The Distribution of Polish Communities in Australia

Abstract

The article deals with spatial distribution of Polish communities in Australia

The Polish immigration goes back as far as the first half of the 19th century. It can be devided into four periods: the period of the 1840’s, the years of the gold- -fever 1852—1862, the interwar period and the years after World War II. In each of these periods the Polish emigrants settled in different areas of the Fifth Continent. The first emigration of the 1840’s aggregated mainly in the Adelaide area, South Australia. The Poles coming during the gold-fever period settled on the gold-bearing territories of New South Wales and Victoria. The interwar emigrants settled mainly in the State of Queensland. The greatest numbers of Poles arrived to Australia after the Second World War. It is then that the Polish centers grew stronger, especially in big cities — Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide an Brisbane. From the latest emigration there arised also several new Polish aggregations: Wollongong, Queanbeyan, Maitland, Orang, Albury, Seymour, Moe-Yallourn, Morwell, Mount Gambier, Kilbum, Whyalla and Cairns.

The content of the article illustrates a map enclosed.