The Borderlands Poles,[a] also known as the Borderlands groups,[b] is a term for the collection of the ethnographic groups of Polish people from the area of the Eastern Borderlands, an area to the east of modern borders of Poland, within the modern territory of Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine. They are mostly descendants of Masovians, and to lesser extend, Lesser Poland people, who colonized the area across centuries.[1] The groups aren't directly connected, having different origins, and developing separately. However, they are categorized together, due to the shared factor of devolving on the eastern boundaries of Polish population, influenced by the other ethnic groups located to the east.[2] In the aftermath of World War II, they were displaced from the Soviet Union to Poland, mostly in the first repatriation of 1944–1946, and later in the second repatriation of 1955–1959.[3][4] As such, they, and their descendants, now live across Poland. Such people are also known as the Bug River Poles.[c][5][6]
^ abJanusz Kamocki: Zarys grup etnograficznych w Polsce. In: Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze: Ziemia 1965 – Prace i materiały krajoznawcze. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Sport i Turystyka, 1966, p. 112.
^Jan Stanisław Bystroń: Wstęp do ludoznawstwa polskiego. Lwów 1939 p. 120-121.
^Janusz Kamocki: Zarys grup etnograficznych w Polsce. In: Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze: Ziemia 1965 – Prace i materiały krajoznawcze. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Sport i Turystyka, 1966, p. 108.