Jump to content

Polish Australians: Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Alex Dee (talk | contribs)
109 edits
mNo edit summary
Alex Dee (talk | contribs)
109 edits
mNo edit summary
Line 24: Line 24:
The first Pole known to have arrived in Australia was a J. Potowski, who was sent there as a convict from [[Great Britain]]. The first settlers from Poland arrived in [[South Australia]] in [[1856]] and settled in the [[Clare Valley]] region in a place later called [[Polish Hill River]]. The first mass migration happened in the late 1940s when large groups of [[displaced person]]s migrated to Australia after [[World War II]], including soldiers from the [[Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade]] ("[[rats of Tobruk]]"). Between 1947 and 1954, the Poland-born population increased from 6,573 to 56,594 people.
The first Pole known to have arrived in Australia was a J. Potowski, who was sent there as a convict from [[Great Britain]]. The first settlers from Poland arrived in [[South Australia]] in [[1856]] and settled in the [[Clare Valley]] region in a place later called [[Polish Hill River]]. The first mass migration happened in the late 1940s when large groups of [[displaced person]]s migrated to Australia after [[World War II]], including soldiers from the [[Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade]] ("[[rats of Tobruk]]"). Between 1947 and 1954, the Poland-born population increased from 6,573 to 56,594 people.


In the early 1980s there was further Polish migration to Australia. The emergence of the [[Solidarity]] trade union movement and the declaration of martial law in Poland at the end of 1981 coincided with a further relaxation of Polish emigration laws. During the period 1980-91 Australia granted permanent entry to a large number of Polish migrants, many arriving as refugees. In 1991, an independent, voluntary organisation was established to inform the Australian public about issues related to Polish history, politics, society and culture. The immediate trigger for establishing The [[Australian Institute of Polish Affairs]] (also known as AIPA) was strong public interest in the historic changes that swept Central Europe in 1989 and led to the collapse of communism.
In the early 1980s there was further Polish migration to Australia. The emergence of the [[Solidarity]] trade union movement and the declaration of martial law in Poland at the end of 1981 coincided with a further relaxation of Polish emigration laws. During the period 1980-91 Australia granted permanent entry to a large number of Polish migrants, many arriving as refugees. In 1991, an independent, voluntary organisation was established to inform the Australian public about issues related to Polish history, politics, society and culture. The immediate trigger for establishing The Australian Institute of Polish Affairs (also known as AIPA) was strong public interest in the historic changes that swept Central Europe in 1989 and led to the collapse of communism.


== Notable Polish Australians==
== Notable Polish Australians==

Revision as of 06:52, 17 January 2010

Polish Australian


Strzelecki • Kruszelnicki
Luczak • J.M. Coetzee
Regions with significant populations
Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide
Languages
Australian English, Polish
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic with Protestant and Jewish minorities.

Poland has been a source country of immigrants to Australia, in particular in the post-war period. Immigration from Poland has long tapered off, with Polish Australian population now part of the mainstream Australian community.

Demography

In 2006 52,254 Australian residents declared they were born in Poland. Cities with the largest Polish populations were Melbourne (16,439), Sydney (12,514), Adelaide (5,859) and Perth(5,142). [1]

The Polish-born Australian resident population predominantly were Australian citizens (90.3%), Christian (82.4%) and used Polish at home (70.0%). Around 78% arrived in Australia before 1990 [2].

In addition, in 2006 163,802 Australian residents declared they had Polish ancestry, either alone or in combination with one other ancestry[3].

A significant group of Polish-Australian residents may be today the expatriate community of Polish descent from many countries, like the United States, Canada, France, and Great Britain, where numbers of members of the Polonia are counted in millions or hundreds of thousands. A well known example of this is kind of Polish Australian is the Nobel Prize-winning writer J.M. Coetzee, a South African with partially Polish origins who has recently immigrated and settled in Australia.

History

The first Pole known to have arrived in Australia was a J. Potowski, who was sent there as a convict from Great Britain. The first settlers from Poland arrived in South Australia in 1856 and settled in the Clare Valley region in a place later called Polish Hill River. The first mass migration happened in the late 1940s when large groups of displaced persons migrated to Australia after World War II, including soldiers from the Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade ("rats of Tobruk"). Between 1947 and 1954, the Poland-born population increased from 6,573 to 56,594 people.

In the early 1980s there was further Polish migration to Australia. The emergence of the Solidarity trade union movement and the declaration of martial law in Poland at the end of 1981 coincided with a further relaxation of Polish emigration laws. During the period 1980-91 Australia granted permanent entry to a large number of Polish migrants, many arriving as refugees. In 1991, an independent, voluntary organisation was established to inform the Australian public about issues related to Polish history, politics, society and culture. The immediate trigger for establishing The Australian Institute of Polish Affairs (also known as AIPA) was strong public interest in the historic changes that swept Central Europe in 1989 and led to the collapse of communism.

Notable Polish Australians

Business

Entertainers

Sport

Academia

Other

References

  1. ^ of Birth of Person (full classification list) by Sex&producttype=Census Tables&method=Place of Usual Residence&areacode=0 ABS Census - Country of Birth, 2006
  2. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006 Census Ethnic Media Package
  3. ^ ABS Census - ethnicity
  • An article on the use of the Polish language by Polish Australians, specifically those in Melbourne:
    • Fitzgerald, M. and Debski, R. (2006). Internet Use of Polish by Polish Melburnians: Implications for Maintenance and Teaching. Language Learning and Technology, 10(1), 87-109. Retrieved August 10, 2006 from http://llt.msu.edu/vol10num1/fitzdebski/default.html .

Template:European Australian

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polish_Australians&oldid=338322495"