He was a member of the Regional Kashub Association of Kartuzy, of the "Zrzeszeńcy" ("associationists"), and of the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association. He compiled a Polish-Kashubian dictionary and co-founded the Kashubian-Pomeranian Literature and Music Museum in Wejherowo.
Sierakowice is a village in Kartuzy County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Kashubia in northern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Sierakowice. It lies approximately 21 kilometres (13 mi) west of Kartuzy and 49 km (30 mi) west of the regional capital Gdańsk. Kashubian is here in official use, as a regional language or an auxiliary language. This means that in principle, it is possible to address gmina's administration in Kashubian and receive an answer in the same language. In Sierakowice, roads direction signage is bilingual Polish/Kashubian. Kashubian vetch is native to the village. Kashubian vetch means vetch of Kashubia, the home of Kashubs.
Polish Language - Polish is a language in the Polish republic and is the main language spoken in Poland. These include both the languages of the country's indigenous population and the languages of immigrants and their descendants. The only official language of Poland, according to the Constitution, is Polish. The overwhelming majority of the country's population speaks it as a native language or as the language of home communication.
Dr. Marian Jeliński was born in Siemirowice, in 1949. Jeliński is a recognized authority in bee diseases and an active member of the Kashubian community. He is involved in a range of activities focusing on the preservation of the Kashubian language and culture. Jeliński is also known for his support of Kashubian embroidery and building bridges between Kashubian communities in Poland and Canada. He and his wife, Alicja, have two sons and currently live in Żukowo, near Gdańsk, Poland.
