Line+of+Inquiry+2

Line of Enquiry 2: Societies have unique features

Where are the Poles found today and how do we recognise them? Today the Polish are found in Poland with 36,000,000 where as outside of Poland they are mainly found in the U.S. with 9,000,000 people, Germany 2,000,000, Brazil 1,500,000. In 1800 - 1899 a lot of the Polish went to North and South America because there are more opportunities and better jobs and also their country was being invaded a lot. Recently the united kingdom jumped to 500,000. The reason why the polish left to England and other countries recently is also for more opportunities.

The Polish are recognized by their language, their surnames and their religion. > || [|Poland] 36,860,000 > || || [|United States] ||> 8,977,235 > || [|Germany] ||> 1,500,000 - 2,000,000 > || [|Brazil] ||> 1,500,000 > || [|Israel] ||> 1,250,000 > || [|Canada] ||> 984,565 > || [|France] ||> 900,000 > || [|United Kingdom] ||> 500,000 - 560,000 > || [|Argentina] ||> 500,000 > || [|Belarus] ||> 294,549 > || [|Lithuania] ||> 205,500 > || [|Ireland] ||> 200,000 > || [|Ukraine] ||> 144,130 > || [|Norway] ||> 120,000 > || [|Italy] ||> 100,000 > || [|Australia] ||> 78,340
 * ~ Regions with significant populations of Polish ||

What are the features of Polish society? Religion is a very important part of Polish life. Almost all of the population (at least 90 per cent) is Roman Catholic. In 1978 Cardinal Wojtyla became the first ever Polish Pope He took the name John Paul II and was head of the Catholic Church until his death in 2005.

Polish people have had to adapt to a lot a changes. They have had many different rulers. For instance, changing from communism to a free market economy in the 1980s has been a challenge for Polish people. Wages are low and unemployment is high. In 2004 Poland joined the European Union. This caused many Poles to move to other better economies in Europe. Two million out of 38 million Poles now live outside their country.

How has technology affected the growth and development of this society? Under Communism Poland became a highly industrialised country. Mining, steelworks and machinery production are still the major industries there.

Because Poland has strong industry after World War II there are many workers, who organise themselves into trade unions. Eventually they came together as one union called Solidarity. It is the strength of Solidarity that changed the whole political system. Solidarity forces the Soviet Union to allow democratic elections and finally ends Communist rule.

1990: The first fully free election is won by Lech Walesa (leader of solidarity). Since then Poland has become a Democracy and a Republic.