Bilingual communes in Poland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Orange: Silesian gminas where German is an official auxiliary language
Yellow: others which are permitted to give German such a status

The bilingual status of gminas (communes) in Poland is regulated by the Act of 6 January 2005 on National and Ethnic Minorities and on the Regional Languages, which permits certain gminas with significant linguistic minorities to introduce a second, auxiliary language to be used in official contexts alongside Polish. So far 20 gminas have done this:

Polish/German bilingual gminas (Gemeinden) in Opole Voivodeship (part of Silesia):

Gmina Biała (Gemeinde Zülz; since 06.03.2006)
Gmina Bierawa (Gemeinde Birawa; since 23.04.2007)
Gmina Chrząstowice (Gemeinde Chronstau; since 25.01.2006)
Gmina Izbicko (Gemeinde Stubendorf; since 06.03.2006)
Gmina Jemielnica (Gemeinde Himmelwitz; since 28.08.2006)
Gmina Kolonowskie (Gemeinde Colonnowska; since 22.09.2006)
Gmina Lasowice Wielkie (Gemeinde Groß Lassowitz; since 18.10.2006)
Gmina Leśnica (Gemeinde Leschnitz; since 17.05.2006)
Gmina Prószków (Gemeinde Proskau; since 11.07.2006)
Gmina Radłów (Gemeinde Radlau; since 25.01.2006)
Gmina Reńska Wieś (Gemeinde Reinschdorf; since 26.10.2006)
Gmina Strzeleczki (Gemeinde Strehlitz; since 17.05.2006)
Gmina Tarnów Opolski (Gemeinde Tarnau; since 15.02.2007)
Gmina Ujazd (Gemeinde Ujest; since 28.08.2006)
Gmina Walce (Gemeinde Walzen; since 04.04.2006)
Gmina Zębowice (Gemeinde Zembowitz; since 23.10.2007)

Other gminas in Opole Voivodeship and Silesian Voivodeship which are permitted by the Act to make German an auxiliary language are Cisek, Dobrodzień, Dobrzeń Wielki, Głogówek, Komprachcice, Łubniany, Murów, Olesno, Pawłowiczki, Polska Cerkiew, Turawa and Krzanowice. (A map can be found on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration [1].)