Languages of Poland
The Languages of Poland include Polish – the language of the indigenous population – and those of immigrants and their descendants. Polish is the only official language recognized by the country's constitution and the majority of the country's population speak it as a native language or use it for home communication. Deaf communities in Poland use Polish Sign Language, which belongs to the German family of Sign Languages.
| Languages of Poland | |
|---|---|
| Official | Polish |
| Regional | Polish dialects; Silesian (529,377); Kashubian (108,000); German (96,000); Belarusian (26,000); Hungarian (1,000); Ruthenian (6,000); Lithuanian (5,000); Slovak (1,000); Czech (1,000); Dispersed: Romani (14,000); Armenian (2,000) |
| Immigrant | Russian (20,000), Ukrainian (25,000), Vietnamese (3,000), Greek (2,000), Chinese (1,000), Bulgarian (1,000), Turkish (1,000), Hindi (1,000) and others |
| Foreign | English (40%) German (19%) Russian (26%) |
| Signed | Polish Sign Language Signed Polish |
| Source | ebs_243_en.pdf (europa.eu) |
| Part of a series on the |
| Culture of Poland |
|---|
| Traditions |
| Mythology |
| Cuisine |
| Festivals |
| Religion |
Languages other than Polish that have existed in the region for at least 100 years can gain recognition as a regional or minority language, which have appropriate rules of use. In areas where the speakers of these languages make up more than 20% of the population, the language can receive the status of auxiliary language, while Polish remains the official language.
According to the Act of 6 January 2005 on national and ethnic minorities and on the regional languages, 16 languages have been recognized as minority languages; 1 regional language, 10 languages belonging to 9 national minorities (minorities from another sovereign state) and 5 languages belonging to 4 ethnic minorities (minorities that do not belong to another sovereign state). Jewish and Romani minorities each have 2 recognized minority languages.