The formerly German area was substantially repopulated by Poles, many of whom had been expelled from eastern Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union ("see Polish population transfers (1944–1946)") and transferred from Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus. However those who declared themselves Poles today form a small German-speaking population in the region around Opole ("Oppeln"), as well as some Slavic speaking and bilingual population of Upper Silesia who either consider themselves Poles or Silesian. In the official Polish census, 153,000 people declared German nationality, though up to 500,000 or more may be of German ancestry. The German-Polish Silesian minority is active in politics and has pressed for the right to again freely use the German language in public which has been largely successful.