Poles
Polish people are the sixth largest national group in the European Union. Estimates vary depending on source, though available data suggest a total number of around 60 million people worldwide (with roughly 21 million living outside of Poland, many of whom are not of Polish ethnicity, but Polish nationals). There are almost 38 million Poles in Poland alone. There are also Polish minorities in the surrounding countries including (Germany), and indigenous minorities in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, northern and eastern Lithuania, western Ukraine, and western Belarus. There are some smaller indigenous minorities in nearby countries such as Moldova. There is also a Polish minority in Russia which includes indigenous Poles as well as those forcibly deported during and after World War II; the total number of Poles in what was the former Soviet Union is estimated at up to 3 million.
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Commonwealth comprised various identities: Poles, Lithuanians, Czechs, Hungarians, Slovaks, Ruthenians (Belarusians and Ukrainians), and Vlachs (Romanians). Sometimes inhabitants of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were called Litvins, a Slavic term for people from Lithuania, regardless of their ethnicity (with the exception of Jews, who were called Litvaks). Shortly after the Union of Lublin in 1569, the Commonwealth's population was around 7 million, with roughly of 4.5 million Poles, 750,000 Lithuanians, 700,000 Jews and 2 million Ruthenians. In 1618, after the Truce of Deulino, the Commonwealth population increased together with its territory, reaching 12 million people, which was composed roughly of 4.5 million Poles, 3.5 million Ukrainians, 1.5 million Belarusians, 750,000 Lithuanians, 750,000 Old Prussians, 500,000 Jews, and 500,000 Livonians. At that time nobility was 10% of the population, and burghers were 15%. The average population density per square kilometer was: 24 in Mazovia, 23 in Lesser Poland, 19 in Great Poland, 12 in Lublin palatinate, 10 in the Lvov area, 7 in Podolia and Volhynia, and 3 in the Ukraine. There was a tendency for the people from the more densely inhabited western territories to migrate eastwards. In the period from 1648 to 1657, populations losses are estimated at 4 m. Coupled with further population and territorial losses, in 1717 the Commonwealth population had fallen to 9 m, with roughly 4.5 m/50% Poles, 1.5 m/17% Ukrainians, 1.2 m Belarusians, 0.8 m Lithuanians, 0.5 m Jews, and 0.5 m others. Just before the first partition of Poland, the Commonwealth's population stood at some 14 million, including around 1 million nobles, 4.7 million Uniates and 400,000 Orthodox Christians. In 1792, the population was around 11 million and included 750,000 nobles.