Population

In terms of population size, Poland is the largest of the countries which joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. With its 38,135,000 million inhabitants (2009), Poland ranks 6th in Europe and 29th in the world in terms of population size. Polish society is the youngest one in Europe, with 50% of Poles under 35 years of age and 35% under 25 years of age. In terms of nationalities, contemporary Poland is a very homogenous society; national minorities account for 3.26% of the total population (as compared to 35% in 1931), the largest ones being Germans, Belarusians and Ukrainians.

Religion

Poland is a predominantly Catholic country, about 90% of its population are baptised into the Roman Catholic faith. The Greek Catholic Church has slightly more than 100,000 members. Among other well-established Christian denominations in Poland, the largest ones are the Orthodox faith with at least 700,000 followers, and Protestantism which is divided into more than a dozen confessions, bringing together almost a quarter of a million followers. Jehovah’s Witnesses have over 100,000 members. Followers of Judaism, a large group before World War II, are a small community of several thousand members today. At present, there are 138 officially registered churches and denominational associations in Poland.