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112-668: During the Polish–Lithuanian union , there was an influx of Poles into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the gradual Polonization of its elite and upper classes. At the end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, almost all of Lithuania's nobility, clergy, and townspeople spoke Polish and adopted Polish culture, while still maintaining a Lithuanian identity. In the 19th century, the processes of Polonization also affected Lithuanian and Belarusian peasants and led to

224-579: A Germanisation of Prussia . The subsequent imperial Russian occupation from 1795 until 1915, with some interpositions such as the French invasion of Russia in 1812, the Uprisings of 1831 and 1863 , accelerated this process of Slavicization. While under Russian occupation, Lithuanians endured Russification , which included the 40-year-long ban on public speaking and writing in Lithuanian (see, e.g., Knygnešiai ,

336-585: A Proto-Balto-Slavic stage, from which Baltic languages retain numerous exclusive and non-exclusive lexical, morphological, phonological and accentual isoglosses in common with the Slavic languages , which represent their closest living Indo-European relatives. Moreover, with Lithuanian being so archaic in phonology, Slavic words can often be deduced from Lithuanian by regular sound laws ; for example, Lith. vilkas and Polish wilk ← PBSl. *wilkás (cf. PSl. *vьlkъ ) ← PIE *wĺ̥kʷos , all meaning " wolf ". When

448-404: A Lithuanian population revealed that Lithuanians are close to both Indo-European and Uralic -speaking populations of Northern Europe. Y-chromosome SNP haplogroup analysis showed Lithuanians to be closest to Latvians , Estonians , Belarusians and southern Finns . This is the result of Iron Age Europe . Autosomal SNP analysis situates Lithuanians most proximal to Latvians , followed by

560-521: A Tomasz Snarski about the language rights of Polish minority, in particular about enforced Lithuanization of Polish surnames. Representatives of the Lithuanian government demanded removal of illegally placed Polish names of the streets in Maišiagala , Raudondvaris , Riešė and Sudervė as by a Lithuanian law, all the street name signs must be in a state language. as by constitutional law all names have to be in Lithuanian. Tensions have been reported between

672-592: A combination of languages (for example Lithuanian-Polish, Lithuanian-Russian-Polish). These numbers fell to 49 and 41 in 2011, reflecting a general decline in the number of schools in Lithuania. Polish government was concerned in 2015 about the education in Polish. First Polish people in Lithuania were mainly enslaved war captives . Poles started to migrate to the Grand Duchy in more noticeable numbers after Christianization of

784-407: A commission headed by György Frunda (the so-called "Frunda Report"), which criticized Lithuanian policy toward the Polish minority, particularly the lack of recognition of the Polish university. However, this did not significantly affect Lithuanian politics. In 1996, the special provisions that made an entry of ethno-political parties parliament easier were removed, and from then on they had to meet

896-428: A decision was made, or with what we have offended Your Lordship so much that Your Lordship has deservedly been directed against us, creating hardship for us everywhere. First of all, you made and announced a decision about the land of Samogitia , which is our inheritance and our homeland from the legal succession of the ancestors and elders. We still own it, it is and has always been the same Lithuanian land, because there

1008-521: A heavy Lithuanian presence. Lithuanians in the early 20th century were among the thinnest people in the developed countries of the world. In Lithuanian cuisine there is some emphasis on attractive presentation of freshly prepared foods. Lithuania has been brewing midus , a type of Lithuanian mead for thousands of years. Locally brewed beer ( alus ), vodka ( degtinė ), and kvass ( gira ) are popular drinks in Lithuania. Lithuanian traditional beer of Northern Lithuania, Biržai , Pasvalys regions

1120-594: A member of the European Union on May 1, 2004. Among the Baltic states , Lithuania has the most homogeneous population. According to the census conducted in 2001, 83.45% of the population identified themselves as ethnic Lithuanians, 6.74% as Poles , 6.31% as Russians , 1.23% as Belarusians , and 2.27% as members of other ethnic groups such as Ukrainians , Jews , Germans , Tatars , Latvians , Romani , Estonians , Crimean Karaites etc. Poles are mostly concentrated in

1232-510: A predominantly Polish population, the share of Polish-language education was less than the percentage of Poles. Even though, historically, Poles tended to strongly oppose Russification , one of the most important reasons to choose Russian language education was the absence of a Polish-language college and university learning in the USSR, and during Soviet times Polish minority students in Lithuania were not allowed to get college/university education across

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1344-520: A result. The Lithuanian nation as such remained primarily in Lithuania, few villages in northeastern Poland, southern Latvia and also in the diaspora of emigrants. Some indigenous Lithuanians still remain in Belarus and the Kaliningrad Oblast, but their number is small compared to what they used to be. Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, and was recognized by most countries in 1991. It became

1456-552: A sense of national identity among a significant portion of the Polish-speaking Lithuanian population. The feeling of a two-tier Lithuanian-Polish national identity, present throughout the period, had to give way to a clear national declaration. From 1918 to 1921 there were several conflicts, such as the activity of the Polish Military Organisation , Sejny uprising and a foiled attempt at a Polish coup of

1568-443: A stuffed potato creation, is the most popular national dish. It is popular among Lithuanians all over the world. Other national foods include dark rye bread , cold beet soup (šaltibarščiai), and kugelis (a baked potato pudding). Some of these foods are also common in neighboring countries. Lithuanian cuisine is generally unknown outside Lithuanian communities. Most Lithuanian restaurants outside Lithuania are located in cities with

1680-488: A treaty of good neighborhood. The treaty protected the rights of the Polish minority in Lithuania and the Lithuanian minority in Poland. It also defined nationality as a matter of individual choice, which was contrary to the definition popular among Lithuanian nationalists, and even to the definition given in Lithuania's National Minorities Right Law of 1989, which defined nationality as something inherited. The Treaty defined that to

1792-440: A variety of influences during the country's rich history. Since shared similarities in history and heritage, Lithuanians, Jews and Poles have developed many similar dishes and beverages: dumplings ( koldūnai ), doughnuts ( spurgos ), and crepes ( lietiniai blynai ). German traditions also influenced Lithuanian cuisine, introducing pork and potato dishes, such as potato pudding ( kugelis ) and potato sausages ( vėdarai ), as well as

1904-531: Is Lithuanian , one of only two surviving members of the Baltic language family along with Latvian . According to the census conducted in 2021 , 84.6% of the population of Lithuania identified themselves as Lithuanians, 6.5% as Poles , 5.0% as Russians , 1.0% as Belarusians , and 1.1% as members of other ethnic groups. Most Lithuanians belong to the Catholic Church , while the Lietuvininkai who lived in

2016-698: Is one language and the same inhabitants. But since the land of Samogitia is located lower than the land of Lithuania , it is called as Samogitia, because in Lithuanian it is called lower land [ Žemaitija ]. And the Samogitians call Lithuania as Aukštaitija , that is, from the Samogitian point of view, a higher land. Also, the people of Samogitia have long called themselves Lithuanians and never – Samogitians, and because of such identity ( sic ) we do not write about Samogitia in our letter, because everything

2128-456: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Lithuanians Lithuanians ( Lithuanian : lietuviai ) are a Baltic ethnic group . They are native to Lithuania , where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two millions make up the Lithuanian diaspora , largely found in countries such as the United States , United Kingdom , Brazil and Canada . Their native language

2240-457: Is an organization formed in 1989 to bring together Polish activists in Lithuania. It numbers between 6,000 and 11,000 members. Its work concerns the civil rights of the Polish minority and engages in educational, cultural, and economic activities. Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian union The Polish–Lithuanian union was a relationship created by a series of acts and alliances between the Crown of

2352-447: Is classified under Northern Borderlands dialect . Most of Poles who live southwards of Vilnius speak a form of Belarusian vernacular called there " simple speech ", that contains many substratical relics from Lithuanian and Polish . As of 1980, about 20% of Polish Lithuanian students chose Polish as the language of instruction at school. In the same year, about 60–70% of rural Polish communities chose Polish. However, even in towns with

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2464-625: Is generally considered Lithuania's founder. The Lithuanians are the only branch of Baltic people that managed to create a state entity before the modern era . During the Late Middle Ages , Lithuania was ravaged by the Lithuanian Crusade , which ended only by the Treaty of Melno in 1422. In fact, the crusade persisted after the definite Christianization of Lithuania in 1387, when Europe's last pagan people were baptised. Simultaneously,

2576-517: Is governed by the 31 January 1991 Resolution of the Supreme Council of Lithuania No. I-1031 "Concerning name and surname spelling in the passport of the citizen of the Republic of Lithuania". There are the following options. The law says, in part: 2. In the passport of a citizen of the Republic of Lithuania, the first name and surname of persons of non-Lithuanian origin shall be spelt in Lithuanian. On

2688-401: Is one: one country and the same inhabitants." The territory inhabited by the ethnic Lithuanians has shrunk over centuries; once Lithuanians made up a majority of the population not only in what is now Lithuania , but also in northwestern Belarus , in large areas of the territory of the modern Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, and in some parts of modern Latvia and Poland. In 1940, Lithuania

2800-510: Is popular among Lithuanians in Lithuania as well as in the diasporic communities. Basketball came to Lithuania through the Lithuanian-American community in the 1930s. Lithuanian basketball teams were bronze medal winners in the 1992 , 1996 , and 2000 Summer Olympics . Joninės (also known as Rasos ) is a traditional national holiday, celebrated on the summer solstice. It has pagan origins. Užgavėnės ( Shrove Tuesday ) takes place on

2912-408: Is well appreciated in Lithuania and abroad. Starka is a part of the Lithuanian heritage, still produced in Lithuania. Among Indo-European languages , Lithuanian is conservative in its grammar and phonology, retaining archaic features otherwise found only in ancient languages such as Sanskrit (particularly its early form, Vedic Sanskrit ) or Ancient Greek . Thus, it is an important source for

3024-546: The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt , which doomed any prospect of a return to Soviet rule. Simultaneously, after the August Coup's failure, the Polish autonomous region was immediately declared illegal by the Lithuanian government, which instituted direct rule in those areas. In April 1989, another more moderate organization of Lithuanian Poles, the Association of Poles in Lithuania ( Polish : Związek Polaków na Litwie , ZPL),

3136-499: The Jesuits residing in Lithuania. The influx of Poles to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania significantly increased after the Union of Lublin . This population movement created a fertile ground for socio-cultural Polonization of Lithuanian territories. While Poles and foreigners were generally prohibited from holding public offices in the Grand Duchy, Polish people gradually gained this right through

3248-700: The Lithuanian Wars of Independence . However, a third of Lithuania's lands, namely the Vilnius Region , as well as its declared capital, fell under Polish occupation during the Interwar . A standardised Lithuanian language was approved. In the lead-up to the World War II, the Klaipėda Region was occupied by Nazi Germany after the 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania . "We do not know on whose merits or guilt such

3360-405: The Lithuanian census of 1923 (not including Vilnius and Klaipėda regions), there were 65,600 Poles in Lithuania (3.2% of the total population). Although according to Polish Election Committee in fact the number of Poles was 202,026, so about 10% of total population. The Poles were concentrated in the districts of Kaunas, Kėdainiai, Kaišiadorys and Ukmergė, in each of which they constituted 20–30% of

3472-582: The Polish Parliament criticized the government of Lithuania over alleged discrimination against the Polish minority. In 2006 Polish Foreign Minister Stefan Meller asserted that Polish educational institutions in Lithuania are severely underfunded. Similar concerns were voiced in 2007 by a Polish parliamentary commission. According to a report issued by the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency in 2004, Poles in Lithuania were

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3584-605: The Vilnius County . Especially large Polish communities are located in the Vilnius District Municipality and the Šalčininkai District Municipality . Despite being the capital, Vilnius was not the largest city by number of Lithuanians until mid-2000s. According to the 2011 census Vilnius had 337,000 Lithuanians while Kaunas – 316,000. Russians, even though they are almost as numerous as Poles, are much more evenly scattered. The most prominent community lives in

3696-535: The Vilnius Region and in the northeastern areas in general are very interesting variant of Polishness as this dialect developed in a foreign territory which was mostly inhabited by the Lithuanians who were Belarusized (mostly) or Polonized , and to prove this Otrębski provided examples of Lithuanianisms in the Tutejszy language . In 2015, Polish linguist Mirosław Jankowiak  [ pl ] attested that many of

3808-662: The Visaginas Municipality (52%). Most of them are workers who moved from Russia to work at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant . A number of ethnic Russians left Lithuania after the declaration of independence in 1990. In the past, the ethnic composition of Lithuania has varied dramatically. The most prominent change was the extermination of the Jewish population during the Holocaust . Before World War II, about 7.5% of

3920-435: The ban against printing the Lithuanian language was lifted in 1904, various European literary movements such as Symbolism , impressionism , and expressionism each in turn influenced the work of Lithuanian writers. The first period of Lithuanian independence (1918–1940) gave them the opportunity to examine themselves and their characters more deeply, as their primary concerns were no longer political. An outstanding figure of

4032-701: The baroque tree cake known as šakotis . Traditional dishes of Lithuanian Tatars and Lithuanian Karaites like Kibinai and čeburekai , that are similar to pasty , are popular in Lithuania. For Lithuanian Americans both traditional Lithuanian dishes of virtinukai (cabbage and noodles) and balandėliai (rolled cabbage) are growing increasingly more popular. There are also regional cuisine dishes, e.g. traditional kastinys in Žemaitija , Western Lithuania, Skilandis in Western and Central Lithuania, Kindziukas in Eastern and Southern Lithuania ( Dzūkija ). Cepelinai ,

4144-490: The "Pochodnia". After the establishment of Valdemaras regime in 1926, 58 Polish schools were closed, many Poles were incarcerated, and Polish newspapers were placed under strict censorship. Poles also had difficult access to higher education. Over time, the Polish language was also removed from the Church and seminaries. The most tragic episode in the history of Poles in interwar Lithuania was an anti-Polish demonstration organized by

4256-602: The 14th century, corresponding to the establishment of Ashkenazi settlements in response to the invitation extended by Vytautas the Great in 1388. At the end of the 19th century, the average height of males was 163.5 cm (5 ft 4 in) and the average height of females was 153.3 cm (5 ft 0 in). By the end of the 20th century, heights averaged 181.3 cm (5 ft 11 in) for males and 167.5 cm (5 ft 6 in) for females. Lithuanian settlement extends into adjacent countries that are now outside

4368-519: The 16th century, the largest concentrations of Poles in the GDL were located in Podlachia, the border areas of Samogitia , Lithuania and Belarus , and the cities of Vilnius , Brest , Kaunas , Grodno , Kėdainiai , and Nyasvizh . During that period, the royal and grand ducal courts were nearly entirely composed of Polish speakers. Polish quickly supplanted Ruthenian as the language of Lithuanian elite after

4480-618: The 1950s the remaining Polish minority was a target of several attempted campaigns of Lithuanization by the Communist Party of Lithuania , which tried to stop any teaching in Polish; those attempts, however, were stopped by Moscow . The Soviet census of 1959 showed 230,100 Poles concentrated in the Vilnius region (8.5% of the Lithuanian SSR's population). The Polish minority increased in size, but more slowly than other ethnic groups in Lithuania;

4592-620: The 1992 parliamentary elections winning 2.07% of the votes and four seats in Seimas. In 1994, Lithuanian parliament limited participation in local elections to political parties, accordingly ZPL established Electoral Action for Lithuanian Poles ( Polish : Akcja Wyborcza Polaków na Litwie , AWPL). In January 1995 a new Language Law was enacted which required representatives of local institutions to know Lithuanian language, also all secondary schools were required to teach Lithuanian. Polish–Lithuanian relations eased only in 1994, when both countries signed

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4704-561: The 1994 Polish–Lithuanian agreement, Lithuanian legislative system and the Constitution , see section " Surnames " for details. In 1989–2010, Lithuanian-Polish bilingual street signs were considered legal in Lithuania if placed in the areas with significant Polish populations. However, the Law on National Minorities, which guaranteed this, was discontinued. As a result, such signs are now prohibited and Lithuanian courts enforce their removal under

4816-628: The Aryans (1892): "Thus it would seem that the Lithuanians have the best claim to represent the primitive Aryan race , as their language exhibits fewer of those phonetic changes, and of those grammatical losses which are consequent on the acquirement of a foreign speech." The Proto-Balto-Slavic language branched off directly from Proto-Indo-European, then sub-branched into Proto-Baltic and Proto-Slavic . Proto-Baltic branched off into Proto-West Baltic and Proto-East Baltic. Baltic languages passed through

4928-436: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania on the idea of their national singularity or uniqueness and considered the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as an independent country. There is a current argument that the Lithuanian language was considered non-prestigious enough by some elements in Lithuanian society, meaning that the number of Lithuanian language-speakers decreased with Polonization in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , as well as

5040-532: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania that were annexed by the Russian Empire . During the 19th century, Poles were the largest Christian population in Vilnius. They also predominated in the municipal government of the city in the earlier half of the 19th century. The Polish-language university was re-established in Vilnius in 1803 and closed in 1832. After the 1863 uprising , public use of the Polish language and teaching it to peasants, as well as possession of Polish books by

5152-417: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, such as Liauda , northeast of Kaunas (since the early 15th century). The Polish historian Władysław Wielhorski  [ pl ] estimated that by the end of the 18th century, Polish and Polonized people constituted 25% of the Grand Duchy's inhabitants. Until the 1830s, Polish was the administrative language in the so called Western Krai , which included the territories of

5264-566: The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that lasted for prolonged periods of time from 1385 and led to the creation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , or the "Republic of the Two Nations", in 1569 and eventually to the creation of a unitary state in 1791. Important historical events included: This Lithuanian history -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Polish history –related article

5376-496: The Lithuanian Roman Catholic clergy and its Polish parishioniers in Lithuania. The Seimas voted against foreign surnames in Lithuanian passports. In late May 2008, the Association of Poles in Lithuania issued a letter, addressed to Lithuania's government, complaining about anti-minority (primarily, anti-Polish) rhetoric in media, citing upcoming parliamentary elections as a motive, and asking for better treatment of

5488-806: The Lithuanian Riflemen's Union on May 23, 1930 in Kaunas, which turned into a riot. A large portion of the Vilnius area was part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period , particularly the area of the Republic of Central Lithuania , which had a significant Polish speaking population. During the World War II expulsions and shortly after the war, the Soviet Union , forcibly exchanged population between Poland and Lithuania . During 1945–1948,

5600-542: The Lithuanian census of 2021, the Polish minority in Lithuania numbered 183,421 persons or 6.5% of the population of Lithuania. It is the largest ethnic minority in modern Lithuania, the second largest being the Russian minority . Poles are concentrated in the Vilnius Region. Most Poles live in Vilnius County (170,919 people, or 21% of the county's population); Vilnius , the capital of Lithuania, has 85,438 Poles, or 15.4% of

5712-553: The Lithuanian government. As a result of the Polish–Lithuanian War and Żeligowski's mutiny the border between independent Lithuania and Poland was drawn more or less according to the linguistic division of the region. Nevertheless, many Poles lived in the Lithuanian state and a significant Lithuanian minority found itself within the Polish borders. The loss of Vilnius was a painful blow to Lithuanian aspirations and identity. The irredentist demand for its recovery became one of

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5824-527: The Lithuanian lands found themselves within the Polish borders. However, interwar Lithuania still retained a large Polish minority. During World War II , the Polish population was persecuted by the USSR and Nazi Germany . Post-World War II , the borders were changed, territorial disputes were suppressed as the Soviet Union exercised power over both countries and a significant part of the Polish population, especially

5936-470: The Lithuanian pronunciation; for example, the name Kleczkowski has to be spelled Klečkovski in official documents. Poles who registered for Lithuanian citizenship after dissolution of the Soviet Union were forced to accept official documents with Lithuanian versions of their names. On April 24, 2012 the European Parliament accepted for further consideration the petition (number 0358/2011) submitted by

6048-461: The Lithuanian state reached its apogee under the rule of Vytautas the Great ( r.   1392–1430), when it ruled the lands between the Baltic and Black seas. Thereafter, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania continued existing until 1795, however, since the Union of Lublin in 1569, it maintained its independence in the bi-confederal Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . In the 16th century the Lithuanian humanists based the national consciousness of

6160-422: The Lithuanian state should work to restore their "true" identity. Although, many Poles in Lithuania do have Lithuanian ancestry, they considered themselves ethnically Polish. According to the historian Alfred E. Senn , the Polish minority was divided into three main groups: Vilnius' inhabitants supported Lithuanian independence, the residents of Vilnius' southeastern districts and Šalčininkai were pro-Soviet, while

6272-404: The Polish ethinic minority belongs to persons who have Lithuanian citizenship, are of Polish origin or consider themselves to belong to the Polish nationality, culture and traditions as well as viewing the Polish language as their native language. The situation of the Polish minority assumed international significance again in 1995 after the publication of a Council of Europe report prepared by

6384-524: The Polish minority, still remembering the 1950s attempts to ban Polish, was afraid that the independent Lithuanian government might want to reintroduce the Lithuanization policies. Furthermore, some Lithuanian nationalists, notably the Vilnija organization which was founded in 1988, considered eastern Lithuania's inhabitants as Polonized Lithuanians. Due to their view of ethnicity as primordial, they argued that

6496-525: The Polish population is grouped in the Vilnius region, primarily the Vilnius and Šalčininkai districts. In the city of Vilnius alone there are more than 85,000 Poles, who make up about 15% of the Lithuanian capital's population. Most Poles in Lithuania are Roman Catholic and speak Polish, although a minority of them speak Russian or Lithuanian, as their first language. Together with Vilnius City, Poles inhabit an area of approximately 4000 km. According to

6608-420: The Polish spelling, most notably Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska (formerly spelled "Evelina Dobrovolska"), but requests for name changes from the general population were low. From May 2022 when law came into action until the end of July 2023 only 337 people changed their names to include non-Lithuanian language symbols and only less than 5 of those declared to be of Polish descent. By the end of August 2023

6720-582: The Soviet Union allowed 197,000 Poles to leave to Poland; in 1956–1959, another 46,600 were able to leave. Ethnic Poles made up 80-91% of Vilnius population in 1944. All Poles in the city were required to register for resettlement. In most cases, the Soviet authorities blocked the departure of Poles who were interwar Lithuanian citizens and only 8.3% (less than 8,000) of those who registered for repatriation in Kaunas Region in 1945–1946 managed to leave for Poland. In

6832-848: The United States and Israel. Now there are about 3,200 Jews living in Lithuania. Apart from the various religious and ethnic groups currently residing in Lithuania, Lithuanians themselves retain and differentiate between their regional identities; there are 5 historic regional groups: Žemaičiai , Suvalkiečiai , Aukštaičiai , Dzūkai and Prūsai , the last of which is virtually extinct. City dwellers are usually considered just Lithuanians, especially ones from large cities such as Vilnius or Kaunas . The four groups are delineated according to certain region-specific traditions, dialects, and historical divisions. There are some stereotypes used in jokes about these subgroups, for example, Sudovians are supposedly frugal while Samogitians are stubborn. Since

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6944-499: The Vilnius Region's inhabitants who declare Polish nationality speak a Belarusian dialect which they call mowa prosta (' simple speech '). Out of the 234,989 Poles in Lithuania, 187,918 (80.0%) consider Polish to be their first language . 22,439 Poles (9.5%) speak Russian as their first language, while 17,233 (7.3%) speak Lithuanian. 6,279 Poles (2.7%) did not indicate their first language. The remaining 0.5% speak various other languages. The Polish regiolect spoken by Lithuanian Poles

7056-411: The acquisition of Lithuanian land. Poor nobles from the Crown rented land from local magnates . The number of Poles grew also in the towns, among others in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Grodno. Vilnius became the most important center of the Polish intelligentsia in the Grand Duchy, with Poles predominating in the city in the middle of the 17th century. Already at the beginning of the 16th century Polish became

7168-604: The actions against the Catholic Church). In such a context, the Lithuanian National Revival began in the 19th century. Some believed at the time that the Lithuanian nation as such, along with its language, would become extinct within a few generations. Some of the Polish- and Belarusian-speaking persons from the lands of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania expressed their affiliation with the modern Lithuanian nation in

7280-626: The administrative districts where Poles form a majority or significant minority. This party has held seats in the Seimas (Parliament of Lithuania) for the past decade. In the 2020 Lithuanian parliamentary election it received just below 5% of the national vote. The party is more active in local politics and controls several municipal councils . It cooperates with other minorities, mainly the Lithuanian Russian Union . The Association of Poles in Lithuania ( Polish : Związek Polaków na Litwie )

7392-479: The anti-communist movements, and thousands of Latin crosses were placed on the Hill of Crosses near Šiauliai , despite its being bulldozed in 1961. Lithuanian folk music is based around songs ( dainos ), which include romantic and wedding songs, as well as work songs and archaic war songs. These songs used to be performed either in groups or alone, and in parallel chords or unison . Duophonic songs are common in

7504-524: The best-educated, was forcefully transferred from the Lithuanian SSR to the Polish People's Republic . At the same time, a significant number of Poles relocated from nearby regions of Byelorussian SSR to Vilnius and Vilnius region . After Lithuania regained independence, Lithuania–Poland relations were tense in the 1990s due to alleged discrimination of the Polish minority in Lithuania. Currently,

7616-623: The border in Poland. Only in 2007, the first small branch of the Polish University of Białystok opened in Vilnius. In 1980 there were 16,400 school students instructed in Polish. Their number declined to 11,400 in 1990. In independent Lithuania between 1990 and 2001, the number of Polish mother tongue children attending schools with Polish as the language of instruction doubled to over 22,300, then gradually decreased to 18,392 in 2005. In September 2003, there were 75 Polish-language general education schools and 52 which provided education in Polish in

7728-493: The centuries, and especially under the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , some of these tribes consolidated into the Lithuanian nation, mainly as a defence against the marauding Teutonic Order and Eastern Slavs . The Lithuanian state was formed in the High Middle Ages , with different historians dating this variously between the 11th and mid-13th centuries. Mindaugas , Lithuania's only crowned king and its first baptised ruler,

7840-419: The citizen's request in writing, the name and surname can be spelt in the order established as follows: a) according to pronunciation and without grammatisation (i.e. without Lithuanian endings) or b) according to pronunciation alongside grammatisation (i.e. adding Lithuanian endings). 3. The names and surnames of the persons, who have already possessed citizenship of other State, shall be written according to

7952-407: The city's population. Especially large Polish communities are found in Vilnius District Municipality (46% of the population) and Šalčininkai District Municipality (76%). Lithuanian municipalities with a Polish minority exceeding 15% of the total population (according to the 2021 census) are listed in the table below: Top 10 cities by number of Poles: The adoption of Polish cultural features by

8064-617: The country and establishment of the union between Poland and Lithuania in 1385. In the 15th and 16th century, the Polish population in Lithuania was not large numerically, but the Poles enjoyed a privileged social status – they were found in highly regarded places and their culture was considered prestigious. With time Polish people became part of the local landowning class. Lithuanian nobles welcomed fugitive Polish peasants and settled them on uncultivated land, but they usually assimilated with Belarusians and Lithuanians peasants within few generations. In

8176-503: The day before Ash Wednesday , and is meant to urge the retreat of winter. There are also national traditions for Christian holidays such as Easter and Christmas . Lithuanian cuisine has much in common with other European cuisines and features the products suited to its cool and moist northern climate: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialties. Nevertheless, it has its own distinguishing features, which were formed by

8288-487: The early 20th century was Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius , a novelist and dramatist. His many works include Dainavos šalies senų žmonių padavimai (Old Folks Tales of Dainava , 1912) and the historical dramas Šarūnas (1911), Skirgaila (1925), and Mindaugo mirtis (The Death of Mindaugas , 1935). Petras Vaičiūnas was another popular playwright, producing one play each year during the 1920s and 1930s. Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas wrote lyric poetry, plays, and novels, including

8400-423: The early 20th century, including Michał Pius Römer , Stanisław Narutowicz , Oscar Milosz and Tadas Ivanauskas In February 1918, while World War I was ongoing, the re-establishment of an independent Lithuanian state was declared , 122 years after it was destroyed. In the aftermath of World War I , Lithuanians militarily defended their country's independence from Poland , Whites and Soviet Russia during

8512-529: The ethnic minorities. The association also filed a complaint with the Lithuanian prosecutor, asking for investigation of the issue. The Law on Ethnic Minorities lapsed in 2010. As of 2023 Lithuania has not ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . There are opinions in some Polish media that the Polish minority in Lithuania is facing discrimination. As mentioned above, Petition 0358/2011 on language rights of Poles living in Lithuania

8624-470: The first language of the Lithuanian magnates. In the following century it was adopted by the Lithuanian nobility in general. Even the nobility of Samogitia used the Polish language already in the 17th century. The Polish language also penetrated other social strata: the clergy, the townspeople, and even the peasants. During the Commonwealth's period, a Polish-dominated territory started to be slowly formed in

8736-453: The formation of a compact Polish language area between the Lithuanian and Belarusian language areas, with Vilnius as the center. The position of Vilnius as an important Polish cultural center influenced the development of national identities among Roman Catholic peasants in the region. The emergence of the Lithuanian national movement in the 1880s slowed down the process of Polonization of the ethnically Lithuanian population, but also cemented

8848-429: The formation of a long strip of land with a predominantly Polish population, stretching to Daugavpils and including Vilnius. The rise of the Lithuanian national movement led to conflicts between both groups. Following World War I and the rebirth of both states, there was the Polish–Lithuanian War , whose main focus was Vilnius and the nearby region . In its aftermath, the majority of the Polish population living in

8960-412: The last Soviet census of 1989 showed 258,000 Poles (7.0% of the Lithuanian SSR's population). The Polish minority, subject in the past to massive, often voluntary Russification and Sovietization , and recently to voluntary processes of Lithuanization , shows many and increasing signs of assimilation with Lithuanians. When Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 large part of

9072-535: The late Neolithic period the native inhabitants of the Lithuanian territory have not been replaced by migrations from outside, so there is a high probability that the inhabitants of present-day Lithuania have preserved the genetic composition of their forebears relatively undisturbed by the major demographic movements, although without being actually isolated from them. The Lithuanian population appears to be relatively homogeneous, without apparent genetic differences among ethnic subgroups. A 2004 analysis of mtDNA in

9184-475: The late 19th century, including the concertina , accordion and bandoneon . Sutartinė can be accompanied by skudučiai , a form of panpipes played by a group of people, as well as wooden trumpets ( ragai and dandytės ). Kanklės is an extremely important folk instrument, which differs in the number of strings and performance techniques across the country. Other traditional instruments include švilpas whistle, drums and tabalas (a percussion instrument like

9296-562: The latter became illegal. Notwithstanding their varied ethnic roots, the members of szlachta generally opted for Polish self-identification in the course of the 19th century. In the 19th century Polish culture was spreading among the lower classes of Lithuania, mainly in Dzūkija and to a lesser degree in Aukštaitija . Linguists distinguish between official Polish language, used in the Church and cultural activities, and colloquial language, closer to

9408-545: The latter had switched to speaking Ruthenian and Polish at the beginning of the 16th century. Reformation gave another impetus to the spread of Polish, as the Bible and other religious texts were translated from Latin to Polish. Since the second half of the 16th century, Poles predominated in Protestant schools and printing houses in the Grand Duchy, and the life of local protestant congregations. There were also numerous Poles among

9520-524: The majority of Lithuanians have been members of the Roman Catholic Church . According to the 2021 census, 74% of Lithuanians are Roman Catholic. Under Article 26 of the Constitution of Lithuania , persons can freely practice a religion of their choosing. Catholicism played a significant role in Lithuanian anti-communist resistance under the Soviet Union . Several Catholic priests were leaders of

9632-596: The modern Lithuanian state. A small Lithuanian community exists in the vicinity of Puńsk and Sejny in the Suwałki area of Poland, an area associated with the Lithuanian writer and cleric Antanas Baranauskas . Although most of the Lithuanian inhabitants in the region of Lithuania Minor that formed part of East Prussia were expelled when the area was annexed by the Soviet Union as the Kaliningrad Oblast , small groups of Lithuanians subsequently settled that area as it

9744-429: The most important elements of socio-political life in interwar Lithuania and resulted in the emergence of hostility and resentment against the Poles. In interwar Lithuania, people declaring Polish ethnicity were officially described as Polonized Lithuanians who needed to be re- Lithuanized , Polish-owned land was confiscated, Polish religious services, schools, publications and voting rights were restricted. According to

9856-399: The nobles, townspeople, and clergy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, combined with an influx of migrants from Poland, created a Lithuanian variant of the Polish language. The local variety of Polish called Polszczyzna Litewska became the native tongue of the Lithuanian nobility in the 18th century. According to Polish professor Jan Otrębski 's article published in 1931, the Polish dialect in

9968-465: The northern part of East Prussia prior to World War II, were mostly Lutherans . The territory of the Balts, including modern Lithuania, was once inhabited by several Baltic tribal entities ( Aukštaitians , Sudovians , Old Lithuanians, Curonians , Semigallians , Selonians , Samogitians , Skalvians , Old Prussians ( Nadruvians )), as attested by ancient sources and dating from prehistoric times. Over

10080-742: The novel Altorių šešėly (In the Shadows of the Altars, 3 vol., 1933), a remarkably powerful autobiographical novel. Keturi vėjai movement started with publication of The Prophet of the Four Winds by talented poet Kazys Binkis (1893—1942). It was rebellion against traditional poetry. The theoretical basis of Keturi vėjai initially was futurism which arrived through Russia from the West and later cubism , dadaism , surrealism , unanimism , and German expressionism . The most influensive futurist for Lithuanian writers

10192-455: The number of people of Polish descent that changed their names to include non-Lithuanian symbols increased to 203 which was approximately 0.11% of all Poles in Lithuania. The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance ( Lithuanian : Lietuvos lenkų rinkimų akcija , Polish : Akcja Wyborcza Polaków na Litwie ) is an ethnic minority-based political party formed in 1994, able to exert significant political influence in

10304-587: The passport of the State or an equivalent document available in the passport of the Republic of Lithuania on its issue. This resolution was challenged in 1999 in the Constitutional Court upon a civil case of a person of Polish ethnicity who requested his name to be entered in the passport in Polish. The Constitutional Court upheld the 1991 resolution. At the same time, it was stressed out citizen's rights to spell their name whatever they like in areas "not linked with

10416-515: The population was Jewish ; they were concentrated in cities and towns and had a significant influence on crafts and business. They were called Litvaks and had a strong culture. The population of Vilnius, which was sometimes nicknamed the northern Jerusalem , was about 30% Jewish. Almost all its Jews were killed during the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Lithuania , some 75,000 alone between the years 1941 – 1942, while others later immigrated to

10528-413: The population. In 1919, Poles owned 90% of estates larger than 100 ha. By 1928, 2,997 large estates with a total area of 555,207 ha were parceled out, and 52,935 new farms were created in their place and given to Lithuanian peasants. Many Poles in Lithuania were signed in as Lithuanians in their passports, and as a result, they also were forced to attend Lithuanian schools. Polish education was organized by

10640-474: The reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language despite its late attestation (with the earliest texts dating only to c.  1500 A.D. , whereas Ancient Greek was first written down in c.  1450 B.C. ). There was fascination with the Lithuanian people and their language among the late 19th-century researchers, and the philologist Isaac Taylor wrote the following in his The Origin of

10752-480: The renowned sutartinės tradition of Aukštaitija . Another style of Lithuanian folk music is called rateliai , a kind of round dance . Instrumentation includes kanklės , a kind of zither that accompanies sutartinės, rateliai, waltzes , quadrilles and polkas , and fiddles , (including a bass fiddle called the basetle ) and a kind of whistle called the Lamzdeliai lumzdelis ; recent importations, beginning in

10864-545: The second least-educated minority group in Lithuania. The branch of the University of Białystok in Vilnius educates mostly members of the Polish minority. A report by the Council of Europe , issued in 2007, stated that on the whole, minorities were integrated quite well into the everyday life of Lithuania. The report expressed a concern with Lithuanian nationality law , which contains a right of return clause. The citizenship law

10976-478: The speech of the common people. Inhabitants of a significant part of the Vilnius region used a variant of the Belarusian language, which was influenced mainly by Polish, referred to as "simple speech" ( Polish : mowa prosta ). It was a kind of "mixed language" serving as an interdialect of the cultural borderland. This language became a gateway to the progressive Slavization of the Lithuanian population. This led to

11088-535: The sphere of use of the state language pointed out in the law". In 2022, the Seimas passed a law allowing members of ethnic minorities to use the full Latin alphabet, including q, w and x, letters which are not considered part of the Lithuanian alphabet, but not characters with diacritics (such as ł and ä), in their legal name if they declare their status as an ethnic minority and prove that their ancestors used that name. In response, several ethnically Polish Lithuanian politicians changed their legal names to be closer to

11200-404: The third group scattered throughout the country did not have a clear position. According to surveys from the spring of 1990, 47% of Poles in Lithuania supported the pro-Soviet Communist party (in contrast to 8% support among ethnic Lithuanians), while 35% supported Lithuanian independence. In November 1988, Yedinstvo (literally "Unity"), a pro-Soviet movement that opposed Lithuanian independence,

11312-463: The threat of fines. The refusal of Lithuanian authorities to install or allow bilingual road signs (against the legislative base of Lithuania) in areas densely populated by Lithuanian Poles is at times described by the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania and some Polish media as linguistic discrimination. The official spelling of the all non-Lithuanian (hence Polish) name in a person's passport

11424-495: The usual electoral threshold. The restoration of property lost during the communist period was also a burning issue, which was implemented very slowly in the lands inhabited by Poles. Poles protested against the expansion of Vilnius' borders. Tensions arose regarding Polish education and the spelling of names. The United States Department of State stated, in a report issued in 2001, that the Polish minority had issued complaints concerning its status in Lithuania, and that members of

11536-538: The war. Such a situation caused tension in Polish–Lithuanian relations. Direct rule was lifted and local elections were organised in December 1992. The ZPL also strengthened its attitude, demanding that the Polish minority be granted a number of rights, such as the establishment of a Polish university, increasing the rights of the Polish language, increasing subsidies from the central budget, and others. ZPL took part in

11648-405: The westernmost East Slavs ; furthermore, Germans and West Slavs (especially Poles ) are situated more proximal to Lithuanians than Finns and northern Russians. Lithuanian Ashkenazi Jews display a number of unique genetic characteristics; the utility of these variations has been the subject of debate. One variation, which is implicated in familial hypercholesterolemia , has been dated to

11760-569: Was Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky . Oskaras Milašius (1877–1939) is a paradoxical and interesting phenomenon in Lithuanian culture. He never lived in Lithuania but was born and spent his childhood in Cereja (near Mogilev , Belarus ) and graduated from Lycée Janson de Sailly in Paris. His longing for his fatherland was more metaphysical. Having to choose between two conflicting countries — Lithuania and Poland — he preferred Lithuania which for him

11872-548: Was an idea even more than a fatherland. In 1920 when France recognized the independence of Lithuania, he was appointed officially as Chargé d'Affaires for Lithuania. He published: 1928, a collection of 26 Lithuanian songs; 1930, Lithuanian Tales and Stories ; 1933, Lithuanian Tales ; 1937, The origin of the Lithuanian Nation . Since the Christianization of parts of Lithuania proper in 1387 and of Samogitia in 1413,

11984-518: Was established. Its first leader was Jan Sienkiewicz . ZPL supported the 1991 Lithuanian independence referendum . On 29 January 1991, Lithuanian government granted minorities right of schooling in their native language and use of it in official institutions. A new Citizenship Law was enacted in December 1991, that granted citizenship to every person that lived in eastern Lithuania before 1940, if they did not have citizenship of another country, thus excluding some persons that emigrated to Lithuania after

12096-482: Was filed with the European Parliament in 2011. Polish Election Action in Lithuania claimed that the education legislation is discriminatory. In 2011, former Polish President Lech Wałęsa criticized the government of Lithuania over its alleged discrimination against the Polish minority. Until 2022 Lithuania continued to enforce the Lithuanized spelling of surnames of Poles in Lithuania, with some exceptions, in spite of

12208-633: Was formed. Under local Polish leadership and with Soviet support, the regional authorities in Vilnius and Šalčininkai region declared an autonomous region, the Polish National Territorial Region . The same Polish politicians later voiced support for the Soviet coup attempt of 1991 in Moscow. Yedinstvo, which had never had the approval of the Polish government, collapsed after the failure of the GKChP in

12320-458: Was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union , and forced to join it as the Lithuanian SSR . The Germans and their allies attacked the USSR in June 1941, and from 1941 to 1944, Lithuania was occupied by Germany. The Germans retreated in 1944, and Lithuania fell under Soviet rule once again. The long-standing communities of Lithuanians in the Kaliningrad Oblast ( Lithuania Minor ) were almost destroyed as

12432-460: Was repopulated with new Soviet citizens. Small groups of Lithuanians are still present in Belarus within the Grodno and Vitebsk regions . Apart from the traditional communities in Lithuania and its neighboring countries, Lithuanians have emigrated to other continents during the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. The Lithuanian national sport is usually considered to be basketball ( krepšinis ), which

12544-402: Was under discussion during 2007; it was deemed unconstitutional on 13 November 2006. A proposed constitutional amendment would allow the Polish minority in Lithuania to apply for Polish passports. Lithuanian constitutional law stipulated that everyone (not only Poles) who has Lithuanian citizenship and resides within the country has to write their name in the Lithuanian alphabet and according to

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