Polish minority in Lithuania

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Poles constitute 31,223 or about ~80% of the population in Šalčininkai district municipality.
Poles constitute 31,223 or about ~80% of the population in Šalčininkai district municipality.

The Polish minority in Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lenkai; Polish: Polacy) numbers 234,989 persons and, at 6.74% of the population of Lithuania, forms the largest ethnic minority in modern Lithuania. Poles are concentrated in the Vilnius region, and form the majority of population in Vilnius district municipality and Šalčininkai district municipality. People of Polish ethnicity have lived on the territory of modern Lithuania for many centuries.

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The Polish minority in Lithuania numbers 234,989 persons.[1] The Polish minority (or Polonia), forming 6.74% of the population of Lithuania, is the largest ethnic minority in modern Lithuania; the second largest being Russian minority in Lithuania.[1] 187,918 people in Lithuania consider the Polish language to be their mother tongue.[2]

Poles are concentrated in the Vilnius region. The vast majority of Poles live in Vilnius county (216,012 people, forming 46% of the county's population); Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, has 101,526 Poles, who form 19.3% of the city's population.[3] Especially large Polish communities are found in Vilnius district municipality (61.3% of the population) and Šalčininkai district municipality (79.5%).[3]

Historically, the number of Poles on modern Lithuanian territory has been much higher. Polish culture began to influence the Grand Duchy of Lithuania around the time of the Union of Lublin (16th century), and during the time of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795) much of the Lithuanian nobility became polonized and joined the Polish szlachta class. Much of the Vilnius area was also controlled by the Second Polish Republic in the interwar period, particularly the area of Central Lithuania, which contained significant Polish population (for example, the Wilno Voivodeship in 1931 contained 59.7% Polish speakers and only 5.2% Lithuanian speakers[4]). In interwar period, in independent Lithuania, the census of 1923 showed that Poles constitued 65,600 of Lithuania inhabitants (3.2% of total population).[5] During the WWII expulsions and shortly after the war period, the Soviet Union, during its struggle to establish the People's Republic of Poland, forcibly resettled many Poles who found themselves in the Lithuanian SSR and were seen as 'enemies of the state' into Siberia. After the war, in 1945-1948, the Soviet Union resettled 197,000 of Poles to Poland; in 1956-1959, another 46,600 were forced to move.[6] The Soviet census of 1959 showed 230,100 Poles concentrated in the Vilnius region (8.5% of the Lithuanian SSR's population).[6] The Polish minority increased in size, but more slowly than other ethnic groups in Lithuania; the last Soviet census of 1989 showed 258,000 Poles (7.0% of the Lithuanian SSR's population).[6] The Polish minority, subject in the past to Russification and Sovietization, and recently to mostly voluntary processes of Lithuanization, shows many and increasing signs of assimilation into Lithuania.[6]

Some Poles living in the south of Lithuania speak 'po prostu' dialect, containing many substratical relics from Lithuanian and Belarusian language.[7]

The situation of the Polish minority in Lithuania has caused occasional tensions in Polish-Lithuanian relations. When Lithuania declared it's independence from Communist Soviet Union, those efforts were met with resistance from Polish community, whose support for Communist was high; according to surveys conducted in spring 1990 47% of Poles supported pro-Soviet Communist party (in contrast to 8% support among ethnic Lithuanians) - and fewer (35%) supported Lithuanian independence.[8] Regional authorities in Vilnius and Šalčininkai region, under Polish leadreship, with support from Soviet authorities, argued for an establishment of an autonomous region in South Eastern Lithuania, a requet that was declined by the Lithuanian government and left lasting resentent among some locals.[9] These same regional leaders later voiced support for Soviet coup attempt of 1991 in Moscow.[9] After failed coup some leaders of Polish organizations changed their beliefs from communist to nationalist.[citation needed] Ex-ambassador of Poland to Lithuania Jan Widacki described some of them as being extreme far-right and nationalist[10][dubious — see talk page]

This situation is further aggreviated by fringe Lithuanian extremist nationalist organization Vilnija.[11][12][13] The organization was formed in 1988, and its primary aim was the Lithuanization of ethnic Poles living in the Eastern part of Lithuania.[8] The organization's goal is also to counter perceived growing Polish influence in Lithuania, which Vilnija sees as a threat to that nation.[8] Vilnija has been seen by Polish government and media to often organize or support anti-Polish actions.[14][15][16]

Lithuanian Polonia has several organizations.

Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (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 the administrative districts where Poles form a majority or significant minority. This party has held 1-2 seats in the parliament of Lithuania for the past decade; in the last general elections it got about 4% of votes. The party is more active in local politics and controls several municipal councils.[17]

The Association of Poles in Lithuania (Polish: Związek Polaków na Litwie) is an organization formed in 1989 to bring together Polish activists in Lithuania. It numbers between 6,000 to 11,000 members. It defends the civil rights of the Polish minority and engages in educational, cultural and economic activities.[17]

  1. ^ a b Population by ethnicity. Data from Statistikos Departamentas, 2001 Population and Housing Census.
  2. ^ Population by ethnicity and mother tongue. Data from Statistikos Departamentas, 2001 Population and Housing Census. Note that there is a small number of people who declare themselves Polish but have other mother tongie, and vice versa.
  3. ^ a b Population by some ethnicities by county and municipality . Data from Statistikos Departamentas, 2001 Population and Housing Census.
  4. ^ (Polish) (1939) "Drugi Powszechny Spis Ludności z dnia 9 XII 1931 r.". Statystyka Polski D (34).  See ethnic history of the region of Vilnius for details.
  5. ^ Does not include Vilnius and Klaipėda regions. Census of 1923 is the only census carried out in Lithuania during the interwar period. (Lithuanian) Vaitiekūnas, Stasys (2006). Lietuvos gyventojai: Per du tūkstantmečius. Vilnius: Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas, 189. ISBN 5-420-01585-4. 
  6. ^ a b c d (Polish) Professor Piotr Eberhardt. Liczebność i rozmieszczenie ludności polskiej na Litwie (Numbers and distribution of Polish population in Lithuania). Last accessed on 19 January 2006.
  7. ^ Valerijus Čekmonas, Laima Grumadaitė Kalbų paplitimas rytų Lietuvoje [The distribution of the languages in the east of Lithuania] in Lietuvos rytai; straipsnių rinkinys [The east of Lithuania; the collection of the articles] Vilnius 1993; p. 132; ISBN 9986-09-002-4
  8. ^ a b c (English) Dovile Budryte (2005). Taming Nationalism?: Political Community Building in the Post-Soviet Baltic States. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 147-148. ISBN 0754637573. 
  9. ^ a b (English) Robert G. Moser (2005). Ethnic Politics After Communism. Aldershot: Cornell University Press, p.130. SBN 0801472768. 
  10. ^ BNS. Ex-ambassador criticizes leaders of Polish community. Delfi.lt. Retrieved on January 20, 2007.
  11. ^ [(Polish) Gazeta Wyborcza, 2001-02-14, Litewska prokuratura przesłuchuje weteranów AK (Lithuanian prosecutor questioning AK veterans), last accessed on 7 June 2006]
  12. ^ (Polish) Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (09 2004). "Dr Garsva - prezes nacjonalistycznego stowarzyszenia Vilnija (...)". Media zagraniczne o Polsce (Foreign Media on Poland) XIII (2409 (3162)). Retrieved on 2006-01-15. 
  13. ^ (Polish) (November 2005) "Uknuli prowokację". Tygodnik Wileńszczyzny. Retrieved on 2007-01-15. 
  14. ^ (Polish) Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (10 2006). ""Antypolski tekst K. Garsvy" (Anti-polish text by K. Garsva)". Commentary on K.Garsva article "Kiedy na Wileńszczyźnie będzie wprowadzone zarządzanie bezpośrednie? (When Vilnius region will have direct self-government?)" in Lietuvos Aidas, 11 -12.10". Media zagraniczne o Polsce (Foreign Media on Poland) XV (200/37062). Retrieved on 2006-01-20. 
  15. ^ (Polish) Paweł Cieplak. Polsko-litewskie stosunki (Polish-Lithuanian affairs). Lithuanian Portal. Retrieved on January 13, 2007.
  16. ^ Leonardas Vilkas, LITEWSKA, ŁOTEWSKA I ESTOŃSKA DROGA DO NIEPODLEGŁOŚCI I DEMOKRACJI: PRÓBA PORÓWNANIA (Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Way to Independence: An Attempt to Compare], on homepage of Jerzy Targalski, professor of University of Warsaw
  17. ^ a b (Polish) AKCJA WYBORCZA POLAKÓW NA LITWIE. Encyklopedia Interia. Last accessed 20 January 2007.
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