Russian minority in Poland consists of 13,000 people, according to the Polish census of 2011.

In the past – the times of the Second Polish Republic, partitions of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – the number of Russians within Polish borders was much higher, over 100,000. Changing borders and forced resettlement after World War II drastically reduced this number.

With a numerous Russian minority before World War II (140,000 people), it remained, in 1945, only 20-30 thousand. This was linked not only to the shift of borders, but also the fear of repression from the Soviets that could fall into them.

According to the National Census of Population and Housing of 2002, in only one Polish commune the Russian minority is more than 0.5% of the population – in the Municipality of Augustow (0.66% of the population)

One of the most defining cultural characteristics of that minority is their Eastern Orthodox faith.

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