The Polish census of 1921 or First General Census in Poland () was the first census in the Second Polish Republic, performed on September 30, 1921, by the Main Bureau of Statistics (Główny Urząd Statystyczny). It was followed by the Polish census of 1931.
Content Due to war, not all of interwar Poland was enumerated. Upper Silesia was formally assigned to Poland by the League of Nations after the census was conducted elsewhere. Meanwhile, the conditions in eastern Galicia were still unstable and chaotic, and the census data had to be adjusted after the fact, wrote Joseph Marcus, thus leading to more questions than answers. The army and personnel under military jurisdiction were not included in the results. Also, specific areas of considerable size lacked complete returns due to absence of war refugees.
Entire categories considered essential today were absent from the questionnaires, subject to historic interpretation at any given time. For example, the Ukrainian ethnicity was not surveyed. The census followed all previous Habsburg censuses and surveyed only the Rusyns (as Ruthenes) with the only possible distinguishing factor for Ukrainians being religion. Within a single total number of Ruthenes (narodowość rusińska), separate categories existed only for Greek Catholics (68.4 percent or 2,667,840 of them) and Orthodox Christians (31 percent or 1,207,739 of the total),[page 80] but did not address language in the same way as the next Polish census of 1931. Neither the Ukrainians, Carpatho-Rusyns (or Rusnaks), nor Polesians were defined by their name. The categories listed in the census included verbatim: Narodowość: polska (polonais), rusińska (ruthènes), żydowska (juifs), białoruska (biėlorusses), niemiecka (allemands), litewska (lithuaniens), rosyjska (russes), tutejsza (indigène), czeska (tchèques), inna (autre), niewiadoma (inconnue).
Some scholars claim that minorities had been undercounted, with some claiming as much as 40% of Poland's population was a minority, 18 percent Ukrainian, 10 percent Jewish, 6 percent Byelorussian, and 5 percent German.
Results Nationality Religion/NationalityTotalPolesRuthenians JewsBelarusiansGermansLithuaniansRussiansLocal peoples CzechsOthersNot specifiedTotal25,694,70017.789.2873.898.4282.048.8781.035.693769.39224.04448.92038.94330.6289.856631Roman Catholics16.057.22915.850.89016.2391.31660.12394.01721.6391.1441137.3984.31040Greek Catholics3.031.057361.2942,667,84012519738360348323253Orthodox2.815.817545.4571.207.739140960.5393032.2273.59738.13518.40489114Jews2,771,949707.4003.7512.044.6373.9839937741.081346916445Protestants940.234274.4711.992300205656.865761213.9521.96831Mariavites33.00332.865955111141.9680430Ost. Orthodox 21.7077.87547210.07850637300511Evangelicals12.4263.37472041417.375317807261331Beyond Confessions5.9723.309502.287101357460171110Other non-Christians4.3972.09835165101732191011.3701Not specified90925469243340350535 All Polish RutheniansThe exonym Ruthenians (Ruthenes in the 1921 census) have been applied to East Slavic nationalities, including Ukrainians, Rusyns and related ethnic groups: see Rusyn, Ruthenian, Carpatho-Rusyn, Lemko or Rusnak in Britannica. Jewish Belarusian German LithuanianData do not include: city of Vilnius, county of Vilnius-Trakai, Ashmyany, Švenčionys, Vilnius Region and Upper Silesia Russian Tutejszy Czech other unknown 25.694.700 17.789.287 3.898.428 2.048.878 1.035.693 769.392 24.044 48.920 38.943 30.628 9.856 631 100% 69,23% 15,17% 7,97% 4,03% 2,99% 0,09% 0,19% 0,15% 0,12% 0,04% ~0,002%
Religion All Roman Catholics Greco Catholics Other Catholic (Mariavite and others) Orthodox Other Eastern Christians Evangelicals Other Evangelicals Jews Other Non-Christians Agnostics Unknown 25 694 700 16 057 229 3 031 057 33 003 2 815 817 21 707 940 234 12 426 2 771 949 4 397 5 972 909 Source:
References
External links
Partial results Partial results when searching for the following keyword: Spis powszechny - Polska 1921 r Nationalities (page 56, polish-french version) at Stat.gov.pl.