Polish Americans
There are over 10 million Americans of Polish descent. Polish Americans constitute the largest group of East European immigrants in the United States of America.
The United States of America experienced its largest surge (in percentage terms) of immigration in the late 19th century and early 20th century. This immigration wave peaked in 1907, with over 1.28 million immigrants coming to the United States of America in that year. It is estimated that about 1 million Poles arrived at Ellis Island and Baltimore during this period. This period was a turbulent time in Poland's history and Poles immigrated not just to the US, but also westwards to Germany, France and Denmark. There was a second large wave of immigration from Poland to the United States of America in the aftermath of the Second World War. Poles were escaping the new communist regime in Poland. In addition, there have been two other minor waves of Poles coming to the United States; the first was from 1800 to 1860 which corresponded with the partition of Poland and the second after World War One which was mainly political in nature.
Poland joined the European Union in 2004. Since its entry in the European Union, Poles have been able to travel and work anywhere within the European Union. This has kept a check on immigration from Poland to the US. In the last decade the Polish economy has done very well. During the 2008-2009 recession, Poland was the only country in the European Union whose GDP did not decline. Given the improvement in its economy, people of Polish descent who had migrated to the west have now started returning back to Poland.
Seven American states have Polish American populations of half a million and more; these are New York, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Wisconsin and California. The largest urban pockets of Polish Americans are in Chicago and New York. The Chicago Metropolitan area alone has close to 1.5 million Polish Americans. Within Chicago, the largest population of Polish Americans is in the Southwest and the Northwest. Chicago's Polish Americans have had a major influence on the cultural, economic, religious and political landscape of Chicago.
Walking in the Polish neighborhoods of Chicago it is common to hear people conversing in Poglish, which is a combination of Polish and English. Most Polish Americans follow the Catholic faith and observance of Church rituals is important to the community. Church related ceremonies such as christenings, weddings and funerals are important functions for Polish Americans.
There are many Polish American organizations which help Poles who wish to immigrate to the United States. Since most Polish civil documents such as the Polish birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce decree, etc, are in the Polish language, a Polish certified translation of these documents are required by the US authorities.
Famous Polish Americans include, the Warner Brothers Jack and Harry, Liberace, Czesław Miłosz, Martha Stewart, Mike Ditka.
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