View source for Kresy

{{Short description|Former eastern regions of Poland}}
{{other places}}
{{Infobox
|title=Eastern Borderlands
|above=''Kresy Wschodnie''
|subheader=Part of the [[Second Polish Republic]]
|image=[[File:Curzon line en.svg|300px]]
|caption=In the 1939 German-Soviet [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] the Eastern Borderlands (grey) were annexed directly into the [[Soviet Union]]. The Soviet gains east of the [[Curzon line]] devised in 1919 were confirmed (with minor adjustments in the areas around [[Białystok]] and [[Przemyśl]]) by the [[Allies of World War II|Western Allies]] at the [[Tehran Conference]], the [[Yalta Conference]] and the [[Potsdam Conference]]. In 1945 most of Germany's territory east of the [[Oder–Neisse line]] (pink) was ceded to what remained of Poland (white), both of which would compose the newly created [[People's Republic of Poland]]
|headerstyle=background:#ddf;
|header1=Historical region
|label2=Period
|data2=1919–1939; 1945
|label3=Area
|data3=[[Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union]] in the [[Invasion of Poland]] of 1939
|label4=Today part of
|data4={{flagcountry|Ukraine}}<br/>{{flagcountry|Belarus}}<br/>{{flagcountry|Lithuania}}
}}
{{Territorial evolution of Poland}}
'''Eastern Borderlands'''<ref>{{cite web |title=The 2nd edition of the IPN's educational project "Polish Eastern Borderlands in the 20th century" |url=https://ipn.gov.pl/en/news/2508,The-2nd-edition-of-the-IPNs-educational-project-Polish-Eastern-Borderlands-in-th.html |access-date=2021-01-24 |newspaper=[[Institute of National Remembrance]]}}</ref> ({{langx|pl|Kresy Wschodnie}}), often simply '''Borderlands''' ({{langx|pl|Kresy}}, {{IPA|pl|ˈkrɛsɨ}}){{efn|In Polish, "kresy" means 'borderlands', but there are also "Kresy zachodnie", or [[Western Borderlands]]}} was a historical region of the eastern part of the [[Second Polish Republic]]. The term was coined during the [[History of Poland (1918–1939)|interwar period]] (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with a Polish minority,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Böhler |first=Jochen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tWJ7DwAAQBAJ |title=Civil War in Central Europe, 1918-1921: The Reconstruction of Poland |date=2018-11-01 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-251332-8 |pages=130 |language=en}}</ref> it amounted to nearly half of the territory of interwar Poland. Historically situated in the eastern [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], following the [[Partitions of Poland|18th-century foreign partitions]] it was divided between the Empires of [[Russian Empire|Russia]] and [[Austria-Hungary]], and ceded to Poland in 1921 after the [[Treaty of Riga]]. As a result of the [[Territorial changes of Poland immediately after World War II|post-World War II border changes]], all of the territory was ceded to the [[Soviet Union]], and today the area of Kresy is divided between [[Western Ukraine]], [[Western Belarus]], and south-eastern [[Lithuania]].

The region gave rise to the [[Kresy myth]], a collection of nostalgic views about the area. After the [[fall of Communism in Europe]] and [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] a major economic conflict emerged about [[Bug River property|the real estate lost by Poland]] with the loss of Kresy.

==Extents==
During the existence of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], {{lang|pl|Kresy}} only referred to the borderlands of the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Kingdom of Poland]] and not the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Liekis |first=Šarūnas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ST3LrBPOM4gC |title=1939: The Year that Changed Everything in Lithuania's History |date=2010 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=978-90-420-2762-6 |pages=257, 361 |language=en}}</ref> {{lang|pl|Kresy}} is also largely co-terminous with the northern areas of the [[Pale of Settlement]], a scheme devised by [[Catherine the Great|Catherine II of Russia]] to limit [[Jews]] from settling in the homogenously [[Russian Orthodox Church|Christian Orthodox]] core of the Russian Empire, such as [[Moscow]] and [[Saint Petersburg]]. The Pale was established after the [[Second Partition of Poland]] and lasted until the [[Russian Revolution]] in 1917, when the Russian Empire ceased to exist. In the aftermath of the Polish wars against [[Polish–Ukrainian War|Ukraine]], [[Polish–Lithuanian War|Lithuania]] and [[Polish–Soviet War|Soviet Russia]], the latter of which was ended by the Treaty of Riga, large parts of the [[Austrian Partition|Austrian]] and [[Russian Partition|Russian]] partitions became part of Poland. As many as 12 million inhabitants lived in the Eastern Borderlands, but ethnic [[Polish people|Poles]] only were a third of that population, with another third being [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Snyder |first1=Timothy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NpFtAwAAQBAJ |title=Stalin and Europe: Imitation and Domination, 1928-1953 |last2=Brandon |first2=Ray |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-994558-0 |language=en |author-link=Timothy D. Snyder}}</ref> Most small towns in the Borderlands were [[shtetl]]s.<ref name=":1" />

Administratively, the Eastern Borderlands territory was composed of [[Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Białystok]], [[Lwów Voivodeship|Lwów]], [[Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Nowogródek]], [[Polesie Voivodeship|Polesie]], [[Stanisławów Voivodeship|Stanisławów]], [[Tarnopol Voivodeship|Tarnopol]], [[Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939)|Wilno]] and [[Wołyń Voivodeship (1921–1939)|Wołyń]] [[voivodeship]]s (provinces). Today, of these regions, only the western portions of Białystok and Lwów voivodeships remain in Poland (including the eponymous city in Białystok but not Lwów); the remainder of the area is divided between [[Western Ukraine]], [[Western Belarus]], and south-eastern [[Lithuania]], with the major cities of [[Lviv]], [[Vilnius]], and [[Grodno]] no longer in Poland. During the Second Polish Republic, the Eastern Borderlands denoted the lands beyond the [[Curzon Line]] proposed after [[World War I]] in December 1919 by the British Foreign Office as the eastern border of the re-emerging sovereign Polish Republic, after over a century of partition. The interwar period in ''Kresy'' was noted by an active policy of [[Polonization]] of the local population, which involved enforced usage of Polish language in education as well as settling of the Polish colonists, [[Osadnik]]s.

In September 1939, after [[Germany]] [[Invasion of Poland|invaded Poland]] and follow-up invasion by Soviet Union, in accordance with [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] all Eastern Borderlands territories were incorporated into the Soviet republics of [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]], [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Belarus]] and [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuania]], often by means of terror.<ref name="Wegner-74">[[Bernd Wegner]] (1997). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=aESBIpIm6UcC&pg=PA74 From peace to war: Germany, Soviet Russia, and the world, 1939&ndash;1941.]'' Berghahn Books. p. 74. {{ISBN|1-57181-882-0}}.</ref> Soviet territorial annexations during [[World War II]] were later ratified by the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] at the Conferences of [[Tehran Conference|Tehran]], [[Yalta Conference|Yalta]] and [[Potsdam Conference|Potsdam]] and most of Poles here were expelled after the [[end of World War II in Europe]]. After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, there was no change to the post-World War II borders. Despite the former provinces of the Eastern Borderlands no longer being part of Poland, a Polish minority remains.

== Etymology ==
[[File:Poland administrative division 1922 literki.svg|thumb|Polish voivodeships 1922–1939. One can consider the six easternmost voivodeships as roughly equivalent with {{lang|pl|Kresy}}.]]
The Polish word {{lang|pl|kresy}} ("borderlands") is the plural form of the word {{lang|pl|kres}} meaning 'edge'. According to {{lang|pl|[[Zbigniew Gołąb]]|italic=no}}, it is "a medieval borrowing from the German word {{wikt-lang|de|Kreis}}", which in the Middle Ages meant {{lang|de|Kreislinie, Umkreis, Landeskreis}} ("borderline, delineation or circumscribed territory").<ref>Zbigniew Gołąb, "The Origin and Etymology of Old Russian {{lang|orv-Latn|Kriviči}}," ''[[International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Poetics]]'' 31/32 (1985, Festschrift H. Birnbaum): 167–174, page 173.</ref> [[Samuel Linde]] in his ''Dictionary of the Polish Language'' gives a different etymology of the term. According to him, {{lang|pl|kresy}} meant the borderline between Poland and the [[Crimean Khanate]], in the region of the lower [[Dnieper]]. The term {{lang|pl|kresy}} appeared for the first time in literature in {{lang|pl|[[Wincenty Pol]]|italic=no}} poems, "{{lang|pl|Mohort|italic=no}}" (1854) and "{{lang|pl|Pieśń o ziemi naszej|italic=no}}". Pol claimed that Kresy was the line between the [[Dniester]] and Dnieper rivers, neighbouring the Tatar borderland.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VqWHDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA59 |title=Religion and the Conceptual Boundary in Central and Eastern Europe: Encounters of Faiths |last=Bremer |first=T. |date=2008-04-01 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9780230590021 }}</ref> Coincidentally in relation to Jewish settlement in the macro region, the notion of the ''pale'' is an archaic English term derived from the [[Latin]] word ''{{lang|la|[[:wikt:palus#Latin|palus]]}}'', (which in Polish exists as ''pal'' and also means a stake), extended in this instance to mean the area enclosed by a fence or boundary.<ref>"pale, n.1." ''OED Online''. Oxford University Press, September 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016. [[The Pale]] was the part of medieval [[Ireland]] controlled by the English government.</ref>

At the beginning of the 20th century, the meaning of the term expanded to include the lands of the former eastern provinces of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], east of the {{lang|pl|[[Lwów]]–[[Wilno]]|italic=no}} line. In the Second Polish Republic, {{lang|pl|Kresy}} equated to historically Polish settled lands to the east of the notional [[Curzon Line|Curzon line]]. Currently, the term applies to all the eastern lands of the Second Polish Republic that are no longer within the frontiers of modern Poland, together with lands further east, that had been integral to the [[Commonwealth of Two Nations|Commonwealth]] before 1772, and where Polish communities continue to exist.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sG3XAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT8 |title=The Partitions of Poland 1772, 1793, 1795 |last=Lukowski |first=Jerzy |date=2014-06-17 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317886938 }}</ref>

== History ==
Polish eastern settlements date back to the dawn of Poland as a state. In 1018, King [[Bolesław I the Brave]] invaded [[Kievan Rus']] (see [[Bolesław I's intervention in the Kievan succession crisis]], 1018), capturing [[Kyiv]], and annexing the [[Cherven Cities]]. In 1340, [[Red Ruthenia]] came under Polish control, which intensified defensive Polish settlement and the introduction of [[Catholicism]]. After the [[Union of Lublin]] 1569, more Polish settlers moved into the eastern borderlands of the vast [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. Most of them came from the Polish provinces of [[Mazovia]] and [[Lesser Poland]]. They had moved gradually eastwards settling in sparsely populated areas, inhabited by earlier inhabitants such as [[Lithuanians]] and [[Ruthenians]]. Moreover, the indigenous upper classes of ''Kresy'' accepted Polish religion, culture and language, resulting in their assimilation and [[Polonization]].

===The Partitions of Poland===
The year 1772 marked the first partition of the Commonwealth of the [[Kingdom of Poland]] and the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] (see [[Partitions of Poland]]). By 1795, the whole eastern half of the state had been annexed by the Russian Empire in concert with [[Habsburg monarchy|the Habsburgs]] and [[Prussia]]'s [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollerns]]. The dramatic westward expansion of the Russian Empire through the annexation of Polish-Lithuanian territory substantially increased the new "Russian" Jewish population. Kresy and the superimposed Pale, in the former Polish and Lithuanian territories, had a Jewish population of over five million, and represented the largest community (40%) of the world Jewish population at that time.

From the Polish perspective, the lands came to be called the "[[Western Krai|Stolen Lands]]". Even though Poles were a minority in those areas, owing to forced depopulation, the "Stolen Lands" remained an integral part of Polish national identity, with Polish cultural centres and seats of learning in [[Vilnius University]], [[Jan Kazimierz University]] and [[Krzemieniec Lyceum]] among many others. Since many local educated inhabitants had actively participated in Polish–Lithuanian national insurgencies ([[November Uprising]], [[January Uprising]]), the Russian authorities resorted to intensified persecution, confiscations of property and land, penal deportation to [[Siberia]], and the systematic attempt at [[Russification of Poles during the Partitions|Russification]] of Poles and their traditional culture and institutions.

===The Pale of Settlement===
{{Main|Pale of Settlement}}
[[File:Map showing the percentage of Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland, The Jewish Encyclopedia (1905).jpg|thumb|right|The Pale of Settlement]]
From the Russian perspective the "Pale of Settlement" included all of [[Belarus]], [[Lithuania]] and [[Moldova]], much of present-day [[Ukraine]], parts of eastern [[Latvia]], [[eastern Poland]], and some parts of [[western Russia]], generally corresponding to the {{lang|pl|Kresy}} macroregion and the modern-day western border of Russia. It extended from the eastern ''pale'', or demarcation line, to the Russian border with the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] (later the [[German Empire]]) and [[Austria-Hungary]]. It also comprised about 20% of the territory of [[European Russia]] and largely corresponded to historical lands of the former [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], [[Cossack Hetmanate]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]] (with [[Crimean Khanate]]).

The area included in the Pale, with its large [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]], [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Eastern Catholic]] and Jewish populations, was acquired through a series of military conquests and diplomatic manoeuvres, between 1654 and 1815. While the religious nature of the edicts creating the Pale is clear: conversion to [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodoxy]], the state religion, released individuals from the strictures - historians argue that the motivations for its creation and maintenance were primarily economic and [[nationalist]]ic in nature.<ref>{{Cite web|language=pl|url = http://www.jhi.pl/blog/2016-01-07-rocznica-wydania-ukazu-o-ustanowieniu-strefy-osiedlenia-dla-zydow |title = ''Rocznica wydania ukazu o ustanowieniu "strefy osiedlenia" dla Żydów''| author =Rafał Żebrowski| access-date =2016-01-07}} On the anniversary of the institution of the Pale of Settlement</ref>

===Economic decline of Kresy===
[[File:Leon Wyczółkowski - Plowing in the Ukraine - MNK II-b-831 - National Museum Kraków.jpg|thumb|[[Leon Wyczółkowski]] "Ploughing in the Ukraine"]]
The [[Russian Empire]] had abandoned Kresy to decline as a vast rural backwater after the original Polish–Lithuanian landowners had been disposed of in the wake of insurrections and the [[Abolition of serfdom in Poland]] in 1864. The devastation of country estates put a halt to large scale economic activity which had depended on agriculture, forestry, brewing and small scale industries. Paradoxically, the Southern Kresy (present-day Ukraine) was famous for its fertile soil and was known as the "bread basket of Europe". Towards the end of the 19th century, the decline was so acute that trade and food supplies became problematic and large scale emigration from towns and villages began as Jewish communities, in particular, began heading West, to Europe and the [[Immigration to the United States|United States]]. By the time of a newly resurgent Polish state, the provinces had been additionally disadvantaged by having the lowest [[literacy]] levels in the country, since education had not been [[Compulsory education|compulsory]] during Russian rule.<ref>''W dodatku Kresy Wschodnie II Rzeczypospolitej były najbiedniejszym regionem kraju'' Polska ludność kresowa: rodowód, liczebność, rozmieszczenie Piotr Eberhardt, page 21 Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1998</ref><ref>Historia gospodarcza Polski Andrzej Jezierski, page 269, 2006</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.polityka.pl/historia/272107,1,jak-odrodzila-sie-wolna-polska-.read|title=Jak odrodziła się wolna Polska.|date=4 November 2009 |access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> The regions had suffered a legacy of decades of neglect and underinvestment so were generally less economically developed than the western parts of interwar Poland.

=== Between the World Wars ===
The years 1918–1921 were especially turbulent for ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'', due to the resurgence of the Polish nation-state and the formation of new borders. At that time, Poland had fought three wars to establish its eastern frontier: with [[Polish–Ukrainian War|Ukraine]], [[Polish–Lithuanian War|Lithuania]] and [[Polish–Soviet War|Soviet Russia]]. In all three conflicts, Poland made territorial conquests, and as a result, it seized territories east of the Curzon line that were previously conquered by Russia, in addition to the land formerly part of the [[Cisleithania|Austrian]] [[Galicia (Eastern Europe)|Galicia]]. The ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' was the most war-devastated area in the whole of interwar Poland.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Richter |first=Klaus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YO3eDwAAQBAJ |title=Fragmentation in East Central Europe: Poland and the Baltics, 1915-1929 |date=2020-04-02 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-258164-8 |pages=86–87 |language=en}}</ref> The region later formed the eastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic.

Territories included in the ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' during the interbellum period comprised the eastern parts of the Voivodeships of [[Lwów Voivodeship|Lwów]] and [[Białystok Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Białystok]] and the whole of the [[Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Nowogródek]], [[Polesie Voivodeship|Polesie]], [[Stanisławów Voivodeship|Stanisławów]], [[Tarnopol Voivodeship|Tarnopol]], [[Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939)|Wilno]], [[Wołyń Voivodeship (1921–1939)|Wołyń]] Voivodeships. The Polish government undertook an active policy of [[Polonization|Polonizing]] the ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' to alter its ethnic profile in favour of the Poles.<ref name=":2" /> One of the ways to do so was through the ''[[Osadnik]]'' colonists.<ref name=":2" /> These military colonists were one of the most "emotionalized" parts of the Polish government's policy in the ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' and elicited opposition from the locals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Henschel |first=Christhardt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9CQfAwAAQBAJ |title=Property in East Central Europe: Notions, Institutions, and Practices of Landownership in the Twentieth Century |date=2014-11-01 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-1-78238-462-5 |pages=150 |language=en |chapter=Front-Line Soldiers into Farmers: Military Colonization in Poland after the First and Second World Wars}}</ref> The German historian {{Ill|Bernhard Chiari|de}} said that the ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' were "the poorhouse of Poland", while the [[Yad Vashem]] historian Leonid Rein even wrote that "it would not be a great exaggeration to say it was the poor-house of the whole of Europe."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rein |first=Leonid |title=The Kings and the Pawns: Collaboration in Byelorussia During World War II |date=2011-03-01 |publisher=Berghahn Books |pages=61}}</ref> This led to frequent conflicts with Ukrainian nationalists in the southeastern part of ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'', which led to the [[pacification of Ukrainians in Eastern Galicia]].

Numerous Polish communities continued to live beyond the eastern border of the Second Polish Republic, especially around [[Minsk]], [[Zhytomyr]] and [[Berdychiv]]. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Soviet authorities created two [[Polish National District]]s in Belarus and Ukraine, but during the [[Polish Operation of the NKVD|''Polish Operation'' of the NKVD]], most of the Poles in those areas were murdered, while those remaining were forcibly resettled in [[Kazakhstan]] (see also [[Poles in the Soviet Union]]).

=== During and after World War II ===
{{See also|Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia}}

[[File:German officer executes Jewish women who survived a mass shooting outside the Mizocz ghetto, 14 October 1942.jpg|thumb|Members of the German ''[[Ordnungspolizei]]'' shooting naked women and children in the [[Mizoch Ghetto]], October 1942]]
[[File:Lipniki massacre.jpg|thumb|right|[[Massacres of Poles in Volhynia]] in 1943. Most [[Polish people|Poles]] of Volhynia (now in Ukraine) had either been murdered or had fled the area.]]

As a consequence of the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]], on 17 September 1939, the Kresy territories were annexed by the [[Soviet Union]] (see [[Soviet invasion of Poland]]), and a significant part of the ethnic Polish population of ''Kresy'' [[Poles in the Soviet Union#1939–1947|was deported to other areas of the Soviet Union]] including [[Siberia]] and [[Kazakhstan]].<ref>Michael Hope, ''Polish Deportees in the Soviet Union'', Veritas Foundation, London, 2000, {{ISBN|0-948202-76-9}}</ref> The new border between [[Nazi Germany]] and the Soviet Union was re-designated by the [[German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty]], signed on 29 September 1939. After the [[elections to the People's Assemblies of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus]], communist governments for Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were formed and immediately announced their intention of joining their respective republics to the Soviet Union (see also [[Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union]]). After the German invasion of the USSR, the southeastern part of ''Kresy'' was absorbed into [[Greater Germany]]'s [[General Government]], whereas the rest was integrated with the [[Reichskommissariat]]s [[Reichskommissariat Ostland|Ostland]] and [[Reichskommissariat Ukraine|Ukraine]]. In 1943–1944, units of the [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army]], with the help of Ukrainian peasants, carried out mass exterminations of Poles living in southeastern ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' (see [[Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia]]).

In January 1944, Soviet troops had reached the former Polish–Soviet border, and by the end of July 1944, they again re-annexed the whole territory that had been taken by the USSR in September 1939 into their control. During the [[Tehran Conference]] in 1943, a new Soviet-Polish border was established, in effect sanctioning most of the Soviet territorial acquisitions of September 1939 (except for some areas around Białystok and Przemyśl), ignoring protests from the [[Polish government-in-exile|Polish government-in-exile in London]]. The Potsdam Conference, via substantive recognition of the pro-Soviet [[Polish Committee of National Liberation]], implicitly consented to the deportation of Polish people from ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' (see [[Polish population transfers (1944–1946)]]). Most Polish inhabitants of ''Kresy'' were ordered by the Soviets to migrate west to Germany's former eastern provinces, newly emptied of their German population and renamed as the "[[Recovered Territories]]" of the [[Polish People's Republic]], based on Polish medieval settlement of the areas. Poles from the southern ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' (now Ukraine) were forced to settle mainly in [[Silesia]], while those from the north (Belarus and Lithuania) moved to [[Pomerania]] and [[Masuria]]. Polish residents of [[Lwów]] settled not only in Wrocław, but also in [[Gliwice]] and in [[Bytom]]. Those cities had not been destroyed during the war. They were relatively closer to the new eastern border of Poland, which could become significant in case of a sudden hoped for a return to the East.<ref name="wyborcza1">[http://wyborcza.pl/swoiobcy/1,110847,8842882,Kresowianie_nie_mieli_wyboru__musieli_jechac_na_zachod.html Gazeta Wyborcza, Kresowianie nie mieli wyboru, musieli jechać na zachód, interview with Professor Grzegorz Hryciuk, 2010-12-20]</ref>

Frequently, whole ''Kresy'' villages and towns were deported in a single rail transport to new locations in the west. For instance, the village of Biała, near [[Chojnów]], is still divided into two parts: Lower Biała and Upper Biała. Lower Biała was settled by people who used to live in a [[Bieszczady County|Bieszczady]] village of Polana near [[Ustrzyki Dolne]] (this area belonged to the Soviet Union until 1951: see [[1951 Polish–Soviet territorial exchange]]), while inhabitants of the village Pyszkowce near [[Buczacz]] moved to Upper Biała. Every year in September, Biała is the scene of an annual festival called ''Kresowiana''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazetawroclawska.pl/magazyn/152107,smak-kresow-w-bialej,id,t.html|title=Gazeta Wrocławska - Wiadomości Wrocław, Informacje Wrocław|date=14 August 2009 |access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> In [[Szczecin]] and [[West Pomeranian Voivodeship|Polish West Pomerania]], in the immediate postwar period, one-third of Polish settlers were either people from ''Kresy'' or [[Sybirak]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historia.wzp.pl/index.php?treeid=299|title=Obchody 65. rocznicy przybycia Sybiraków i Kresowiaków na Pomorze Zachodnie|access-date=2 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321194505/http://www.historia.wzp.pl/index.php?treeid=299|archive-date=21 March 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1948, people born in the Eastern Borderlands made up 47.5% of the population of [[Opole]], 44.7% of [[Baborów]], 47.5% of [[Wołczyn]], 42.1% of [[Głubczyce]], 40.1% of [[Lewin Brzeski]], and 32.6% of [[Brzeg]]. In 2011, people with ''Kresy'' background made up 25% of the population of the [[Opole Voivodeship]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://opole.gazeta.pl/opole/1,35086,8917879,Co_czwarty_Opolanin_pochodzi_z_Kresow.html|title=Wyborcza.pl|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> The town of [[Jasień, Lubusz Voivodeship|Jasień]] was settled by people from the area of [[Ternopil]] in late 1945 and early 1946,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nadnysie.pl/tech/technology-news964883477/personal-tech30550243/414-888581318|title=Mieszkańcy Jasienia w Hołdzie Repatriantom z Kresów Wschodnich|access-date=2 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202234159/http://www.nadnysie.pl/tech/technology-news964883477/personal-tech30550243/414-888581318|archive-date=2 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> while Poles from [[Borschiv]] moved to [[Trzcińsko-Zdrój]] and [[Chojna]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trzcinsko.com/content/view/455/|title=Trzcińsko-Zdrój nasza mała ojczyzna - Kresowiacy na Ziemi Chojeńskiej|last=czesmen|access-date=2 July 2016|archive-date=21 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321141320/http://www.trzcinsko.com/content/view/455/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The situation was completely different in [[Wschowa]] and its county. In 1945–1948, more than 8,000 people moved there. They came from different areas of the ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' — [[Ashmyany]], [[Ivano-Frankivsk|Stanislawow]], [[Równe, Opole Voivodeship|Równe]], [[Lwów]], [[Brody]], [[Dzyatlava District]], and [[Ternopil]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dziedzictwo.polska.pl/katalog/skarb,Wykaz_repatriantow_przybylych_do_Wschowy_z_kresow_wschodnich_II_RP_z_maja_1945_r,gid,399318,cid,447.htm?body=desc|title=Wykaz repatriantów przybyłych do Wschowy z kresów wschodnich II RP z maja 1945 r.|access-date=2 July 2016}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Altogether, between 1944 and 1946, more than a million Poles from the ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' were moved to the [[Recovered Territories]], including 150,000 from the area of Wilno, 226,300 from [[Polesia]], 133,900 from [[Volhynia]], 5,000 from Northern [[Bukovina]], and 618,200 from Eastern Galicia.<ref>[http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/4/8814/m8814144,Pierwsza-fala-przesiedlen-w-latach-1944-46.jpg, Gazeta Wyborcza, Pierwsza fala przesiedlen]</ref> The so-called First [[Polish population transfers (1944–1946)|Repatriation of Poles]] (1944–1946) was carried out in a chaotic, disorganized way. People had to spend weeks, even months at railroad stations, waiting for transport. During that time, they were robbed of their belongings by either locals, Soviet soldiers or Soviet rail workers. For lack of railroad cars, in Lithuania at some point the "one-suitcase policy" was introduced, which meant that Poles had to leave behind all their belongings. They travelled in freight or [[open wagon]]s, and the journeys were long and dangerous, as there was no protection from the military or the police.<ref name="wyborcza1"/> In the years 1955–1959, the second mass repatriation of Poles from ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' took place. As a result, in the years 1945–1960, over 2 million Polish people left ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}''. About {{awrap|1-2 million}} more remained in the ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' after 1960 (especially in the territories of the [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuanian SSR]] and the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]]). Even today, Poles constitute the majority of inhabitants in many regions in the Grodno and Vilnius regions. Poles appear in the most recent national censuses as follows - Lithuania 183,000 (2021) ; Belarus 288,000 (2019) ; Ukraine 144,000 (2001) - the Belarus and Ukraine numbers firmly disputed in Poland.

In the immediate postwar period, Polish Communists, who ceded the Eastern Borderlands to the Soviet Union, were universally regarded as traitors, and [[Władysław Gomułka]], First Secretary of the Polish Workers' Party, was fully aware of it. People who moved from the East to the Recovered Territories talked amongst themselves about their return to Lwów and other eastern locations, and the German return to [[Silesia]], as a result of [[World War III]], in which Western Allies would defeat the Soviets. One of the adages of the postwar period was: "Just one atom bomb, and we will be back in Lwów again.
Just second one is small but strong and we will be back in Wilno again." ("Jedna bomba atomowa i wrócimy znów do Lwowa. Druga mała, ale silna i wrócimy znów do Wilna").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wyborcza.pl/swoiobcy/1,110847,8883349,Jedna_bomba_atomowa_i_wrocimy_znow_do_Lwowa.html?as=1&startsz=x|title=Wyborcza.pl|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://bibliotekapiosenki.pl/utwory/Nie_oddamy_Lwowa/tekst|title=Nie oddamy Lwowa - Utwory - Cyfrowa Biblioteka Polskiej Piosenki }}</ref>   Polish settlers in former German areas were insecure about their future there until the 1970s (see ''[[Kniefall von Warschau]]''). Eastern settlers did not feel at home in [[Lower Silesia]], and as a result, they did not care about the machinery, households and farms abandoned by Germans. [[Lubomierz]] in 1945 was in good condition, but in the following years, Polish settlers from the area of [[Chortkiv]] in [[Podolia]] let it run down and become a ruin. The Germans were aware of it. In 1959, German sources wrote that Lower Silesia had been ruined by the Poles. Zdzisław Mach, a sociologist from the [[Jagiellonian University]], explains that when Poles were forced to resettle in the West, which they resented, they had to leave the land they considered sacred and move to areas inhabited by the enemy. In addition, Communist authorities did not initially invest in the Recovered Territories because, like the settlers, for a long time they were unsure about the future of these lands. As Mach says, people in Western Poland for years lived "on their suitcases", with all their belongings packed in case of return to the East.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wyborcza.pl/swoiobcy/1,110847,8865061,Kresowe_zycie_na_walizkach.html?as=1&startsz=x|title=Gazeta Wyborcza, Kresowe życie na walizkach. Interview with Professor Zdzisław Mach, 2010-12-29|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref>

[[File:First language by powiats in Poland, based on Polish census of 1931.png|thumb|Map of interwar Poland according to the [[1931 Polish census]] based on the most spoken native language in each [[powiat]]: Polish (white), Ukrainian (green), Belarusian (red) and "local language" such as [[West Polesian|Polesian]] or other dialects (grey). Shaded denotes subdivisions where the difference in share between the first and second most spoken languages is less than 5%.]]

== Interwar population ==
The population of ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' was multi-ethnic, primarily comprising Poles, Ukrainians, Jews and Belarusians. According to official Polish statistics from the interwar period, Poles formed the largest linguistic group in these regions, and were demographically the largest ethnic group in the cities. Other national minorities included [[Lithuanians]] and [[Crimean Karaites|Karaites]] (in the north), [[Jews]] (scattered in cities and towns across the area), [[Czechs]] and [[Germans]] (in Volhynia and East Galicia), [[Armenians]] and [[Hungarians]] (in Lviv) and also [[Russians]] and [[Tatars]].<ref>"Polskie Drogi" by Bogdan Trybuchowski</ref>

The proportions of different native languages in each voivodeship in 1931, according to the [[1931 Polish census]], were as follows:<ref>Historia 1871–1939 Anna Radziwiłł, Wojciech Roszkowski Warsaw 2000 page 278</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Voivodeship
!Polish
!Belarusian
!Ukrainian
!Yiddish
!Russian
!German
!Other
|-
|[[Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939)|Wilno]]
|60%
|23%
|_
|8%
|3%
|_
|8%
|-
|[[Nowogródek Voivodeship (1919–1939)|Nowogródek]]
|53%
|39%
|_
|7%
|1%
|_
|_
|-
|[[Polesie Voivodeship|Polesie]]
|14%
|6%
|5%
|10%
|_
|_
|63%<br/><small>"Other" or ''[[Tutejszy]]''</small><br/><small>([[West Polesian|Polesian]] & other dialects)</small>
|-
|[[Wołyń Voivodeship (1921–1939)|Wołyń]]
|17%
|_
|68%
|10%
|1%
|2%
|2% 
|-
|[[Lwów Voivodeship|Lwów]]
|58%
|_
|34%
|8%
|_
|_
|_
|-
|[[Tarnopol Voivodeship|Tarnopol]]
|50%
|_
|45%
|5%
|_
|_
|_
|-
|[[Stanisławów Voivodeship|Stanisławów]]
|23%
|_
|69%
|7%
|_
|1%
|_
|}
In addition to ethnic Poles in former eastern Poland, there were also large Polish communities in the USSR and in the Baltic states. Polish population east of the Curzon Line before World War II can be estimated by adding together figures for Former Eastern Poland and for pre-1939 Soviet Union:
[[File:Kresy Pn.png|thumb|Linguistic (mother tongue) and religious structure of Northern Kresy (today parts of Belarus and Lithuania) according to the Polish census of 1931]]
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!1. Interwar Poland
!Polish mother tongue (of whom Roman Catholics)
!Source (census)
!Today part of:
|-
|South-Eastern Poland
|2,243,011 (1,765,765)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://konsnard.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/liczba-i-rozmieszczenie-ludnosci-polskiej-na-czesci-kresow-obecnie-w-granicach-ukrainy/|title=Liczba i rozmieszczenie ludności polskiej na części Kresów obecnie w granicach Ukrainy|date=2011|website=Konsnard}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Eberhardt |first=Piotr |title=Ethnic Groups and Population Changes in Twentieth-century Central-Eastern Europe: History, Data, and Analysis |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |year=2003 |isbn=9780765606655 |pages=241, Table 4.45 |language=English}}</ref>
|1931 Polish census<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Polish_census_of_1931|title=Polish census of 1931}}</ref>
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|North-Eastern Poland
|1,663,888 (1,358,029)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://konsnard.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/liczebnosc-polakow-na-kresach-w-obecnej-bialorusi/|title=Liczebność Polaków na Kresach w obecnej Białorusi|date=2011|website=Konsnard}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://konsnard.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/liczba-i-rozmieszczenie-ludnosci-polskiej-na-obszarach-obecnej-litwy/|title=Liczba i rozmieszczenie ludności polskiej na obszarach obecnej Litwy|date=2011|website=Konsnard}}</ref>
|1931 Polish census
|{{Flagicon|Belarus}} and {{Flagicon|Lithuania}}
|-
!2. Interwar USSR
!Ethnic Poles according to official census
!Source (census)
!Today part of:
|-
|Soviet Ukraine
|476,435
|[[First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union#Population of the USSR sorted by most common nationalities in 1926|1926 Soviet census]]
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|Soviet Belarus
|97,498
|1926 Soviet census
|{{Flag|Belarus}}
|-
|Soviet Russia
|197,827
|1926 Soviet census
|{{Flag|Russia}}
|-
|rest of the USSR
|10,574
|1926 Soviet census
|
|-
!3. Interwar Baltic states
!Ethnic Poles according to official census
!Source (census)
!Today part of:
|-
|Lithuania
|65,599{{refn|Polish sources estimated, based on the percentage of votes for Polish parties in the 1923 Lithuanian parliamentary election, that the real number of ethnic Poles in [[interwar Lithuania]] in 1923 was 202,026.|group=Note}}
|[[Lithuanian census of 1923|1923 Lithuanian census]]
|{{Flag|Lithuania}}
|-
|Latvia
|59,374
|1930 Latvian census<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.csb.gov.lv/en/statistics/statistics-by-theme/population/census/search-in-theme/185-third-population-and-housing-census-latvia-1930|title=Third Population and Housing Census in Latvia in 1930 (in Latvian and in French)|website=State Statistical Office}}</ref>
|{{Flag|Latvia}}
|-
|Estonia
|1,608
|[[Demographics of Estonia#Ethnic groups|1934 Estonian census]]
|{{Flag|Estonia}}
|-
!TOTAL (1., 2., 3.)
!4 to 5 million ethnic Poles
!
!
|}
{{Reflist|group=Note}}


Two tables below show the linguistic ([[First language|mother tongue]]) and religious structure of interwar South-Eastern Poland (nowadays part of [[Western Ukraine]]) and interwar North-Eastern Poland (nowadays part of [[Western Belorussia|Western Belarus]] and southern Lithuania) by county, according to the 1931 census.

South-East Poland:

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
|+Linguistic and religious structure of South-East Poland in 1931<ref>{{Cite web |date=1938 |title=Plik:Woj.wołyńskie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woj.wo%C5%82y%C5%84skie-Polska_spis_powszechny_1931.pdf |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=commons.wikimedia.org |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1938 |title=Plik:Woj.tarnopolskie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woj.tarnopolskie-Polska_spis_powszechny_1931.pdf |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=commons.wikimedia.org |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1938 |title=Plik:Woj.stanisławowskie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woj.stanis%C5%82awowskie-Polska_spis_powszechny_1931.pdf |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=commons.wikimedia.org |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1938 |title=Plik:Woj.lwowskie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woj.lwowskie-Polska_spis_powszechny_1931.pdf |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=commons.wikimedia.org |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1937 |title=Plik:M.Lwów-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M.Lw%C3%B3w-Polska_spis_powszechny_1931.pdf |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=commons.wikimedia.org |language=pl}}</ref>
!County
!Pop.
!Polish
!%
!Yiddish & Hebrew
!%
!Ukrainian & Ruthenian
!%
!Other language
{{refn|Includes German and Czech, etc.|group=Note}}
!%
!Roman Catholic
!%
!Jewish
!%
!Uniate & Orthodox
!%
!Other religion
{{refn|Includes Protestants, Old Believers, etc.|group=Note}}
!%
|-
|[[Dubno]]
|226709
|33987
|15.0%
|17430
|7.7%
|158173
|69.8%
|17119
|7.6%
|27638
|12.2%
|18227
|8.0%
|173512
|76.5%
|7332
|3.2%
|-
|[[Horokhiv]]
|122045
|21100
|17.3%
|9993
|8.2%
|84224
|69.0%
|6728
|5.5%
|17675
|14.5%
|10112
|8.3%
|87333
|71.6%
|6925
|5.7%
|-
|[[Kostopil]]
|159602
|34951
|21.9%
|10481
|6.6%
|105346
|66.0%
|8824
|5.5%
|34450
|21.6%
|10786
|6.8%
|103912
|65.1%
|10454
|6.6%
|-
|[[Kovel]]
|255095
|36720
|14.4%
|26476
|10.4%
|185240
|72.6%
|6659
|2.6%
|35191
|13.8%
|26719
|10.5%
|187717
|73.6%
|5468
|2.1%
|-
|[[Kremenets]]
|243032
|25758
|10.6%
|18679
|7.7%
|196000
|80.6%
|2595
|1.1%
|25082
|10.3%
|18751
|7.7%
|195233
|80.3%
|3966
|1.6%
|-
|[[Liuboml]]
|85507
|12150
|14.2%
|6818
|8.0%
|65906
|77.1%
|633
|0.7%
|10998
|12.9%
|6861
|8.0%
|65685
|76.8%
|1963
|2.3%
|-
|[[Lutsk]]
|290805
|56446
|19.4%
|34142
|11.7%
|172038
|59.2%
|28179
|9.7%
|55802
|19.2%
|34354
|11.8%
|177377
|61.0%
|23272
|8.0%
|-
|[[Rivne]]
|252787
|36990
|14.6%
|37484
|14.8%
|160484
|63.5%
|17829
|7.1%
|36444
|14.4%
|37713
|14.9%
|166970
|66.1%
|11660
|4.6%
|-
|[[Sarny]]
|181284
|30426
|16.8%
|16019
|8.8%
|129637
|71.5%
|5202
|2.9%
|28192
|15.6%
|16088
|8.9%
|132691
|73.2%
|4313
|2.4%
|-
|[[Volodymyr, Volyn Oblast|Volodymyr]]
|150374
|40286
|26.8%
|17236
|11.5%
|88174
|58.6%
|4678
|3.1%
|38483
|25.6%
|17331
|11.5%
|89641
|59.6%
|4919
|3.3%
|-
|[[Zdolbuniv]]
|118334
|17826
|15.1%
|10787
|9.1%
|81650
|69.0%
|8071
|6.8%
|17901
|15.1%
|10850
|9.2%
|86948
|73.5%
|2635
|2.2%
|-
|[[Borshchiv]]
|103277
|46153
|44.7%
|4302
|4.2%
|52612
|50.9%
|210
|0.2%
|28432
|27.5%
|9353
|9.1%
|65344
|63.3%
|148
|0.1%
|-
|[[Brody]]
|91248
|32843
|36.0%
|7640
|8.4%
|50490
|55.3%
|275
|0.3%
|22521
|24.7%
|10360
|11.4%
|58009
|63.6%
|358
|0.4%
|-
|[[Berezhany]]
|103824
|48168
|46.4%
|3716
|3.6%
|51757
|49.9%
|183
|0.2%
|41962
|40.4%
|7151
|6.9%
|54611
|52.6%
|100
|0.1%
|-
|[[Buchach]]
|139062
|60523
|43.5%
|8059
|5.8%
|70336
|50.6%
|144
|0.1%
|51311
|36.9%
|10568
|7.6%
|77023
|55.4%
|160
|0.1%
|-
|[[Chortkiv]]
|84008
|36486
|43.4%
|6474
|7.7%
|40866
|48.6%
|182
|0.2%
|33080
|39.4%
|7845
|9.3%
|42828
|51.0%
|255
|0.3%
|-
|[[Kamianka-Buzka]]
|82111
|41693
|50.8%
|4737
|5.8%
|35178
|42.8%
|503
|0.6%
|29828
|36.3%
|6700
|8.2%
|45113
|54.9%
|470
|0.6%
|-
|[[Kopychyntsi]]
|88614
|38158
|43.1%
|5164
|5.8%
|45196
|51.0%
|96
|0.1%
|31202
|35.2%
|7291
|8.2%
|50007
|56.4%
|114
|0.1%
|-
|[[Pidhaitsi]]
|95663
|46710
|48.8%
|3464
|3.6%
|45031
|47.1%
|458
|0.5%
|38003
|39.7%
|4786
|5.0%
|52634
|55.0%
|240
|0.3%
|-
|[[Peremyshliany]]
|89908
|52269
|58.1%
|4445
|4.9%
|32777
|36.5%
|417
|0.5%
|38475
|42.8%
|6860
|7.6%
|44002
|48.9%
|571
|0.6%
|-
|[[Radekhiv]]
|69313
|25427
|36.7%
|3277
|4.7%
|39970
|57.7%
|639
|0.9%
|17945
|25.9%
|6934
|10.0%
|42928
|61.9%
|1506
|2.2%
|-
|[[Skalat]]
|89215
|60091
|67.4%
|3654
|4.1%
|25369
|28.4%
|101
|0.1%
|45631
|51.1%
|8486
|9.5%
|34798
|39.0%
|300
|0.3%
|-
|[[Ternopil]]
|142220
|93874
|66.0%
|5836
|4.1%
|42374
|29.8%
|136
|0.1%
|63286
|44.5%
|17684
|12.4%
|60979
|42.9%
|271
|0.2%
|-
|[[Terebovlia]]
|84321
|50178
|59.5%
|3173
|3.8%
|30868
|36.6%
|102
|0.1%
|38979
|46.2%
|4845
|5.7%
|40452
|48.0%
|45
|0.1%
|-
|[[Zalishchyky]]
|72021
|27549
|38.3%
|3261
|4.5%
|41147
|57.1%
|64
|0.1%
|17917
|24.9%
|5965
|8.3%
|48069
|66.7%
|70
|0.1%
|-
|[[Zbarazh]]
|65579
|32740
|49.9%
|3142
|4.8%
|29609
|45.2%
|88
|0.1%
|24855
|37.9%
|3997
|6.1%
|36468
|55.6%
|259
|0.4%
|-
|[[Zboriv]]
|81413
|39624
|48.7%
|2522
|3.1%
|39174
|48.1%
|93
|0.1%
|26239
|32.2%
|5056
|6.2%
|49925
|61.3%
|193
|0.2%
|-
|[[Zolochiv, Lviv Oblast|Zolochiv]]
|118609
|56628
|47.7%
|6066
|5.1%
|55381
|46.7%
|534
|0.5%
|36937
|31.1%
|10236
|8.6%
|70663
|59.6%
|773
|0.7%
|-
|[[Dolyna]]
|118373
|21158
|17.9%
|9031
|7.6%
|83880
|70.9%
|4304
|3.6%
|15630
|13.2%
|10471
|8.8%
|89811
|75.9%
|2461
|2.1%
|-
|[[Horodenka]]
|92894
|27751
|29.9%
|5031
|5.4%
|59957
|64.5%
|155
|0.2%
|15519
|16.7%
|7480
|8.1%
|69789
|75.1%
|106
|0.1%
|-
|[[Kalush, Ukraine|Kalush]]
|102252
|18637
|18.2%
|5109
|5.0%
|77506
|75.8%
|1000
|1.0%
|14418
|14.1%
|6249
|6.1%
|80750
|79.0%
|835
|0.8%
|-
|[[Kolomyia]]
|176000
|52006
|29.5%
|11191
|6.4%
|110533
|62.8%
|2270
|1.3%
|31925
|18.1%
|20887
|11.9%
|121376
|69.0%
|1812
|1.0%
|-
|[[Kosiv]]
|93952
|6718
|7.2%
|6730
|7.2%
|79838
|85.0%
|666
|0.7%
|4976
|5.3%
|7826
|8.3%
|80903
|86.1%
|247
|0.3%
|-
|[[Nadvirna|Nadvírna]]
|140702
|16907
|12.0%
|11020
|7.8%
|112128
|79.7%
|647
|0.5%
|15214
|10.8%
|11663
|8.3%
|113116
|80.4%
|709
|0.5%
|-
|[[Rohatyn]]
|127252
|36152
|28.4%
|6111
|4.8%
|84875
|66.7%
|114
|0.1%
|27108
|21.3%
|9466
|7.4%
|90456
|71.1%
|222
|0.2%
|-
|[[Ivano-Frankivsk|Stanyslaviv]]
|198359
|49032
|24.7%
|26996
|13.6%
|120214
|60.6%
|2117
|1.1%
|42519
|21.4%
|29525
|14.9%
|123959
|62.5%
|2356
|1.2%
|-
|[[Stryi]]
|152631
|25186
|16.5%
|15413
|10.1%
|106183
|69.6%
|5849
|3.8%
|23404
|15.3%
|17115
|11.2%
|108159
|70.9%
|3953
|2.6%
|-
|[[Sniatyn]]
|78025
|17206
|22.1%
|4341
|5.6%
|56007
|71.8%
|471
|0.6%
|8659
|11.1%
|7073
|9.1%
|61797
|79.2%
|496
|0.6%
|-
|[[Tlumach]]
|116028
|44958
|38.7%
|3677
|3.2%
|66659
|57.5%
|734
|0.6%
|31478
|27.1%
|6702
|5.8%
|76650
|66.1%
|1198
|1.0%
|-
|[[Zhydachiv]]
|83817
|16464
|19.6%
|4728
|5.6%
|61098
|72.9%
|1527
|1.8%
|15094
|18.0%
|5289
|6.3%
|63144
|75.3%
|290
|0.3%
|-
|[[Bibrka]]
|97124
|30762
|31.7%
|5533
|5.7%
|60444
|62.2%
|385
|0.4%
|22820
|23.5%
|7972
|8.2%
|66113
|68.1%
|219
|0.2%
|-
|[[Dobromyl]]
|93970
|35945
|38.3%
|4997
|5.3%
|52463
|55.8%
|565
|0.6%
|25941
|27.6%
|7522
|8.0%
|59664
|63.5%
|843
|0.9%
|-
|[[Drohobych]]
|194456
|91935
|47.3%
|20484
|10.5%
|79214
|40.7%
|2823
|1.5%
|52172
|26.8%
|28888
|14.9%
|110850
|57.0%
|2546
|1.3%
|-
|[[Horodok, Lviv Oblast|Horodok]]
|85007
|33228
|39.1%
|2975
|3.5%
|47812
|56.2%
|992
|1.2%
|22408
|26.4%
|4982
|5.9%
|56713
|66.7%
|904
|1.1%
|-
|[[Yavoriv]]
|86762
|26938
|31.0%
|3044
|3.5%
|55868
|64.4%
|912
|1.1%
|18394
|21.2%
|5161
|5.9%
|62828
|72.4%
|379
|0.4%
|-
|[[Lviv|Lviv City]]
|312231
|198212
|63.5%
|75316
|24.1%
|35137
|11.3%
|3566
|1.1%
|157490
|50.4%
|99595
|31.9%
|50824
|16.3%
|4322
|1.4%
|-
|[[Lviv Raion|Lviv County]]
|142800
|80712
|56.5%
|1569
|1.1%
|58395
|40.9%
|2124
|1.5%
|67430
|47.2%
|5087
|3.6%
|67592
|47.3%
|2691
|1.9%
|-
|[[Mostyska]]
|89460
|49989
|55.9%
|2164
|2.4%
|37196
|41.6%
|111
|0.1%
|34619
|38.7%
|5428
|6.1%
|49230
|55.0%
|183
|0.2%
|-
|[[Rava-Ruska]]
|122072
|27376
|22.4%
|10991
|9.0%
|82133
|67.3%
|1572
|1.3%
|22489
|18.4%
|13381
|11.0%
|84808
|69.5%
|1394
|1.1%
|-
|[[Rudky]]
|79170
|38417
|48.5%
|4247
|5.4%
|36254
|45.8%
|252
|0.3%
|27674
|35.0%
|5396
|6.8%
|45756
|57.8%
|344
|0.4%
|-
|[[Sambir]]
|133814
|56818
|42.5%
|7794
|5.8%
|68222
|51.0%
|980
|0.7%
|43583
|32.6%
|11258
|8.4%
|78527
|58.7%
|446
|0.3%
|-
|[[Sokal]]
|109111
|42851
|39.3%
|5917
|5.4%
|59984
|55.0%
|359
|0.3%
|25425
|23.3%
|13372
|12.3%
|69963
|64.1%
|351
|0.3%
|-
|[[Turka, Ukraine|Turka]]
|114457
|26083
|22.8%
|7552
|6.6%
|80483
|70.3%
|339
|0.3%
|6301
|5.5%
|10627
|9.3%
|97339
|85.0%
|190
|0.2%
|-
|[[Zhovkva]]
|95507
|35816
|37.5%
|3344
|3.5%
|56060
|58.7%
|287
|0.3%
|20279
|21.2%
|7848
|8.2%
|66823
|70.0%
|557
|0.6%
|-
!'''South-East Poland'''
!6922206
!2243011
!32.4%
!549782
!7.9%
!3983550
!57.6%
!145863
!2.1%
!1707428
!24.7%
!708172
!10.2%
!4387812
!63.4%
!118794
!1.7%
|}


North-East Poland:
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
|+Linguistic and religious structure of North-East Poland in 1931<ref>{{Cite web |date=1938 |title=Plik:Woj.nowogrodzkie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woj.nowogrodzkie-Polska_spis_powszechny_1931.pdf |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=commons.wikimedia.org |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1936 |title=Plik:Woj.wileńskie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woj.wile%C5%84skie-Polska_spis_powszechny_1931.pdf |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=commons.wikimedia.org |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Statystyczny |first=Główny Urząd |title=English: Dane spisu powszechnego 1931 - Miasto Wilno |date=1937 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M.Wilno-Polska_spis_powszechny_1931.pdf |access-date=2024-06-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1938 |title=Plik:Woj.poleskie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woj.poleskie-Polska_spis_powszechny_1931.pdf |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=commons.wikimedia.org |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1938 |title=Plik:Woj.białostockie-Polska spis powszechny 1931.pdf – Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woj.bia%C5%82ostockie-Polska_spis_powszechny_1931.pdf |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=commons.wikimedia.org |language=pl}}</ref>
!County
!Pop.
!Polish
!%
!Yiddish & Hebrew
!%
!Belarusian, Poleshuk & Russian
!%
!Other language {{refn|Includes Lithuanian and Ukrainian, etc.|group=Note}}
!%
!Roman Catholic
!%
!Jewish
!%
!Orthodox & Uniate
!%
!Other religion
{{refn|Includes Old Believers, Protestants, etc.|group=Note}}
!%
|-
|[[Baranavichy]]
|161038
|74916
|46.5%
|15034
|9.3%
|70627
|43.9%
|461
|0.3%
|45126
|28.0%
|16074
|10.0%
|99118
|61.5%
|720
|0.4%
|-
|[[Lida]]
|183485
|145609
|79.4%
|14546
|7.9%
|20538
|11.2%
|2792
|1.5%
|144627
|78.8%
|14913
|8.1%
|23025
|12.5%
|920
|0.5%
|-
|[[Nyasvizh]]
|114464
|27933
|24.4%
|8754
|7.6%
|77094
|67.4%
|683
|0.6%
|22378
|19.6%
|8880
|7.8%
|82245
|71.9%
|961
|0.8%
|-
|[[Novogrudok]]
|149536
|35084
|23.5%
|10326
|6.9%
|103783
|69.4%
|343
|0.2%
|28796
|19.3%
|10462
|7.0%
|109162
|73.0%
|1116
|0.7%
|-
|[[Slonim]]
|126510
|52313
|41.4%
|10058
|8.0%
|63445
|50.2%
|694
|0.5%
|23817
|18.8%
|12344
|9.8%
|89724
|70.9%
|625
|0.5%
|-
|[[Stowbtsy]]
|99389
|51820
|52.1%
|6341
|6.4%
|40875
|41.1%
|353
|0.4%
|37856
|38.1%
|6975
|7.0%
|54076
|54.4%
|482
|0.5%
|-
|[[Shchuchyn]]
|107203
|89462
|83.5%
|6705
|6.3%
|10658
|9.9%
|378
|0.4%
|60097
|56.1%
|7883
|7.4%
|38900
|36.3%
|323
|0.3%
|-
|[[Valozhyn]]
|115522
|76722
|66.4%
|5261
|4.6%
|33240
|28.8%
|299
|0.3%
|61852
|53.5%
|5341
|4.6%
|47923
|41.5%
|406
|0.4%
|-
|[[Braslaw]]
|143161
|93958
|65.6%
|7181
|5.0%
|37689
|26.3%
|4333
|3.0%
|89020
|62.2%
|7703
|5.4%
|29713
|20.8%
|16725
|11.7%
|-
|[[Dzisna]]
|159886
|62282
|39.0%
|11762
|7.4%
|85051
|53.2%
|791
|0.5%
|56895
|35.6%
|11948
|7.5%
|88118
|55.1%
|2925
|1.8%
|-
|[[Maladzyechna|Molodechno]]
|91285
|35523
|38.9%
|5789
|6.3%
|49747
|54.5%
|226
|0.2%
|21704
|23.8%
|5910
|6.5%
|63074
|69.1%
|597
|0.7%
|-
|[[Ashmyany|Oshmyany]]
|104612
|84951
|81.2%
|6721
|6.4%
|11064
|10.6%
|1876
|1.8%
|81369
|77.8%
|7056
|6.7%
|15125
|14.5%
|1062
|1.0%
|-
|[[Pastavy]]
|99907
|47917
|48.0%
|2683
|2.7%
|49071
|49.1%
|236
|0.2%
|50751
|50.8%
|2769
|2.8%
|44477
|44.5%
|1910
|1.9%
|-
|[[Švenčionys]]
|136475
|68441
|50.1%
|7654
|5.6%
|16814
|12.3%
|43566
|31.9%
|117524
|86.1%
|7678
|5.6%
|1978
|1.4%
|9295
|6.8%
|-
|[[Vilyeyka]]
|131070
|59477
|45.4%
|5934
|4.5%
|65220
|49.8%
|439
|0.3%
|53168
|40.6%
|6113
|4.7%
|70664
|53.9%
|1125
|0.9%
|-
|[[Trakai|Vilnius-Trakai]]
|214472
|180546
|84.2%
|6508
|3.0%
|9263
|4.3%
|18155
|8.5%
|201053
|93.7%
|6613
|3.1%
|2988
|1.4%
|3818
|1.8%
|-
|[[Vilnius|Vilnius City]]
|195071
|128628
|65.9%
|54596
|28.0%
|9109
|4.7%
|2738
|1.4%
|125999
|64.6%
|55006
|28.2%
|9598
|4.9%
|4468
|2.3%
|-
|[[Brest, Belarus|Brest]]
|215927
|50248
|23.3%
|32089
|14.9%
|115323
|53.4%
|18267
|8.5%
|43020
|19.9%
|32280
|14.9%
|135911
|62.9%
|4716
|2.2%
|-
|[[Drahichyn]]
|97040
|6844
|7.1%
|6947
|7.2%
|81557
|84.0%
|1692
|1.7%
|5699
|5.9%
|6981
|7.2%
|83147
|85.7%
|1213
|1.3%
|-
|[[Kamin-Kashyrskyi]]
|94988
|6692
|7.0%
|4014
|4.2%
|75699
|79.7%
|8583
|9.0%
|6026
|6.3%
|4037
|4.3%
|83113
|87.5%
|1812
|1.9%
|-
|[[Kobryn]]
|113972
|10040
|8.8%
|10489
|9.2%
|71435
|62.7%
|22008
|19.3%
|8973
|7.9%
|10527
|9.2%
|93426
|82.0%
|1046
|0.9%
|-
|[[Kosava, Belarus|Kosava]]
|83696
|8456
|10.1%
|6300
|7.5%
|68769
|82.2%
|171
|0.2%
|7810
|9.3%
|6333
|7.6%
|68941
|82.4%
|612
|0.7%
|-
|[[Luninyets]]
|108663
|16535
|15.2%
|7811
|7.2%
|83769
|77.1%
|548
|0.5%
|13754
|12.7%
|8072
|7.4%
|85728
|78.9%
|1109
|1.0%
|-
|[[Pinsk]]
|184305
|29077
|15.8%
|25088
|13.6%
|128787
|69.9%
|1353
|0.7%
|16465
|8.9%
|25385
|13.8%
|140022
|76.0%
|2433
|1.3%
|-
|[[Pruzhany]]
|108583
|17762
|16.4%
|9419
|8.7%
|81032
|74.6%
|370
|0.3%
|16311
|15.0%
|9463
|8.7%
|82015
|75.5%
|794
|0.7%
|-
|[[Stolin]]
|124765
|18452
|14.8%
|10809
|8.7%
|92253
|73.9%
|3251
|2.6%
|6893
|5.5%
|10910
|8.7%
|105280
|84.4%
|1682
|1.3%
|-
|[[Grodno]]
|213105
|101089
|47.4%
|35354
|16.6%
|69832
|32.8%
|6830
|3.2%
|89122
|41.8%
|35693
|16.7%
|87205
|40.9%
|1085
|0.5%
|-
|[[Vawkavysk|Volkovysk]]
|171327
|83111
|48.5%
|13082
|7.6%
|74823
|43.7%
|311
|0.2%
|76373
|44.6%
|13283
|7.8%
|80621
|47.1%
|1050
|0.6%
|-
!North-East Poland
!3849457
!1663888
!43.2%
!347255
!9.0%
!1696567
!44.1%
!141747
!3.7%
!1512478
!39.3%
!356632
!9.3%
!1915317
!49.7%
!65030
!1.7%
|}

===Largest cities and towns===

In 1931, according to the Polish National Census, the ten largest cities in Polish Eastern Borderlands were: [[Lviv|Lwów]] (pop. 312,200), [[Vilnius|Wilno]] (pop. 195,100), [[Ivano-Frankivsk|Stanisławów]] (pop. 60,000), [[Hrodna|Grodno]] (pop. 49,700), [[Brest, Belarus|Brześć nad Bugiem]] (pop. 48,400), [[Boryslav|Borysław]] (pop. 41,500), [[Rivne|Równe]] (pop. 40,600), [[Ternopil|Tarnopol]] (pop. 35,600), [[Lutsk|Łuck]] (pop. 35,600) and [[Kolomyia|Kołomyja]] (pop. 33,800).

In addition, [[Daugavpils]] (pop. 43,200 in 1930) in inter-war [[Latvia]] was also a major Polish community with 21% ethnic Polish inhabitants.

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
|+Ethnolinguistic structure (mother tongue) of the population in 24 largest cities and towns in Kresy according to the censuses of 1931<ref name=":02" /> and 1930<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eberhardt |first=Piotr |date=1998 |title=Problematyka narodowościowa Łotwy |url=https://rcin.org.pl/Content/34420/PDF/WA51_44706_r1998-nr54_Zeszyty-IGiPZ.pdf |journal=Zeszyty IGiPZ PAN |volume=54 |pages=30, Tabela 7 |via=Repozytorium Cyfrowe Instytutów Naukowych}}</ref>
!City
!Pop.
!Polish
!Yiddish & Hebrew
!German
!Ukrainian & Ruthenian
!Belarusian
!Russian
!Lithuanian
!Other
!Today part of:
|-
|[[Lviv|Lwów]]
|312,231
|{{percent and number|198212|312231|1}}
|{{percent and number|75316|312231|1}}
|{{percent and number|2448|312231|1}}
|{{percent and number|35137|312231|1}}
|{{percent and number|24|312231|1}}
|{{percent and number|462|312231|1}}
|{{percent and number|6|312231|1}}
|{{percent and number|626|312231|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Vilnius|Wilno]]
|195,071
|{{percent and number|128628|195071|1}}
|{{percent and number|54596|195071|1}}
|{{percent and number|561|195071|1}}
|{{percent and number|213|195071|1}}
|{{percent and number|1737|195071|1}}
|{{percent and number|7372|195071|1}}
|{{percent and number|1579|195071|1}}
|{{percent and number|385|195071|1}}
|{{Flag|Lithuania}}
|-
|[[Ivano-Frankivsk|Stanisławów]]
|59,960
|{{percent and number|26187|59960|1}}
|{{percent and number|22944|59960|1}}
|{{percent and number|1332|59960|1}}
|{{percent and number|9357|59960|1}}
|{{percent and number|3|59960|1}}
|{{percent and number|50|59960|1}}
|{{percent and number|1|59960|1}}
|{{percent and number|86|59960|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Grodno]]
|49,669
|{{percent and number|23458|49669|1}}
|{{percent and number|20931|49669|1}}
|{{percent and number|99|49669|1}}
|{{percent and number|83|49669|1}}
|{{percent and number|1261|49669|1}}
|{{percent and number|3730|49669|1}}
|{{percent and number|22|49669|1}}
|{{percent and number|85|49669|1}}
|{{Flag|Belarus}}
|-
|[[Brest, Belarus|Brześć]]
|48,385
|{{percent and number|20595|48385|1}}
|{{percent and number|21315|48385|1}}
|{{percent and number|24|48385|1}}
|{{percent and number|393|48385|1}}
|{{percent and number|3434|48385|1}}
|{{percent and number|2575|48385|1}}
|{{percent and number|1|48385|1}}
|{{percent and number|48|48385|1}}
|{{Flag|Belarus}}
|-
|[[Daugavpils]]
|43,226
|{{percent and number|9007|43226|1}}
|{{percent and number|11636|43226|1}}
| -
| -
|{{percent and number|1006|43226|1}}
|{{percent and number|8425|43226|1}}
| -
|{{percent and number|13152|43226|1}}
|{{Flag|Latvia}}
|-
|[[Boryslav|Borysław]]
|41,496
|{{percent and number|22967|41496|1}}
|{{percent and number|10538|41496|1}}
|{{percent and number|209|41496|1}}
|{{percent and number|7686|41496|1}}
|{{percent and number|4|41496|1}}
|{{percent and number|37|41496|1}}
|{{percent and number|2|41496|1}}
|{{percent and number|53|41496|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Rivne|Równe]]
|40,612
|{{percent and number|11173|40612|1}}
|{{percent and number|22557|40612|1}}
|{{percent and number|327|40612|1}}
|{{percent and number|3194|40612|1}}
|{{percent and number|58|40612|1}}
|{{percent and number|2792|40612|1}}
|{{percent and number|4|40612|1}}
|{{percent and number|507|40612|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Ternopil|Tarnopol]]
|35,644
|{{percent and number|27712|35644|1}}
|{{percent and number|5002|35644|1}}
|{{percent and number|14|35644|1}}
|{{percent and number|2896|35644|1}}
|{{percent and number|2|35644|1}}
|{{percent and number|6|35644|1}}
|{{percent and number|0|35644|1}}
|{{percent and number|12|35644|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Lutsk|Łuck]]
|35,554
|{{percent and number|11326|35554|1}}
|{{percent and number|17267|35554|1}}
|{{percent and number|813|35554|1}}
|{{percent and number|3305|35554|1}}
|{{percent and number|36|35554|1}}
|{{percent and number|2284|35554|1}}
|{{percent and number|1|35554|1}}
|{{percent and number|522|35554|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Kolomyia|Kołomyja]]
|33,788
|{{percent and number|21969|33788|1}}
|{{percent and number|6798|33788|1}}
|{{percent and number|1220|33788|1}}
|{{percent and number|3742|33788|1}}
|{{percent and number|0|33788|1}}
|{{percent and number|6|33788|1}}
|{{percent and number|2|33788|1}}
|{{percent and number|51|33788|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Drohobych|Drohobycz]]
|32,261
|{{percent and number|18840|32261|1}}
|{{percent and number|7987|32261|1}}
|{{percent and number|120|32261|1}}
|{{percent and number|5243|32261|1}}
|{{percent and number|13|32261|1}}
|{{percent and number|21|32261|1}}
|{{percent and number|0|32261|1}}
|{{percent and number|37|32261|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Pinsk|Pińsk]]
|31,912
|{{percent and number|7346|31912|1}}
|{{percent and number|20181|31912|1}}
|{{percent and number|45|31912|1}}
|{{percent and number|82|31912|1}}
|{{percent and number|1373|31912|1}}
|{{percent and number|2866|31912|1}}
|{{percent and number|2|31912|1}}
|{{percent and number|17|31912|1}}
|{{Flag|Belarus}}
|-
|[[Stryi|Stryj]]
|30,491
|{{percent and number|12897|30491|1}}
|{{percent and number|9561|30491|1}}
|{{percent and number|501|30491|1}}
|{{percent and number|7510|30491|1}}
|{{percent and number|0|30491|1}}
|{{percent and number|10|30491|1}}
|{{percent and number|0|30491|1}}
|{{percent and number|12|30491|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Kovel|Kowel]]
|27,677
|{{percent and number|10295|27677|1}}
|{{percent and number|12786|27677|1}}
|{{percent and number|50|27677|1}}
|{{percent and number|2489|27677|1}}
|{{percent and number|27|27677|1}}
|{{percent and number|1954|27677|1}}
|{{percent and number|1|27677|1}}
|{{percent and number|75|27677|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Volodymyr-Volynskyi|Włodzimierz]]
|24,591
|{{percent and number|9616|24591|1}}
|{{percent and number|10611|24591|1}}
|{{percent and number|138|24591|1}}
|{{percent and number|3446|24591|1}}
|{{percent and number|18|24591|1}}
|{{percent and number|724|24591|1}}
|{{percent and number|0|24591|1}}
|{{percent and number|38|24591|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Baranavichy|Baranowicze]]
|22,818
|{{percent and number|9758|22818|1}}
|{{percent and number|9423|22818|1}}
|{{percent and number|25|22818|1}}
|{{percent and number|50|22818|1}}
|{{percent and number|2537|22818|1}}
|{{percent and number|1006|22818|1}}
|{{percent and number|1|22818|1}}
|{{percent and number|18|22818|1}}
|{{Flag|Belarus}}
|-
|[[Sambir|Sambor]]
|21,923
|{{percent and number|13575|21923|1}}
|{{percent and number|5325|21923|1}}
|{{percent and number|28|21923|1}}
|{{percent and number|2902|21923|1}}
|{{percent and number|4|21923|1}}
|{{percent and number|4|21923|1}}
|{{percent and number|0|21923|1}}
|{{percent and number|85|21923|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Kremenets|Krzemieniec]]
|19,877
|{{percent and number|3108|19877|1}}
|{{percent and number|7245|19877|1}}
|{{percent and number|23|19877|1}}
|{{percent and number|8430|19877|1}}
|{{percent and number|6|19877|1}}
|{{percent and number|883|19877|1}}
|{{percent and number|2|19877|1}}
|{{percent and number|180|19877|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Lida]]
|19,326
|{{percent and number|12239|19326|1}}
|{{percent and number|6300|19326|1}}
|{{percent and number|5|19326|1}}
|{{percent and number|28|19326|1}}
|{{percent and number|414|19326|1}}
|{{percent and number|328|19326|1}}
|{{percent and number|2|19326|1}}
|{{percent and number|10|19326|1}}
|{{Flag|Belarus}}
|-
|[[Chortkiv|Czortków]]
|19,038
|{{percent and number|10504|19038|1}}
|{{percent and number|4860|19038|1}}
|{{percent and number|11|19038|1}}
|{{percent and number|3633|19038|1}}
|{{percent and number|0|19038|1}}
|{{percent and number|17|19038|1}}
|{{percent and number|0|19038|1}}
|{{percent and number|13|19038|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Brody]]
|17,905
|{{percent and number|8031|17905|1}}
|{{percent and number|6266|17905|1}}
|{{percent and number|37|17905|1}}
|{{percent and number|3548|17905|1}}
|{{percent and number|5|17905|1}}
|{{percent and number|9|17905|1}}
|{{percent and number|0|17905|1}}
|{{percent and number|9|17905|1}}
|{{Flag|Ukraine}}
|-
|[[Slonim|Słonim]]
|16,251
|{{percent and number|8452|16251|1}}
|{{percent and number|6683|16251|1}}
|{{percent and number|9|16251|1}}
|{{percent and number|45|16251|1}}
|{{percent and number|656|16251|1}}
|{{percent and number|369|16251|1}}
|{{percent and number|2|16251|1}}
|{{percent and number|35|16251|1}}
|{{Flag|Belarus}}
|-
|[[Vawkavysk|Wołkowysk]]
|15,027
|{{percent and number|7448|15027|1}}
|{{percent and number|5827|15027|1}}
|{{percent and number|7|15027|1}}
|{{percent and number|10|15027|1}}
|{{percent and number|1038|15027|1}}
|{{percent and number|689|15027|1}}
|{{percent and number|3|15027|1}}
|{{percent and number|5|15027|1}}
|{{Flag|Belarus}}
|}

== Polish minority after World War II ==
Despite the expulsion of most of ethnic Poles from the Soviet Union between 1944 and 1958, the Soviet census of 1959 still counted around 1.5 million ethnic Poles remaining in the USSR:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Republic of the USSR
!Ethnic Poles in [[Soviet Census (1959)#Ethnic groups|1959 census]]
|-
|[[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Belarusian SSR]]
|538,881
|-
|[[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]]
|363,297
|-
|[[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic|Lithuanian SSR]]
|230,107
|-
|[[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|Latvian SSR]]
|59,774
|-
|[[Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic|Estonian SSR]]
|2,256
|-
|[[Soviet Union|rest of the USSR]]
|185,967
|-
!TOTAL
!1,380,282
|}
According to a more recent census, there were about 295,000 Poles in Belarus in 2009 (3.1% of the Belarus population).<ref name="2009census2">{{cite web|url=http://belstat.gov.by/homep/en/census/2009/pc2009.php|title=Population census 2009|publisher=belstat.gov.by|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004231628/http://belstat.gov.by/homep/en/census/2009/pc2009.php|archive-date=4 October 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=4 October 2013}}</ref>

== Notable people ==
{{Main|List of Kresy-born Poles}}
A number of influential figures in Polish history were born in the area of ''kresy'' (note: the redirected list does not include Poles born in the cities of Lwów (Lviv), and Wilno (Vilnius) - see [[List of people from Lviv]], [[List of people from Vilnius]]). The family of former President of Poland, [[Bronisław Komorowski]], allegedly hails from northern Lithuania.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kresy.pl/wydarzenia,spoleczenstwo?zobacz/bronislaw-komorowski-na-litwie-jestem-stad|title=Bronisław Komorowski na Litwie: Jestem stąd :: społeczeństwo|date=17 February 2011 |access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> The mother of [[Bogdan Zdrojewski]], [[Ministry of Culture and National Heritage|Minister of Culture and National Heritage]] is from [[Boryslav]],<ref>{{cite web|author=dook.pl |url=http://zdrojewski.info/pl/z-bliska/rodzina/ |title=Bogdan Zdrojewski - Rodzina |language=pl |publisher=Zdrojewski.info |access-date=2014-05-15}}</ref> and the father of former First Lady [[Jolanta Kwaśniewska]] was born in [[Wołyń]], where his sister was murdered in 1943 by the Ukrainian nationalists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/wydarzenia/artykuly/211943,ojciec-jolanty-kwasniewskiej-nie-zyje.html |title=Ojciec Jolanty Kwaśniewskiej nie żyje - Wiadomości i informacje z kraju - wydarzenia, komentarze - Dziennik.pl |date=13 October 2007 |publisher=Wiadomosci.dziennik.pl |access-date=2014-05-15}}</ref>

The macro region of [[Kresy]] denotes the Eastern historical provinces of the [[Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania]]. In the 20th century during the [[Second Republic of Poland]] it was the term for its Eastern Borderlands. Following the "[[Fourth Partition of Poland]]", the [[Tehran Conference|Tehran]], [[Yalta Conference|Yalta]] and [[Potsdam Conference]]s, in the wake of the [[Second World War]], ratified the annexation of the Kresy territories by the [[Soviet Union in World War II|Soviet Union]]. They were apportioned to [[Lithuania]], [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]] where they remain.

A number of notable or influential figures from Polish history were born in the former [[macroregion]] (note: the following list does not include Poles born in the cities of [[Lviv|Lwów (Lviv)]], and [[Vilnius|Wilno (Vilnius)]] - see [[List of people from Lviv|List of Leopolitans]], [[List of Vilnius-related people]]).

{{compact TOC|side=yes|seealso=yes|nobreak=yes|j=|q=|x=}}
{|
|valign="top" width=25%|

===A===
* [[Roman Aftanazy]], historian and librarian, chronicler of the residences of the Eastern Borderlands, born in [[Morshyn|Morszyn]], current Ukraine<ref>{{cite book |title=Kustosz i samotnik|author = Maciej Matwijów |chapter=Włodzimierz Roman Aftanazy (1914-2004). Szkic biograficzny|publisher= Ossolineum|place=Wrocław|date=2017|pages=13, 14|language=pl}}</ref>

===B===
* [[Jan Beyzym]], priest, teacher, [[Jesuit]] missionary in [[Madagascar]] born in [[Shepetivka|Stari Beyzymi]], currently in Ukraine<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20080818_beyzym_en.html|title=Jan Beyzym (1850-1912)|publisher=Holy See|access-date=23 November 2016}}</ref>
* [[Tadeusz Borowski]], writer and journalist, born in [[Zhitomir]], current Ukraine<ref>{{cite book|author=Borowski, Tadeusz|title=Postal indiscretions: the correspondence of Tadeusz Borowski - (''Niedyskrecje pocztowe: korespondencja Tadeusza Borowskiego'')|publisher= [[Northwestern University Press]]|date= 2007|isbn=978-0-8101-2203-1}}</ref>
* [[Jan Brzechwa]], poet, children's author and lawyer born in [[Żmerynka]], [[Podolia]], current Ukraine<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OL9tAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Jan+Brzechwa%22 Brzechwa, Jan (1898–1966)] ''The YIVO encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe'', Volume 1. ''[[Yale University Press]]'', 2008. {{ISBN|0-300-11903-8}}.</ref>

===C===
* [[Tadeusz Czacki]], historian, born in Poryck, now Pavlivka, current Ukraine<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Clash Of Nationalities At The University Of Vilnius, 1803-1832 |journal=[[Lituanus]]|date=Summer 1981|first=Stasys|last=Yla|volume=27|issue=1|url=http://www.lituanus.org/1981_2/81_2_03.htm|access-date=2008-07-06 }}</ref>
* [[Joseph Conrad]], novelist in English, born in [[Berdychiv]], current Ukraine<ref>J. H. Stape, ''The New Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. 103–04.[https://books.google.com/books?id=XSHRCAURGIAC&q=conrad+and+modernism&pg=PA203]</ref>
* [[Zbigniew Cybulski]], stage and film actor, born in Kniaze, current Ukraine<ref>{{IMDb name|id=0194193|name=Zbigniew Cybulski}}</ref>

===D===
* [[Ignacy Domeyko]], 19th-century geologist, born in Niedźwiadka Wielka, current Belarus<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Hutchison |editor1-first=Elizabeth Quay |editor2-last=Klubock |editor2-first=Thomas Miller |title=The Chile Reader: History, Culture, Politics |date=2014 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |page=157 |chapter=A Polish scientist among the Mapuche, Ignacio Domeyko|isbn= 978-0822353607}}</ref>
* [[Benedykt Dybowski]], naturalist and physician, born near [[Nowogródek]], current Belarus<ref>{{citation|mode=cs1|title=Opinions Rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature: Opinions 105 to 114|chapter=Opinion 105. Dybowski's (1926) Names of Crustacea Suppressed|series=Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections|date=1929|volume=73|issue=6|pages=1–3|hdl-access=free|hdl=10088/23619|id={{BHL page|8911139}}}}</ref>

===F===
* [[Feliks Falk]], film director, born in [[Ivano-Frankivsk|Stanisławów]], current Ukraine<ref>{{IMDb name|266138|Feliks Falk}}</ref>

===G===
* [[Mieczysław Gębarowicz]], art historian, soldier, custodian of cultural heritage<ref>{{cite web|author=Janusz Maciej Michałowski|title = Profesor Mieczysław Gębarowicz. Uczony, Strażnik Dóbr Narodowych, Obywatel Miasta "Zawsze Wiernego"|date = 1984|url =http://www.lwow.com.pl/rocznik/gebarowicz.html|language=pl|access-date=5 November 2019}}</ref>
* [[Zygmunt Gloger]], historian, archeologist, geographer and ethnographer, born in Kamionka Podolska, current Ukraine<ref name="lomza">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070401173336/http://www.lomza.friko.pl/ciekawostki/ludzie_gloger.htm Zygmunt Gloger - Starożytnik z Jeżewa.] Internet Archive. {{in lang|pl}}</ref>
* [[Artur Grottger]], painter, born in Otynevychi, current Ukraine<ref>[[The Polish Biographical Dictionary]], Vol. XX (Maria Józefa – Mathy Ignacy), ed. Polska Akademia Nauk, print. Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Wroclaw-Warsaw-Cracow-Danzig, 1975, p. 154.</ref>

===H===
* [[Mirosław Hermaszewski]], astronaut, born in Lipniki, current Ukraine<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/hermaszewski-wspomina-historie-swojej-rodziny-podczas-rzezi-wolynskiej/yqs2n |title=Hermaszewski wspomina historię swojej rodziny podczas rzezi wołyńskiej |date=11 July 2013 |access-date=1 September 2014 |language=pl |trans-title=Hermaszewski recalls history of his family during Volhynian slaughter}}</ref>

===I===
* [[Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]], writer and poet, born in [[Kuzmyno|Kalnik]], current Ukraine<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Czesław Miłosz]] | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R-MkT9vavwIC&q=Iwaszkiewicz | title=''The history of Polish literature'' |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |year=1983 |pages=389, 390, 487 |isbn=0-520-04477-0 }}</ref>

===J===
* [[Wladyslaw Marian Jakowicki]], soldier, physician, academic, rector of [[Stefan Batory University]], born in [[Vitebsk]], current Belarus<ref>Adam Redzik, [http://www.gomezurdanez.com/polonia/adamredzikpolishuniversitas.pdf Polish Universities During the Second World War], ''Encuentros de Historia Comparada Hispano-Polaca / Spotkania poświęcone historii porównawczej hiszpańsko-polskiej'' conference, 2004</ref>
* [[Aleksander Jełowicki]], Roman Catholic priest, publisher of [[Adam Mickiewicz]] and writer in Paris. born in [[Hubnyk]], now in Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aleksander |first=Jełowicki |title=Letter to Ksawera Grocholska |url=https://chopin.nifc.pl/en/chopin/list/401_priest-aleksander-jelowicki-to-ksawera-grocholska |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=chopin.nifc.pl}}</ref>

===K===
* [[Jerzy Kawalerowicz]], film director, born in [[Hvizdets|Gwoździec]], current Ukraine<ref>{{IMDb name|0442819|Jerzy Kawalerowicz}}</ref>
* [[Hugo Kołłątaj]], social and political activist, political thinker, historian and philosopher, born in Dederkały Wielkie, current Ukraine<ref>{{Cite web  | title = The Year of Hugo Kołłątaj | url = http://www.uj.edu.pl/documents/10172/30ba9fc6-3eca-49ff-8ae0-cc084c2ab226 | publisher = [[Jagiellonian University]] |pages= 12–14 | access-date = 14 May 2014 }}</ref>
* [[Tadeusz Konwicki]], film director and writer, born in [[Nowa Wilejka]], current Lithuania<ref>{{IMDb name|id=0465461|name=Tadeusz Konwicki}}</ref>
* [[Ryszard Kapuściński]], journalist, travel writer, [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel nominee]], born in [[Pinsk]], current Belarus<ref>{{cite web|author=Luis Sepúlveda |url=http://www.lemondediplomatique.cl/Ryszard-Kapuscinski-Simplemente-un.html |title=Ryszard Kapuscinski: Simplemente un Maestro |work=Le Monde Diplomatique |year=2008 |access-date=January 4, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]], national hero of [[Poland]], [[Lithuania]], the [[United States]] and [[Belarus]], born in the village of Mereczowszczyzna, current Belarus<ref>{{cite web|url=http://minsk.usembassy.gov/kosciuszko2015.html |title=U.S. Embassy Marks Birthday of Tadeusz Kościuszko With Donation to Museum |date=February 5, 2015 |publisher=U.S. Department of State |access-date=November 16, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117024931/http://minsk.usembassy.gov/kosciuszko2015.html |archive-date=November 17, 2015 }}</ref>
* [[Jerzy Kulczycki]], civil engineer, activist publisher and bookseller in London<ref name= "At Ks">{{cite web|language=pl|url=https://dzieje.pl/ksiazki/atakowac-ksiazka|title = Atakować książką|author = Szukała, Michał|website=dzieje.pl|date = 2016-09-30|access-date = 2022-01-25}}</ref>

===L===
* [[Tadeusz Łomnicki]], notable Polish actor of stage and screen, born in [[Pidhaitsi|Podhajce]], current Ukraine<ref>{{IMDb name|id=0518591|name=Tadeusz Łomnicki}}</ref>

===M===
* [[Stanisław Maczek]], tank commander in World War II, exiled in [[Scotland]], born in Szczerzec, current Ukraine<ref>McGilvray, Evan. Stanisław Maczek, Chapter 6, in Stachura, Peter. ed. ''The Poles in Britain 1940–2000'', p. 64. {{ISBN|0-7146-8444-9}}</ref>
* [[Kornel Makuszyński]], poet, creator of [[Koziolek Matolek]], born in [[Stryi|Stryj]], current Ukraine<ref>[http://culture.pl/en/artist/kornel-makuszynski Kornel Makuszyński] at Culture.pl</ref>
* [[Ernest Malinowski]], railway engineer builder, defender of [[Peru]], born in Seweryny, current Ukraine<ref>Davies, Norman. ''God's Playground A History of Poland: Volume II: 1795 to the Present''. Oxford University Press. 2005. p. 213.</ref>
* [[Tadeusz Manteuffel]], historian, medievalist, born in [[Rezekne]], now in Latvia<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul W. Knoll|title= "Forward: Tadeusz Manteuffel, The Man, The Historian, and Historiography," in Tadeusz Manteuffel, The Formation of the Polish State, The Period of Ducal Rule 963-1194|translator= Andrew Gorski |place=Detroit|publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]] |date=1982| pages=7–20}}</ref>
* [[Adam Mickiewicz]], a [[Bard]] of Poland, poet born in [[Zavosse|Zaosie]], current Belarus<ref>{{cite book|author=Roman Robert Koropeckyj|title=Adam Mickiewicz: The Life of a Romantic|url=https://archive.org/details/adammickiewiczli00koro_0|url-access=registration|access-date=24 March 2013|year=2008|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-4471-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/adammickiewiczli00koro_0/page/93 93]–95}}</ref>
* [[Czesław Miłosz]], poet, prose writer, translator [[Nobel Laureate in Literature]], diplomat, born in Seteniai, current Lithuania<ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Companion to English Literature|editor1-first=Margaret|editor1-last=Drabble|year=1985|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-866130-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00drab/page/652 652]|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00drab/page/652}}</ref>
* [[Stanisław Moniuszko]], Polish/Belarusian conductor, composer and teacher born in [[Minsk Governorate|Ubiel]], current Belarus<ref>[http://www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music/composer/moniuszko.html University of Southern California: Polish Music Center |Stanisław Moniuszko] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060410181303/http://www.usc.edu/dept/polish_music/composer/moniuszko.html |date=2006-04-10 }} Retrieved February 18, 2013.</ref>

===N===
* [[Gabriel Narutowicz]], first President of the [[Second Polish Republic]], born in [[Telšiai]], current Lithuania<ref>Watt, Richard M. ''Bitter Glory: Poland and Its Fate, 1918 to 1939'', New York, [[Simon & Schuster]], 1979, {{ISBN|0-671-22625-8}} p.168</ref>
* [[Adam Naruszewicz]], poet, historian, dramatist, translator, publicist and [[Jesuit]], born in [[Pinsk]], current Belarus<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adam-Naruszewicz|title=Adam Naruszewicz {{!}} Polish bishop and historian|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2018-10-08|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz]], poet, playwright and statesman, born near [[Brześć nad Bugiem]], current Belarus<ref>{{cite web|title=To George Washington from Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, 14 June 1798|url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-02-02-0253|website=founders.archives.gov|publisher=Founders Online|access-date=2 April 2018|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Czesław Niemen]], singer, born in Stare Wasiliszki, current Belarus<ref>[http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2491 Czesław Niemen at ProgArchives.com] – photographs, reviews, music, discography</ref>

===O===
* [[Napoleon Orda]], Polish-Lithuanian musician, composer and artist, born in Worocewicze, current Belarus<ref>Vytautas Levandauskas. [http://www.bernardinai.lt/index.php?url=articles/59120%C2%A0%3C/div%3E|Vituolis Joneliūnas. Napoleonas Orda: nors garsino Lietuvą, čia beveik nežinomas]. (in Lithuanian) Retrieved on 2007-12-13</ref>
* [[Eliza Orzeszkowa]], [[Positivism in Poland|Positivist]] novelist, lost out [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] to [[Leo Tolstoy]] and [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]], born in Milkowszczyzna, current Belarus<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/biography/Eliza-Orzeszkowa  "Eliza Orzeszkowa" from the Encyclopædia Britannica.] Retrieved September 22, 2011.</ref>
* [[Stanisław Julian Ostroróg]], Crimean war veteran, exile, London and Paris early portrait photographer born in [[Mogilev]] current Belarus<ref>Ostroróg, Aneta. (2005). "Zapomniany fotograf Stanisław Julian Ostroróg (1834-1890) ''Pamiętnik Biblioteki Kórnickiej'' 27, 217-225 ("The forgotten Photographer Stanisław Julian Ostroróg (1834-1890) - ''Journal of the Kórnik Library'') http://bazhum.muzhp.pl/media//files/Pamietnik_Biblioteki_Kornickiej/Pamietnik_Biblioteki_Kornickiej-r2005-t27/Pamietnik_Biblioteki_Kornickiej-r2005-t27-s217-225/Pamietnik_Biblioteki_Kornickiej-r2005-t27-s217-225.pdf {{in lang|pl}} retrieved 1-2-2018.</ref>

===P===
* [[Ignacy Jan Paderewski]], composer, diplomat, pianist, prime minister of Poland, born the village of Kurilovka, current Ukraine<ref>{{cite book |author1=Carol R. Ember |author2=Melvin Ember |author3=Ian Skoggard |title=Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World |publisher=Springer |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7QEjPVyd9YMC&q=%22Polish+Central+Relief+Committee%22  |page=260 |isbn=0306483211}}</ref>
* [[Aniela Pawlikowska]], draughtswoman, graphic artist, illustrator, painter<ref>[https://mnk.pl/exhibitions/lela-pawlikowska-drawings "Lela Pawlikowska. Drawings]", Pawlikowska Exhibition in [[Kraków Cloth Hall]], 16-23.11.2016. in English</ref>
* [[Józef Piłsudski]], statesman, Chief of State, First Marshal, and leader of the Second Polish Republic, born in [[Zułów]], current Lithuania<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cienciala |first=Anna M.|year=2011|title=The Foreign Policy of Józef Pi£sudski and Józef Beck, 1926–1939: Misconceptions and Interpretations|journal=[[The Polish Review]]|volume=56 |issue=1/2 |pages=111–51|doi=10.2307/41549951 |jstor=41549951|hdl=1808/10043|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
* [[Stanisław August Poniatowski]], last King of Poland, born in [[Voŭčyn]], current Belarus<ref>{{Citation|author=Daniel Stone|title=The Polish-Lithuanian state, 1386–1795|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LFgB_l4SdHAC&pg=PA274|access-date=5 September 2011|date=1 September 2001|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-98093-5|pages=274–275}}</ref>
* [[Jan Potocki]], writer and adventurer, author of ''[[The Manuscript Found in Saragossa]]'', born in Pikov, current Ukraine<ref>{{cite web|last=Howe|first=Justin|date=2009-03-10|url=http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/03/jan-potocki-and-the-manuscript-found-in-saragossa|title=Jan Potocki and the Manuscript Found in Saragossa|work=Tor.com|access-date=2018-11-30}}</ref>
* [[Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki]], magnate and military leader, after whom the city of [[Stanyslaviv|Stanisławów]] was named, born in [[Pidhaitsi|Podhajce]], current Ukraine<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\P\O\PotockiStanisK5awRewera.htm | title=Potocki, Stanisław Rewera }}</ref>

===R===
* [[Mikołaj Rej]], renaissance poet and prose writer in Polish, born in [[Zurawno]], current Ukraine<ref>[http://www.polona.pl/dlibra/collectiondescription2?dirids=22 Mikołaj Rej collection (with biography and body of works), ''National Digital Library'' (Cyfrowa Biblioteka Narodowa ''Polona''), 2006.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903123328/http://www.polona.pl/dlibra/collectiondescription2?dirids=22 |date=September 3, 2011 }} {{in lang|en}}</ref>
* [[Edward Rydz-Śmigły]], marshal of Poland, born in Lapshin, current Ukraine<ref>Seidner, Stanley S., "Reflections from Rumania and Beyond: Marshal Śmigły-Rydz Rydz in Exile," The Polish Review vol. xxii, no. 2, 1977, pp.&nbsp;29–51</ref>
* [[Wacław Rzewuski]], drama writer, poet, Grand Crown [[Hetman]], ancestor of [[Honoré de Balzac|Balzac]]'s wife, born in Rozdol, current Ukraine<ref>Pierrot, Roger. ''Ève de Balzac''. Paris: Éditions Stock, 1999. {{ISBN|2-234-05050-2}}. French. Page 3.</ref>

===S===
* [[Konstanty Skirmunt]], foreign minister (1921-1922), representative to the [[League of Nations]], ambassador to [[London]], born in [[Moładava]], current Belarus<ref>{{cite book|title=Genoa, Rapallo, and European Reconstruction in 1922|series=Papers of The German historical Institute |editor=Carole Fink |editor2=Axel Frohn |editor3=Jürgen Heideking|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date= 2002|isbn=9780521522809}}</ref>
* [[Juliusz Słowacki]], the father of modern Polish drama, born in [[Krzemieniec]], current Ukraine<ref>{{cite book|author1=Charles Dudley Warner|author2=Lucia Isabella Gilbert Runkle|author3=Hamilton Wright Mabie|author4=George H. Warner|title=Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern: A-Z|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SuYpAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA13508|access-date=14 February 2011|year=1902|publisher=J. A. Hill & company|pages=13508–13510}}</ref>
* [[John III Sobieski]], King of Poland, saviour of Europe at [[Battle of Vienna]], born in [[Olesko]], current Ukraine<ref>{{cite book|author1=Oskar Halecki |author2=W: F. Reddaway |author3=J. H. Penson |title=The Cambridge History of Poland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N883AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA547|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=978-1-00-128802-4|pages=547–548}}</ref>
* [[Karol Szymanowski]], pianist, composer, born in Tymoszówka, current Ukraine<ref>Wightman, Alistair. ''Karol Szymanowski. His Life and Work'', Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Company, 1999</ref>

===T===
* [[Jerzy Tabeau]], cardiologist, as an imprisoned medical student he broke out of [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] to report about the genocide, born in [[Zabolotiv]], current Ukraine<ref>Henryk Świebocki, Wacław Długoborski, Franciscek Piper The resistance movement Page 188 2000 "534, account by F. Szlachcic. 513 APMAB, Mat. RO, vol. 1, p. 38, secret message of July 14, 1943, from Stanisław Kłodziński. The message is about the planned escape of five prisoners, including Roman Cieliczko and Jerzy Tabeau ("Jerzy ...)"</ref>
* [[Wiktor Thommée]], Brigadier General of the Polish Army, born in [[Švenčionys]], current Lithuania<ref>{{cite book | author=Jacek Macyszyn | title=Generałowie polscy | year=1999 | publisher=Pruszków, Ajaks | isbn=83-87103-72-1 |language=pl}}</ref>
* [[Romuald Traugutt]], commander of the [[January Uprising]], born in the village of Szostakowo, near [[Brześć nad Bugiem]], current Belarus<ref>[[Józef Jarzębowski]]. ''Traugutt: dokumenty, listy, wspomnienia, wypisy''. London: Veritas, 1970. Traugutt's edited correspondence and memoirs (in Polish)
</ref>
* [[Michał Tyszkiewicz (Egyptologist)|Michał Tyszkiewicz]], landowner, collector, [[Egyptology|egyptologist]], born in [[Wolozyn|Wołożyn]], current Belarus<ref>[http://www.egiptologia.pl/epr_ebi.html Leszek Zinkow] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818164439/http://www.egiptologia.pl/epr_ebi.html |date=2007-08-18 }}</ref>

===W===
* [[Anna Walentynowicz]], [[Solidarnosc|Solidarity]] legend, born in [[Rivne|Równe]], current Ukraine<ref>{{cite web|last1=Szporer|first1=Michael|title=Anna Walentynowicz and the Legacy of Solidarity in Poland|url=http://www.wyszkowski.com.pl/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1797:anna-walentynowicz-and-the-legacy-ofsolidarity-in-poland|website=wyszkowski.com.pl|access-date=29 December 2015}}</ref>
* [[Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki]], King of Poland, born in [[Wiśniowiec]], current Ukraine<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/379905/Michael-Wisniowiecki|title=Michael Wisniowiecki – biography – king of Poland|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=5 November 2015}}</ref>

===Z===
* [[Gabriela Zapolska]], novelist, theatre critic and actor, born in Podhajce, current Ukraine<ref>{{IMDb name|id=0953250|name=Gabriela Zapolska}}</ref>
* [[Franciszek Żwirko]], aviator, born in [[Švenčionys]], current Lithuania<ref>{{cite book  | last = Konieczny  | first = Jerzy  |author2=Tadeusz Malinowski   | title = Mała encyklopedia lotników polskich  | publisher = Wydawnictwa Komunikacji i Łączności  | year = 1983 | location = Warsaw  | isbn = 83-206-0337-4}}  Polish Encyclopaedia of Pilots (in Polish)</ref>
|}
* [[Jozef J. Zwislocki]], physicist and neuroscientist, born in Lwów.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jozef John Zwislocki |url=http://www.isr.syr.edu/faculty/zwislocki.html |access-date=June 4, 2018 |publisher=Institute for Sensory Research}}</ref>

== Cradle of Polish culture ==
[[File:Mapa rozsiedlenia ludności polskiej z uwzględnieniem spisów z 1916 roku.jpg|thumb|Map of areas where Polish was used as a primary language in 1916]]
[[File:Mapa rozsiedlenia ludności polskiej na terenie Litwy w 1929.jpg|thumb|Map of the Polish population living in Lithuania on the basis of elections to the parliament of Lithuania in 1923, censuses in 1921 and elections to the Polish parliament in 1922]]
[[File:Poles Kresy 19th century.png|thumb|Map of the distribution of Poles in Kresy during the late 19th century {{legend|#710023|over 50% Polish}}  {{legend|#990030|30% – 50% Polish}}  {{legend|#e80000|20% – 30% Polish}}  {{legend|#ff2a00|10% – 20% Polish}}  {{legend|#ff5b00|5% – 10% Polish}}  {{legend|#fff600|3% – 5% Polish}}  {{legend|#fdff74|1% – 3% Polish}} {{legend|#c3c3c3|0% – 1% Polish}}]]
Since some of the most distinguished names of Polish literature and music were born in ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'', e.g. [[Mikołaj Rej]], [[Adam Mickiewicz]], [[Juliusz Słowacki]], [[Karol Szymanowski]] or [[Czesław Miłosz]], ''Eastern Borderlands'' have featured repeatedly in the Polish [[Literary canon]]. Mickiewicz's [[Pan Tadeusz]] begins with the Polish language invocation, "O Lithuania, my fatherland, thou art like good health...." Other notable works located in ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'', are [[Nad Niemnem]], [[Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass]], [[With Fire and Sword]], [[Fire in the Steppe]]. In Communist Poland, all ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}''-related topics, such as Poland's eastern centuries old heritage, including ecclesiastical architecture, country houses and stately homes down to the [[Massacres of Poles in Wołyń]] were banned from publication for Soviet propaganda reasons, because these lands now belonged to the Soviet Union. In official documents, people born in the Eastern Borderlands were declared as born in the Soviet Union, and very few ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}''-themed books or films were passed by the state censor at that time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazetawroclawska.pl/magazyn/163550,pamiec-o-kresach,id,t.html|title=Gazeta Wrocławska - Wiadomości Wrocław, Informacje Wrocław|date=18 September 2009 |access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref>  One of the exceptions was the immensely popular comedy trilogy by [[Sylwester Chęciński]] (''[[Sami swoi]]'' from 1967, ''Nie ma mocnych'' from 1974, and ''Kochaj albo rzuć'' from 1977). The trilogy tells the story of two quarreling families, who after the end of the Second World War were resettled from current Western Ukraine to Lower Silesia, after Poland was shifted westwards.

After the collapse of the Communist system, the old ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' returned as a Polish cultural theme in the form of historical polemics. Numerous books and albums were published about the Eastern Borderlands, frequently with original photos from the prewar era. Examples of such publications include:

* [[Roman Aftanazy]]. ''Dzieje rezydencji na dawnych kresach Rzeczypospolitej''. Wrocław: Wydawnictwo [[Ossolineum]], 1991–1997. ''History of Residences in Poland's Former Eastern Borderlands'', (1991–1997), listing and describing in a monumental eleven volume work the cultural heritage contained in the myriad estates and grand residences in the once Polish Kresy and [[Inflanty Voivodeship|Inflanty]] regions.
* ''Kresy in Photos of [[Henryk Poddębski]]'', published in May 2010 in Lublin, with a foreword by people with a ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' background - [[Anna Seniuk]], [[Krzesimir Dębski]] and [[Maciej Płażyński]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lublin.gazeta.pl/lublin/1,35640,7843046,Kresy_wschodnie_na_214_przedwojennych_zdjeciach.html|title=Wyborcza.pl|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> 
* ''The World of Kresy'', with numerous photos, postcards and maps<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dsh.waw.pl/pl/8_832 |title=Dom Spotkań z Historią &#124; "Świat Kresów" – drugie wydanie |publisher=Dsh.waw.pl |access-date=2014-05-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524153437/http://www.dsh.waw.pl/pl/8_832 |archive-date=2014-05-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 
* ''Sentimental Journeys. Travel across Kresy with [[Andrzej Wajda]] and [[Daniel Olbrychski]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://selkar.pl/podroze_sentymentalne_podrozuj_po_kresach_z_andrzejem_wajda_i_danielem_olbrychskim_czarnowski_jakub_p_201299.html |title=Przedszkole pięciolatka pakiet - Kopała Jolanta, Tokarska Elż |publisher=Selkar.pl |access-date=2014-05-15}}</ref>
* ''The Encyclopedia of Kresy'', with 3600 articles, and foreword by another famous person from ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'', [[Stanisław Lem]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ceneo.pl/32612|title=Książka Encyklopedia kresów - Ceny i opinie - Ceneo.pl|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> Articles about the Eastern Borderlands frequently appear in Polish newspapers and magazines. The local office of ''[[Gazeta Wyborcza]]'' in Wrocław in late 2010 began a ''Kresy Family Album'', stories and photos of those who were forced to move from the East.

In the first half of 2011, ''[[Rzeczpospolita (newspaper)|Rzeczpospolita]]'' daily published a series called "The Book of Eastern Borderlands" (''Księga kresów wschodnich'').<ref>[http://www.rp.pl/ksiegakresow ''Wydania''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608220036/http://www.rp.pl/ksiegakresow |date=2011-06-08 }} rp.pl</ref> The July 2012 issue of the [[Uważam Rze|Uważam Rze Historia]] magazine was dedicated to the Eastern Borderlands and their importance in Polish history and culture.<ref>[https://pliki.ebookoo.pl/index.php?sample=141488&token=9b11833f609225628c95c2206e785399201603061732 Uważam Rze Historia (supplement), lipiec 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518154026/https://pliki.ebookoo.pl/index.php?sample=141488&token=9b11833f609225628c95c2206e785399201603061732 |date=2017-05-18 }}.</ref>

== Present day ==
[[File:Polacy-na-litwie.png|thumb|200px|Grey: Areas with majority Polish population in modern Lithuania. Red: pre-World War II Polish-Lithuanian border]]
The territory known to Poles as ''{{lang|pl|Kresy}}'' is now partitioned off between the states of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. Ethnic Poles still live in those areas: in Lithuania, they are the largest ethnic minority in the country (see [[Poles in Lithuania]]), in Belarus, they are the second largest ethnic minority in the country after Russians (see [[Poles in Belarus]]), and in Ukraine, they officially number 144,130, but some Polish organizations claim that the number of Poles in Ukraine may be as many as 2 million, most of them assimilated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rp.pl/artykul/412422.html?print=tak|title=2 miliony czy 146 tysięcy?|access-date=2 July 2016|archive-date=27 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427054658/http://www.rp.pl/artykul/412422.html?print=tak|url-status=dead}}</ref> (see [[Poles in Ukraine]]). Furthermore, there is a 50,000 [[Poles in Latvia|Polish minority in Latvia]]. In Lithuania and Belarus, Poles are more numerous than in Ukraine. This is the result of the [[Polish population transfers (1944–1946)]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oGmTs2SceAgC&q=%22expulsion+of+Poles%22+USSR&pg=PA135|title = Redrawing Nations: Ethnic Cleansing in East-Central Europe, 1944-1948|isbn = 9780742510944|last1 = Ther|first1 = Philipp|last2 = Siljak|first2 = Ana|year = 2001| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}</ref> as well as [[Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia|Massacres of Poles in Volhynia]]. Those Poles who survived the slaughter begged for the opportunity to emigrate.<ref name="wyborcza1"/>

Many Polish organizations are active in the former Eastern Borderlands, such as the Association of Poles in Ukraine, [[Association of Polish Culture of the Lviv Land]], the Federation of Polish Organizations in Ukraine, [[Union of Poles in Belarus]], and the [[Association of Poles in Lithuania]]. There are Polish sports clubs ([[Pogoń Lwów]], [[FK Polonia Vilnius]]), newspapers ([[Gazeta Lwowska]], [[Kurier Wileński]]), radio stations (in Lviv and Vilnius), many theatres, schools, choirs and folk ensembles. Poles living in ''Kresy'' are helped by a government-sponsored organization [[Fundacja Pomoc Polakom na Wschodzie]], and by other organizations, such as the Association of Help of Poles in the East Kresy (see also [[Karta Polaka]]). Money is frequently collected to help those Poles who live in ''Kresy'', and there are several annual events, such as "Christmas Package for a Polish Veteran in Kresy", and "Summer with Poland", sponsored by [[Association "Polish Community"]], in which Polish children from ''Kresy'' are invited to visit Poland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dzienniklodzki.pl/wakacje/432777,dzieci-z-kresow-zwiedzaja-lodz-zdjecia,id,t.html|title=Dzieci z Kresów zwiedzają Łódź [ZDJĘCIA]|first=Michał|last=Meksa|date=28 July 2011 |access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> Polish language handbooks and films, as well as medicines and clothes are collected and sent to ''Kresy''. Books are most often sent to Polish schools which exist there&nbsp;— for example, in December 2010, University of Wrocław organized an event called "Become a Polish Santa Claus and Give a Book to a Polish Child in Kresy".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ksiazka.net.pl/index.php?id=4&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=6825&cHash=0882d0da2f|title=Zostań polskim świętym Mikołajem - podaruj książkę polskiemu dziecku na Kresach.|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> Polish churches and cemeteries (such as [[Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów]]) are renovated with money from Poland. For example, in [[Nysa, Poland|Nysa]], money is collected to renovate the Roman Catholic church in Łopatyn near Lviv,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nysa24.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=214:opatyn-nyskie-serca-na-kresach&catid=1:nysa&Itemid=307 |title=Łopatyn - nyskie serca na kresach |access-date=2011-10-22 |archive-date=2012-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425083028/http://www.nysa24.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=214:opatyn-nyskie-serca-na-kresach&catid=1:nysa&Itemid=307 |url-status=dead }}</ref> while residents of [[Oława]] collect funds to renovate the church in Sasiv, also in the area of Lviv.<ref>[http://www.gazeta-olawa.pl/artykul-1144-aby-nie-zapomniec-gdzie-sa-nasze-korzenie.html Aby nie zapomnieć gdzie są nasze korzenie...]</ref> Also, physicians from Kraków's organization Doctors of Hope regularly visit Eastern Borderlands, and the Polish Ministry of Education runs a special program, which sends Polish teachers to the former Soviet Union. In 2007, more than 700 teachers worked in the East, most of them in ''Kresy''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rp.pl/artykul/428213,674323-700-kresowych-nauczycieli.html |title=700 kresowych nauczycieli |access-date=2011-10-22 |archive-date=2015-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427072602/http://www.rp.pl/artykul/428213,674323-700-kresowych-nauczycieli.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Studio East of Polish TV Wrocław organizes an event called "Save your grandfather's tomb from oblivion" (''Mogiłę pradziada ocal od zapomnienia''), during which students from [[Lower Silesia]] visit Western Ukraine, to clean Polish cemeteries there. In July 2011, about 150 students cleaned 16 cemeteries in the areas of Lviv, [[Ternopil]], [[Podolia]] and [[Pokuttya]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvp.pl/wroclaw/publicystyczne/studio-wschod/mogile-pradziada-ocal-od-zapomnienia/wakacje-na-kresowych-cmentarzach/4965266|title=TVP3 Wrocław - Telewizja Polska S.A.|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref>

Despite wars and [[ethnic cleansing]] many treasures of Polish culture still remain in the East. In Vilnius, there is the [[Wróblewski Library]], with 160,000 volumes and 30,000 manuscripts, which now belong to the [[Lithuanian Academy of Sciences]]. In Lviv, there is the [[Ossolineum]], one of the most important Polish culture centres. Adolf Juzwenko, current president of Wrocław's office of the Ossolineum, says that in 1945, there was a mass public campaign in Poland, aimed at transporting the whole Ossolineum to Wrocław. It succeeded in recovering only 200,000 volumes, as the Soviets decided that the bulk of the library had to remain in Lviv.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wyborcza.pl/swoiobcy/1,110847,8859059,Jak_przesiedlic_kulture_pozostawiona_na_Kresach.html|title=Gazeta Wyborcza, Jak przesiedlić kulturę pozostawioną na Kresach, interview with Adolf Juzwenko, 2010-12-23|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref>

=== In contemporary Poland ===
[[File:Kresy Poles in modern Poland.png|thumb|Percentage of Kresy Poles in modern Poland by region.]]
Even though Poland lost its Eastern Borderlands in the aftermath of World War II, Poles connected with the Kresy still have some affection for those lands. Since Poles from current Western Ukraine mostly moved to [[Silesia]]. The cities of [[Wrocław]] and [[Gliwice]] are regarded as ''miasta lwowskie'' (cities of Lwów affinity), while [[Szczecin]], [[Gdańsk]] and [[Olsztyn]] are regarded as ''miasta wileńskie'' (cities of Wilno affinity).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rp.pl/artykul/55362,582777-Kresowiacy--na-nowym-miejscu.html |title=Kresowiacy na nowym miejscu, Rzeczpospolita daily |access-date=2011-10-19 |archive-date=2015-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427053112/http://www.rp.pl/artykul/55362,582777-Kresowiacy--na-nowym-miejscu.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Lwów's [[Ossolineum]] Foundation, its collections and famous library are now located in Wrocław. Polish academics from Lwów established the Polish [[University of Wrocław]] (taking over from the old German University of Breslau) and [[Silesian University of Technology]] in [[Gliwice]]. At the same time, Polish academics from Vilnius founded [[Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń]] (even though [[Toruń]] belonged to Poland before the outbreak of [[World War II]] before 1939).

There are numerous Kresy-oriented organizations, with the largest one, World Congress of Kresy Inhabitants (''Światowy Kongres Kresowian''), located in [[Bytom]], and branches scattered across Poland, and abroad. The Congress organizes annual World Convention and Pilgrimage of Kresy Inhabitants to [[Jasna Góra Monastery]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kresowianie.com/article.php?id=121&d=15|title=Światowy Kongres Kresowian|access-date=2 July 2016|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035734/http://www.kresowianie.com/article.php?id=121&d=15|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Other important ''Kresy'' organizations, active in contemporary Poland, include:
* ''Polskie Towarzystwo Miłośników Miasta Krzemieńca i Ziemi Krzemienieckiej'' (Polish Association of Lovers of Krzemieniec and Krzemieniec Land) from [[Poznań]].
* ''Stowarzyszenie Kresowe "Podkamień"'' (Kresy Association "Podkamien") from [[Wołów]],
* ''Stowarzyszenie Odra-Niemen'' (Association [[Odra (Poland)|Odra]] - [[Niemen]]) from Wrocław,
* ''Stowarzyszenie Przyjaciół Ziemi Drohobyckiej'' (Association of Friends of [[Drohobycz]] Land) from [[Legnica]],
* ''Stowarzyszenie Rodzin Osadników Wojskowych i Cywilnych Kresów Wschodnich'' (Association of Families of [[Osadnik]]s of Eastern Borderlands) from Warsaw,
* ''Towarzystwo Miłośników Kultury Kresowej'' (Association of Friends of Kresy Culture) from Wrocław,
* ''Towarzystwo Miłośników Wołynia i Polesia'' (Association of Lovers of Wołyn and Polesie) from Warsaw,
* ''Towarzystwo Miłośników Lwowa i Kresów Południowo-Wschodnich'' (Association of Lovers of Lwów and Southeastern Kresy) from [[Wrocław]], with branches in Brzeg, Bydgoszcz, Bytom, Chełm, Gdańsk, Jelenia Góra, Kłodzko, Kraków, Leszno, Lublin, Poznań, Szczecinek, Świdwin, Warszawa, Węgliniec and Zabrze,
* ''Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Grodna i Wilna'' (Association of Friends of Grodno and Wilno), with branches in Białystok, Ełk, Gdańsk, Giżycko, Lublin, Łódź, Ostrołęka, Stargard Szczeciński, Warszawa, Węgorzewo, Wrocław,
* ''Związek Sybirakow'' (Association of [[Sybirak]]s) from Warsaw, with branches scattered across Poland and abroad.

[[File:Moładaŭ, Skirmunt. Моладаў, Скірмунт (N. Orda, 1875).jpg|thumb|the [[Konstanty Skirmunt|Skirmunt]] estate, [[Moładava|Moładaŭ]], by [[Napoleon Orda]] 1875]]
Every year, in the [[Masuria]]n town of [[Mrągowo]], there is a ''Festiwal Kultury Kresowej'' (Festival of Kresy Culture), sponsored among others by the [[Senate of the Republic of Poland]] and the Minister of Culture, with the patronage of the First Lady. The Festival is broadcast by [[TVP2]] and [[TVP Polonia]], and in 2011 it was organized for the 17th time. Among participants of the 2011 Festival, there were such artists, as Folk Ensemble Mozyrzanka from [[Mozyr]], Children and Youth Band Tęcza from [[Minsk]], Folk Band Kresowianka from [[Ivyanets]], Polish Academic Choir Zgoda from [[Brest, Belarus|Brest]], Instrumental Band Biedronki from [[Minsk]], Vocal Duo Wspólna wędrówka from Minsk, Children's Polonia Ensemble Dolinianka from Stara Huta (Ukraine), Ensemble Fujareczka from [[Sambir]], Ensemble Boryslawiacy from [[Boryslav]], Ensemble Niebo do Wynajecia from Stralhivci (Ukraine), Polish Dance and Song Ensemble Wilenka from Vilnius, Dance and Song Band Troczenie from [[Trakai]], Band Wesołe Wilno from Vilnius, Song and Dance Ensemble Kotwica from [[Kaunas]], and Folk and Polish Folklore Dance and Song Ensemble Syberyjski Krakowiak from [[Abakan]] in [[Siberia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.it.mragowo.pl/imprezy-festiwal-kultury-kresowej,23,1621,pl.html|title=Festiwal Kultury Kresowej - Informacja Turystyczna w Mrągowie|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref>

Other notable Kresy-oriented festivals are:
* ''Dzień Kresowiaka'' (Kresy Inhabitant Day) in the village of Łagiewniki near [[Malbork]],
* ''Dzień Kresowy'' (Kresy Day) in [[Wschowa]],
* ''Dzień Kultury Kresowej'' (Day of Kresy Culture) in [[Kędzierzyn-Koźle]],
* ''Dni Kultury Kresowej'' (Days of Kresy Culture) in [[Białystok]],
* ''Dni Kultury Kresowej'' (Days of Kresy Culture) in [[Brzeg]],
* ''Dni Kultury Kresowej'' (Days of Kresy Culture) in [[Prochowice]],
* ''Kaziuki'' (''[[Kaziuko mugė]]''), an annual folk arts and crafts fair, which takes place in [[Vilnius]], is organized in several Polish cities ([[Gdańsk]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gdansk.pl/sport,512,2399.html |title=Kaziuki w Gdańsku - litewskie święto nad Motławą |access-date=2011-10-24 |archive-date=2016-08-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817162946/http://www.gdansk.pl/sport,512,2399.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Olsztyn]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.olsztyn24.com/news/8910-kaziuki-w-olsztynie.html|title=Olsztyn24 - Kaziuki w Olsztynie|last=Wacław|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> [[Poznań]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://warszawa.naszemiasto.pl/artykul/wilenskie-kaziuki-w-poznaniu,3203575,art,t,id,tm.html|title=Wileńskie Kaziuki w Poznaniu|last=profile|date=1 March 2011|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> [[Suwałki]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wspolczesna.pl/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090302/REG10/308402809|title=Kaziuki w Suwałkach|first=Fot. K.|last=Sikorska|date=2 March 2009 |access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> [[Warsaw]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.niam.pl/pl/artykul/1014-kaziuki_w_warszawie|title=Kaziuki w Warszawie|first=Avigail Holdings Sp. z|last=o.o.|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref>), on initiative of Poles resettled from Vilnius,
* ''Kresowy Festiwal Polonijny Młodzieży Szkolnej'' (Kresy Festival of [[Polish diaspora|Polonia]] Schoolchildren) in [[Zamość]],
* ''Legnickie Dni Kultury Kresowej'' (Legnica Days of Kresy Culture) in [[Legnica]], [[Lubin]], [[Jawor]], [[Chojnów]],
* ''Lipcowy Festiwal Kresowy (July Kresy Festival) in [[Rejowiec, Lublin Voivodeship|Rejowiec]],
* ''Międzynarodowy Festiwal Kultury Kresowej'' (International Festival of Kresy Culture) in [[Jarosław]],
* ''Prezentacja Kultury Polaków z Kresów Wschodnich i Bukowiny'' (Show of Culture of Poles from Eastern Borderlands and [[Bucovina]]) in [[Zielona Góra]], [[Szprotawa]], [[Nowa Sól]], [[Kożuchów]], [[Żagań]]
* ''Świdnicki Dzień Kultury Kresowej i Lwowa'' (Świdnica Day of Kresy and Lwów Culture) in [[Świdnica]].

In [[Lubaczów]] is a Museum of Kresy, and there is a project, supported by local government, to create a Museum of Eastern Borderlands in Wrocław, the city where a number of Poles from Kresy settled after World War II.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wroclaw.gazeta.pl/wroclaw/1,78999,9033220,Czy_we_Wroclawiu_powstanie_Muzeum_Kresow_Wschodnich_.html|title=Wyborcza.pl|access-date=2 July 2016|archive-date=1 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401132922/http://wroclaw.gazeta.pl/wroclaw/1,78999,9033220,Czy_we_Wroclawiu_powstanie_Muzeum_Kresow_Wschodnich_.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Numerous photo albums and books, depicting cities, towns and landscapes of ''Kresy'' are published every year in Poland. In [[Chełm]], there is Kresy Bicycle Marathon, Polish Radio Białystok every week broadcasts ''Kresy Magazine'', dedicated to the history and present times of the Eastern Borderlands. Every Sunday, Polish Radio Katowice broadcasts a program based on famous prewar [[Wesoła Lwowska Fala|Lwów's Merry Wave]], every Tuesday, Polish Radio Rzeszów broadcasts a program ''Kresy Landscapes''. In Wrocław, the Association of Remembrance of Victims of Ukrainian Nationalists publishes ''Na Rubieży'' (''On the Border'') magazine. Among best known ''Kresy'' activists of contemporary Poland are Father [[Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski]], and Dr. Tadeusz Kukiz, father of popular singer [[Paweł Kukiz]]. Since 2007, annual medals Heritage of Eastern Borderlands are awarded in Wrocław. The 2011 recipient was emeritus [[Archbishop of Wrocław]], [[Henryk Gulbinowicz]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazetawroclawska.pl/aktualnosci/390083,wroclaw-medal-dla-kardynala-gubinowicza,id,t.html|title=Wrocław: Medal dla kardynała Gubinowicza|last=MGE|date=8 April 2011 |access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> Participants of annual Katyń Motorcycle Raid (''Motocyklowy Rajd Katyński'') always visit Polish centers in ''Kresy'', giving presents to children, and meeting local Poles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114877,10385943,Komandor_Rajdu_Katynskiego__kresy_to_nasza_historia.html|title=Komandor Rajdu Katyńskiego: kresy to nasza historia|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref>

The program of 2011 Days of Kresy Culture (October 22–23) in [[Brzeg]] covered such events, as: ''Kresy'' themed cabaret, promotion of ''Kresy'' books, Eastern Borderlands cuisine, mass in a local church, meetings with ''Kresy'' activists and scholars, and theatre shows of Brzeg's Garrison Club as well as Lwów Eaglets Middle School number 3 in Brzeg. Organizers of the festival assured that for the two days Brzeg would turn into the "capital of interwar Polish Kresy".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://panorama.info.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4046:kresowiacy-spotkajmy-si-w-brzegu&catid=1:z-ostatnich-dni|title=panorama.info.pl|access-date=2 July 2016|archive-date=14 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914064137/http://panorama.info.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4046:kresowiacy-spotkajmy-si-w-brzegu&catid=1:z-ostatnich-dni|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In January, February and March 2012, [[Centre for Public Opinion Research]] did a survey, asking Poles about their ties to Kresy. It turned out that almost 15% of the population of Poland (4,3 - 4,6 million people) declared that they either were born in the Kresy, or have a parent or a grandparent from that region. The number of ''Kresowiacy'' is high in northern and western Poland&nbsp;– as many as 51% of inhabitants of [[Lubusz Voivodeship]], and 47% of inhabitants of [[Lower Silesian Voivodeship]] stated that their family has ties to the Kresy. Furthermore, ''Kresowiacy'' now make 30% of the population of [[Opole Voivodeship]], 25% of the population of [[West Pomeranian Voivodeship]], and 18% of the population of [[Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship]].<ref>[http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kraj/cbos-co-siodmy-polak-pochodzi-z-kresow,1,5105040,wiadomosc.html CBOS: co siódmy Polak pochodzi z Kresów, onet.pl] Retrieved April 16, 2012</ref>

==Polish regional dialects==
Since Poles have lived in Kresy for hundreds of years, two groups of Kresy Polish dialects emerged: the [[Northern Borderlands dialect|northern]] (''dialekt północnokresowy''), and the [[Southern Borderlands dialect|southern]] (''dialekt południowokresowy'').<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gwarypolskie.uw.edu.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=181|title=Gwary polskie - Kresowe odmiany polszczyzny|first=Halina|last=Karaś|access-date=2 July 2016|archive-date=30 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630001316/http://www.gwarypolskie.uw.edu.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=181|url-status=dead}}</ref> Both dialects have been influenced either by [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] or by [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]. To Polish speakers in Poland, Kresy dialects are easy to distinguish, as their pronunciation and intonation are markedly different from standard Polish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.translation-services-usa.com/polish-dialects.php|title=Polish Translation. Polish Dialects|first=Translation Services|last=USA|access-date=2 July 2016}}</ref> Before World War II, the Kresy provinces were part of Poland, and both dialects were in common usage, spoken by millions of ethnic Poles. After the war and Soviet annexation of Kresy, however, the majority of ethnic Poles were [[World War II evacuation and expulsion|deported]] westward, resulting in a severe decline in the number of native speakers. The northern Kresy dialect is still used along the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, where Poles still live in large numbers, but the southern Kresy dialect is endangered, as Poles in western Ukraine do not form a majority of the population in any district. Particularly notable among the Kresy dialects is the [[Lwów dialect]] which emerged early in the 19th century and was spoken in the city gaining much recognition in the 1920s and 1930s, partly due to the countrywide popularity of numerous Kresy-born and trained actors and comedians whose native speech it was (see also: [[Dialects of the Polish language]]).

== See also ==
*Kresy dialects:
**[[Northern Borderlands dialect]]
**[[Southern Borderlands dialect]]
*[[Bug River land]]
*[[Lithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence]]
*[[Lwów Eaglets]]
*[[Peace of Riga]]
*[[Poles in the former Soviet Union]]
*[[Polish historical regions]]
*[[Polish National-Territorial Region]]
*[[Polish diaspora|Polonia]]
*[[Republic of Central Lithuania]]
*[[Repatriation of Poles (1955–1959)]]
*[[Soviet repressions of Polish citizens (1939–1946)]]
*[[Suwałki Agreement]]
*[[Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union]]
*[[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]]
*[[Treaty of Warsaw (1920)]]
*[[Vilnius Region]]
*[[Volhynia Experiment]]
*[[Wanda Wasilewska]]
*[[Western Krai]]
*[[West Ukrainian People's Republic]]
* [[Zakerzonia]]
*[[Żeligowski's Mutiny]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=Note}}
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== Bibliography ==
* Beauvois, Daniel ''Trójkąt ukraiński, szlachta, carat i lud na Wołyniu, Podolu i Kijowszczyźnie 1793–1914'', [[University of Maria Curie-Sklodowska]], [[Lublin]], 2005, 2011 and 2016 (in Polish) 
* Mały rocznik statystyczny 1939, [[Central Statistical Office, Poland|Central Statistical Office of Poland]], [[Warsaw]] 1939 (in Polish)

== External links ==
*[http://www.kresy.pl/ Kresy.pl - The Biggest Polish Kresy Portal]
*[http://commonwealth.pl Commonwealth of Diverse Cultures: Poland's Heritage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624022527/http://www.commonwealth.pl/ |date=2011-06-24 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050822115358/http://www.kresy.co.uk/ Eastern Borderlands of Poland (in English)]
*[http://maps.vlasenko.net/mapa-taktyczna-polski.html Polish maps of present-day Western Ukraine and Belarus (1930s)]
*[http://rzecz-pospolita.com/ Virtual Commonwealth - Eastern Borderlands]
*[http://www.fotojohny.republika.pl/ Virtual Tour of Kresy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226105715/http://www.fotojohny.republika.pl/ |date=2018-02-26 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060504193757/http://wolyn.ovh.org/ Volhynia in the Interwar Period]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130116023434/http://www.polona.pl/dlibra/collectiondescription2?dirids=27 An extensive digital collection of Kresy-oriented historic publications]
*[http://www.mojekresy.pl/ MojeKresy.pl The newest Polish Kresy Portal]

{{Irredentism}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord missing|Belarus}}

[[Category:Historical regions in Belarus]]
[[Category:Western Belorussia (1918–1939)|*]]
[[Category:Historical geography of Ukraine]]
[[Category:Geography of the Second Polish Republic]]
[[Category:Historical geography of Poland]]
[[Category:Historical regions in Lithuania]]
[[Category:Deportation]]
[[Category:Aftermath of World War II]]
[[Category:Borders of Poland]]
[[Category:Polish irredentism]]
[[Category:Victims of post–World War II forced migrations]]