Polish minorities in France

PLAN

◘ Introduction …………….……………………………………………………………………………... p.3

I ◘ History of the polish minorities in France ...………………………………………….. p.4

II ◘ The way of life of the Poles in France during the 1920-1930s………………p.9

III ◘ The situation of the Poles in France nowadays ...……………………………..p.12

◘ Conclusion …………….……………………………………………………………………………... p.15

INTRODUCTION

The Polish community in France is one of the oldest communities of Poles abroad in Europe. Indeed, if France doesn’t belong to the countries which have the most important polish community nowadays, the country has a long tradition of migrations from Poland.

This can be explained by the age-olded cultural, political and economic contacts that the both countries maintained during the history. In spite of everything, the first movements of migrations from Poland to France began only in the XIXth century. Since the beginning, that’s 179 years of polish migration in France and if the number of polish people in France is decreasing now, the influence of the history of Poles in France has considerably enriched the national conscience, especially in the North where the recent history is intimately linked which the history of its polish minority.

Currently we estimate that about one million people of Polish descent live in France which represents 4% of the French population;. This number includes the people who are polish and those who have polish origins in their family.

The polish community is mostly concentrated in the Nord-Pas de Calais region where more the half of the polish community is living, in the metropolitan area of Lille and the coal-mining basin (Bassin Minier) around Lens and Valenciennes.

Among the famous polish emigrants in France, we can mention Frédéric Chopin, Adam Mickiewicz (temporarily), Aleksander Chodźko, Rene Goscinny, Marie Curie, Raymond Kopa, Ludovic Obraniak, Edward Gierek (who was raised there) and Matt Pokora. Nevertheless