Poland’s social structure has undergone radical changes since WW II. The major factors forming these changes have been both political and economic processes. A significant factor dividing Poland’s social structures, have been the inherent regional differences that relate to the level of economic development. Whereas prior to WW II Poland was a multicultural state, today it can be said to be made up of one national group.

There are 38,230,080 people living permanently in Poland, i.e. a figure of 122 residents per 1 km2 of land. But, the population isn’t distributed evenly. The largest numbers of residents are to be found in the voivodships of: Mazowsze, ¦l±sk, Wielkopolska and Małopolska; the least in Podlasie, Opole and the Lubuskie regions. The density of the population in a given area is directly related to the development of industry and the infrastructure in the region. Thus, urban residents form 61.8% of the country’s population, of which the largest concentrations are found in the voivodships of: Dolny ¦l±sk, Zachodniopomorskie and Pomorze; whereas of the 38.2% of people living in rural areas, the largest ratios were in the Lublin, Podkarpacie and the Swiętokrzyskie regions.

36,968,487 of the population claim to be ethnically Polish, i.e. 96.7%. Of the remaining 3.3% of the populace, some declare themselves to be: German, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Romany, with 2.1% not stating their ethnic origin. 96.4% of the populace was born in Poland, while only 2% were born abroad, with 1.6% not stating their place of birth. The largest percentage of foreign births among residents, were recorded in the voivodships of: Dolny ¦l±sk, Lubuskie, Opole, Zachodniopomorskie and the Warmińsko- Mazurskie regions; this is related to their locations adjacent to foreign borders. 97% of the population has Polish citizenship alone, 1.2% dual citizenship (inc. Polish) and 0.1% are not Polish citizens; the citizenship of 1.7% of residents, was not ascertained. In total 98.2% of the population within the Polish borders have Polish citizenship rights.

Poland has the eighth largest population in Europe (omitting Russia).

Position	European Country	Population (mln)	Position (worldwide)
1	Germany	82.1	12
2	France	58.9	20
3	Great Britain	58.7	21
4	Italy	57.3	22
5	The Ukraine	50.7	23
6	Spain	39.6	29
7	Poland	38.7	30
8	Rumania	22.4	44
9	Holland	15.7	56
10	Greece	10.4	70