Changes in the nationality structure of Poland in the first decades of the 21st century in the light of the results of the censuses (2002–2021)

Abstract

The article attempts to answer the questions to what extent the methods of conducting the censuses, the formulation of the so-called ethnic questions and the current political and social conditions may shape their results with regard to the nationality structure. The censuses conducted in Poland in the first decades of the 21st century (2002, 2011, 2021) are discussed, with particular attention paid to factors that may have distorted their results. The focus is not so much on another presentation of the well-known results in quantitative terms, but on the methods used to conduct the censuses and the analysis of the reasons for the variation in the results obtained. An attempt has been made to answer the question of whether the censuses conducted in Poland in the 21st century determined or created the nationality structure? Were the ethnic results mainly determined by the evolving sense of identity among minority communities, by the methodology used during the census, or by state policies towards minorities and current social conditions?