page_title: Chełm
section_title: Population
hierarchical_section_title: Chełm / Population
caption_attribution_description: Wysoka Górka
context_page_description: Chełm is a city in eastern Poland with 63,949 inhabitants. It is located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamość and south of Biała Podlaska, some 25 kilometres from the border with Ukraine. Chełm used to be the capital of the Chełm Voivodeship until it became part of the Lublin Voivodeship in 1999.
  The city is of mostly industrial character, though it also features numerous notable historical monuments and tourist attractions in the Old Town. Chełm is a multiple bishopric. Its name comes from the Proto-Slavic or Celtic word "cholm", a hill, in reference to the Wysoka Górka fortified settlement. Chełm was once a vibrant multicultural and religious centre populated by Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Jews. The population was homogenized after World War II.
context_section_description: After Poland's independence, the Polish census of 1921 found a population of 23,221, with 12,064 Jews, 9,492 Roman Catholics (Poles), 1,369 Orthodox Christians (Ukrainian, Ruthenians and Belarusians) and 207 Lutherans (Germans).
  In September 1939, at the onset of World War II, Jews constituted 60% (18,000) of the city's inhabitants.
caption: Wysoka Górka, medieval hill fort
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