Structure of the population Population density and distribution With an estimated usually resident population of 37 million, Poland is the 5th most-populous country in the
European Union and 7th or 8th most-populous one in
Europe (depending on how many people live in
Ukraine, to which there are various estimates). Depending on whether one uses the official population or usually resident population as a base, population density of Poland was 122 or 118.7 people per square kilometer (315.9 or 307.4 people per square mile) as of the 2021 census. Population distribution is unequal. The south, particularly the area along the
A4 highway between Gliwice and Rzeszów, is densely populated with over 250 people per square kilometer, while population density drops below 50 people per square kilometer in much of the north of the country.
Silesian voivodeship is the densest, at over 350 people per square kilometer.
Urban areas Poland is relatively rural for a country of its population and economic development. As of the 2021 census, 59.8% of total population lived in cities and town, a percentage well below European average. Poland has historically been a rural and agricultural country and while cities started rapidly growing in neighboring countries in the second half of the 19th century, many Polish cities were artificially limited in growth by the
partitioners due to military reasons. After regaining independence in 1918, Polish authorities have started investment in urbanizing the country but it was quickly interrupted by
World War II. Therefore, Poland has not started fully urbanizing until after the war. Urbanization rate has also been declining, at an annual rate of -0.25% between 2015 and 2020 due to suburbanization. In Poland, many suburbs are officially rural areas despite their resemblance to a town or even a city neighborhood, such as the Poznań suburb of
Koziegłowy. In the
Eurostat's urban-rural typology, Poland's urbanization rate is slightly higher, though still below the European average. Eurostat estimates 61.2% of Poland's population to live in urban clusters (including 28.9% in dense urban centers), compared to the 70.4% average across the EU.
Metropolitan areas There is no one official delimitation of metropolitan areas in Poland, and various institutions use different definitions. However, both central institutions and academics are in agreement that the following are the major metropolitan areas of Poland: •
Warsaw - the capital and largest city of Poland, with 1.9 million official residents in city proper and 2.7-3.1 million in the metropolitan area. Warsaw is the largest economy in Poland, with the
Warsaw Stock Exchange, most major financial institutions, and
CEE headquarters of international companies. Warsaw is also an important educational center, with the
University of Warsaw,
Warsaw School of Economics and
Polish Academy of Sciences located there. Warsaw metropolitan area has been growing rapidly in recent decades, eclipsing the previously larger Katowice metropolitan area around 2015. • and attracts millions of tourists every year
Katowice - the center of the large
Katowice urban area, with 2.2-2.7 million in the metropolitan area. Katowice area developed initially as a hub of heavy industry and coal mining. Most of the industry has been closed since. Katowice and some other cities (
Gliwice,
Tychy) managed to successfully transform its economies becoming a major Polish hubs of information technology, healthcare, education, finance and manufacturing, however many other cities (
Bytom,
Sosnowiec) experience depopulation.
Katowice metropolitan area is bordering
Rybnik,
Bielsko-Biała and
Ostrava metropolitan areas from the south and southwest, which combined create a large
Katowice-Ostrava metropolitan area with 4.5-5.2 million people. •
Kraków - the historical capital of Poland, with 0.8 million residents in city proper and 1.2 million in the metropolitan area. Kraków is one of the main tourist destinations in Poland and a is often called a cultural capital of the country. In recent decades, Kraków emerged as a major international center of back office operations through the
SSC/
BPO industry. Kraków is also the second largest college city in Poland after Warsaw, with the
Jagiellonian University dating back to the Middle Ages. •
Łódź - a post-industrial city in the middle of Poland, with 0.7 million people in the city proper and 1-1.2 million in the urban area. Łódź has developed in the 19th century as a center for
textile manufacturing, and has been a major manufacturing hub exporting mostly towards Russia and then Soviet Union. Following the market transformations in the early 1990s, most of the industry has collapsed and Łódź struggled with high unemployment rate. In recent years, the city has embraced its industrial past and exploits its location close to Warsaw. •
Gdańsk - one of the three major cities of the
Tricity area, Gdańsk has around 0.5 million people in the city proper and 1-1.2 million in the urban area. Gdańsk has been the largest cities in Poland for most of the Middle Ages, thanks to its seaside location that fostered trade with other cities and countries in the
Baltic and
North Seas. Being the largest urban area in the north of the country, Gdańsk benefits from internal migration from neighboring regions. •
Poznań - with its 0.5 million residents in city proper and 0.8-1.1 million in the metropolitan area, Poznań emerged as one of the main hubs of trade and manufacturing in Poland. Poznań area is the most entrepreneurial part of Poland, with more than 1 in 10 residents running a business. Poznań is also the prime example of
suburbanization in Poland, with the suburbs around as populous as the city proper. •
Wrocław - in recent years emerged a major immigration center, with more than 100,000 immigrants residing in the city in addition to its official population of 0.7 million and 0.9-1.1 million in the metropolitan area. Similarly to Kraków, Wrocław is a major tourist destination thanks to its medieval old town, as well as a hub of back office operations particularly in the financial industry. •
Szczecin - with a population of 0.4 million in the city proper and 0.7-0.9 million in the metropolitan area (partially stretching to Germany), Szczecin is the second-largest city in the country's north and a major port.
Regions Poland is divided into 16 administrative divisions called voivodeship (
województwa). These regions vary vastly in size, as the largest Masovian voivodeship is more than 5 times as populous and 3 times as big as the smallest Opole voivodeship.
Fertility Fertility before 1921 The
total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Source:
Gapminder Foundation. == Vital statistics ==