Silesians

Also known as Slezané

thumb|Silesians in the Opole Voivodeship|Opole and [[Silesian Voivodeships of Poland (2021 census)]] thumb|Silesians in the Opole Voivodeship|Opole and [[Silesian Voivodeships of Poland (2011 and 2021 censuses)]] thumb|Silesians in Czech Silesia (2021 census) right|thumb|Woman in Silesian dress from Cieszyn Silesia, 1914 right|thumb|"Ślōnskŏ nacyjŏ bōła, je a bydzie", which means "Silesian Nation was, is, and will be" - Eighth Autonomy March, Katowice, 18 July 2009

Key facts

Ethnic group.group: Silesians
Ethnic group.flag: Flag of Silesians.svg
Ethnic group.flag_caption: Flag of Upper Silesia
Ethnic group.pop: Several million (of which about 0.6 million officially declared Silesian nationality in national censuses in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia).
Ethnic group.pop1: Unknown number
Ethnic group.pop2: 596,224 officially declared Silesian nationality. (Polish-Silesian nationality included)
Ethnic group.pop3: No data, 31,301 declared Silesian nationality, of which 12,451 declared it as their only nationality
Ethnic group.pop4: 117
Ethnic group.langs: SilesianPolish (New mixed dialects, Kraków dialect) German (incl. Silesian German dialects)Czech (Lach dialects)
Ethnic group.rels: Roman CatholicismProtestantism (Mainly Lutheranism)
Ethnic group.related: Other West Slavs, other Germans, Vilamovians

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Population: 614824

Show 2 more facts

Commons category: Silesians
native label: Ślůnzoki

Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~21 min read

Article

13 sections

Contents

History
Middle Ages
Modern history
Language
Historical data
Prussian Lower Silesia
Prussian Upper Silesia
Plebiscite in Prussian Upper Silesia
Historiography
See also
External links
References
Sources

Silesians (; Silesian German: Schläsinger or Schläsier; ; ; ) is both a linguistic as well as a geographical term for the inhabitants of Silesia, a historical region in Central Europe divided by the current national boundaries of Poland, Germany, and Czechia. Historically, the region of Silesia (Lower and Upper) has been inhabited by Polish (West Slavic Lechitic people), Czechs, and Germans. Therefore, the term Silesian can refer to anyone of these ethnic groups. However, in 1945, great demographic changes occurred in the region as a result of the Potsdam Agreement leaving most of the region ethnically Polish and/or Slavic Upper Silesian. The names of Silesia in different languages most likely share their etymology—; ; ; ; ; ; ; Latin, Spanish and English: Silesia; ; ; ; ; . The names all relate to the name of a river (now Ślęza) and mountain (Mount Ślęża) in mid-southern Silesia, which served as a place of cult for pagans before Christianization.