Polish Australians refers to Australian citizens or residents of full or partial Polish ancestry, or Polish citizens living in Australia. In 2006 52,254 Australian residents declared they were born in Poland. Cities with the largest Polish populations were Melbourne (16,439), Sydney (12,514), Adelaide (5,859) and Perth (5,142). In 2021 45,884 Australian residents declared that they were born in Poland. The Australian states with the largest Polish populations were Victoria (14,202), New South Wales (13,830), and Queensland (5,740). Since 2006 the Polish-born population has decreased by 6,370 people. Although the number of people declaring to have Polish ancestry has increased by 45,482 people from 163,802 in 2006 to 209,284 in 2021. The Polish-born Australian resident population predominantly were Australian citizens (90.3%), Christian (82.4%) and used Polish at home (70.0%). Around 78% arrived in Australia before 1990. In 2006, 163,802 Australian residents declared they had Polish ancestry, either alone or in combination with one other ancestry. As of 2011, that number has jumped to 170,354. Polish Australians are traditionally Catholic, as of 2021, 71.8% of those who nominated Polish as their language used at home identified as Catholic, down from 76% in 2016, the remainder either had no religious affiliation or followed another Christian religion. 0.5% followed Judaism, down from 1% in 2016. History The first Pole known to have arrived in Australia was Joseph Potaski, who was sent there as a convict from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1803. A prominent Pole, Paul Edmund Strzelecki arrived at Sydney on 25 April 1839. At the request of the governor of New South Wales, Sir George Gipps, Strzelecki made a geological and mineralogical survey of the Gippsland region in present-day eastern Victoria, where he made many discoveries including gold in 1839. That year, Strzelecki and a crew set out from Sydney on an expedition into the Australian Alps. In 1840, he climbed the highest peak on mainland Australia and named it Mount Kosciuszko. He reached Melbourne on 28 May 1840. From 1840 to 1842 Strzelecki explored Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land). Having travelled 11,000 kilometres (7,000 miles) through New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, examining the geology along the way Strzelecki returned to England, where he was awarded in May 1846 the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society. The first settlers from Poland arrived in South Australia in 1856 and settled in the Clare Valley region