Poles

The Poles, also known as the Polish people, are a nation and ethnic group that are considered to be of West Slavic origin. They have a shared history, culture, and language, and they are associated with the nation of Poland, which is located in Central Europe. The preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland defines the Polish nation as consisting of all citizens of Poland, regardless of their background or race. This is how the Polish nation is to be understood. The vast majority of Poles are devout members of the Roman Catholic Church.

It is estimated that there are 37,394,000 self-proclaimed Poles living in Poland out of a total population of 38,512,000 (according to the census results from 2011), of whom 36,522,000 declared Polish as their only nationality. There is a significant and widespread Polish diaspora known as the Polonia that may be found all over the world, including in Europe, the Americas, and Australasia. The metropolitan districts of Warsaw and Silesian now include the highest numbers of Polish people living in urban settings.

It is generally accepted that people of Polish ethnicity are descended from the ancient West Slavic Lechites as well as other tribes that lived in Polish territory throughout the late antiquity period. Over a thousand years ago, in the years 930–960 AD, the Western Polans, a powerful tribe in the Greater Poland region, brought together numerous Lechitic clans under the leadership of what would later become the Piast dynasty, thereby establishing the first Polish state. This event marks the beginning of Poland's recorded history. The eventual conversion of Poland to Christianity in the year 966 CE by the Catholic Church was the event that heralded Poland's entry into the Western Christendom communion. However, throughout its history, the Polish state has maintained a policy of tolerance toward many ethnic and religious minorities. This has led to the development of a diverse range of ethnic and religious identities among Poles, including the Polish Jewish community.

The likes of Copernicus, Marie Curie, Joseph Conrad, Frédéric Chopin, and Pope John Paul II are just some of the notable Poles who have made significant contributions to the globe in a variety of vital areas of human effort. Notable Polish emigrants have included people like physicist Joseph Rotblat, mathematician Stanislaw Ulam, pianist Arthur Rubinstein, actresses Helena Modjeska and Pola Negri, military leaders Tadeusz Kociuszko and Casimir Pulaski, United States National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, politician Rosa Luxemburg, painter Tamara de Lempicka, filmmakers Samuel Goldwyn.