Selected features of socio-demographic structure of a postmilitary town that emerged after the decommissioning of the Soviet Army’s secret military base in Poland – the Borne Sulinowo example

Abstract

The goal of the paper was to present the selected socio-demographic features of Borne Sulinowo, a unique town in Poland, established within the area of the former secret military base of the Soviet Army and never used for non-military purposes before 1993. Borne Sulinowo is located in the north-west, approx. 20 kilometres from Szczecinek town. Before the World War II it had been a German garrison with the Wehrmacht Artillery School and after 1945 the area was taken over by the Soviet Army. The troops were present there until the end of 1992. Once the Soviet soldiers and officers have left the garrison, new Polish inhabitants started to come to Borne Sulinowo and develop the “new” town. That is why the socio-demographic structure of the town in its first 20 years (1993–2013) was peculiar, and so were the factors determining its transformation. The influence of the military past on the structure of Borne Sulinowo population has been shown in the paper. In 2013 the population of Borne Sulinowo consisted of approximately 4900 people; 60% of whom were between 18 and 59 years old. People under 18 made up 18% of the total population, whilst inhabitants over 60–22%. Because of the short Polish history of the town and the lack of traditions, Borne Sulinowo’s citizens are not fully integrated. Most of them came from different regions of Poland, thus having various backgrounds and cultures.