Demographic history of the Vilnius region

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Within the 16th-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Vilnius region was ethnically Lithuanian Lithuanian language in the 16th century.png
Within the 16th-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Vilnius region was ethnically Lithuanian

The city of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and its surrounding region has a long history. The Vilnius Region has been part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the Lithuanian state's founding in the late Middle Ages to its destruction in 1795, i.e. five centuries. From then, the region was occupied by the Russian Empire until 1915, when the German Empire invaded it. After 1918 and throughout the Lithuanian Wars of Independence, Vilnius was disputed between the Republic of Lithuania and the Second Polish Republic. After the city was seized by the Republic of Central Lithuania with Żeligowski's Mutiny, the city was part of Poland throughout the Interwar period. Regardless, Lithuania claimed Vilnius as its capital. During World War II, the city changed hands many times, and the German occupation resulting in the destruction of Jews in Lithuania. From 1945 to 1990, Vilnius was the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic's capital. From the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Vilnius has been part of Lithuania.

Contents

The population has been categorised by linguistic and sometimes also religious indicators. At the end of the 19th century the main languages spoken were Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Yiddish and Russian.[ citation needed ] Both Catholic and Orthodox Christianity were represented, while a large proportion of the city's inhabitants were Jews.[ vague ] The "Lithuanian" element was seen as declining, while the "Slavic" element was increasing.[ citation needed ]

Census data are available from 1897 onward, although the territorial boundaries and ethnic categorisation have been inconsistent. The Jewish population decreased greatly because of the Holocaust of 1941–44, and subsequently, many Poles were removed[ vague ] from the city, but less so from the surrounding countryside. Consequently, recent Census figures show a predominance of Lithuanians in the city of Vilnius, but of Poles in the Vilnius district outside the city.[ vague ]

Ethnic and national background

Already in the 1st century, Lithuanian tribes inhabited Lithuania proper. [1] Slavicisation of Lithuanians in eastern and southeastern Lithuania began in the 16th century. [2] It is recorded that in 1554, Lithuanian, Polish and Church Slavonic were spoken in Vilnius. [3] The Statutes of Lithuania, officially enforced from 1588 until 1840, forbid Polish nobility to buy estates in Lithuania, hence a mass migration of Poles into the Vilnius region was impossible. [3] The Lithuanian nobility and Bourgeoisie was gradually Polonized over the 17th and 18th centuries. [3]

Until the end of the 19th century, Peasants in eastern Lithuania proper were Lithuanians. [3] [4] This is attested by their un-Polonized surnames, and most Lithuanians in eastern Lithuania proper were Slavicized by schools and churches in the last quarter of the 19th century. [3] [4]

Polonization resulted in the mixed language spoken in the Vilnius region by Tutejszy, where it was known as "mowa prosta". [5] It is not recognized as a dialect of Polish and borrows heavily from the Polish, Lithuanian and Belarusian languages. [5] According to Polish professor Jan Otrębski's article published in 1931, the Polish dialect in 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. [6] [7] In 2015, Polish linguist Mirosław Jankowiak  [ pl ] attested that many of the region's inhabitants who declare Polish nationality speak a Belarusian dialect which they call mowa prosta ('simple speech'). [8]

After the partitions of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Official tsarist sign in Vilnius "Speaking Lithuanian is strictly forbidden" (second half of the 19th century) 19th C. sign in Lithuania.jpg
Official tsarist sign in Vilnius "Speaking Lithuanian is strictly forbidden" (second half of the 19th century)
Official tsarist decree from the year 1864 that forbids speaking Polish language in all public places in the city of Vilnius AGAD (10) Obwieszczenie o zakazie rozmawiania po polsku, Pudlo 663, s 121.png
Official tsarist decree from the year 1864 that forbids speaking Polish language in all public places in the city of Vilnius

Most of the former lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were annexed by the Russian Empire during the Partitions in the late 18th century.

While initially, these former lands had certain local autonomy, with local nobility holding the same offices as before the Partitions, after several unsuccessful rebellions in 1830–31 and 1863–64 against the Russian Empire, the Russian authorities engaged in intense Russification of the regions' inhabitants.

Following the failed November uprising all traces of former Polish–Lithuanian statehood (like the Third Statute of Lithuania and Congress Poland) were replaced with Russian counterparts, ranging from the currency and units of measurement to offices of local administration. The failed January Uprising of 1863–64 further aggravated the situation, as the Russian authorities decided to pursue the policies of forcibly imposed Russification. The discrimination of local inhabitants included restrictions and bans on usage of Lithuanian (see Lithuanian press ban), Polish, Belarusian and Ukrainian (see Valuev circular) languages. [9] [10] [11] [12] This however did not stop the Polonization effort undertaken by the Polish patriotic leadership of the Vilna educational district even within the Russian Empire. [13] [14]

Despite that, the pre-19th-century cultural and ethnic pattern of the area was largely preserved. In the process of the pre-19th-century voluntary [15] Polonization, much of the Lithuanian nobility adopted Polish language and culture. This was also true to the representatives of the then-nascent bourgeoisie class and the Catholic and Uniate clergy. At the same time, the lower strata of the society (notably the peasants) formed a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural mixture of Lithuanians, Poles, Jews, Tatars and Ruthenians, as well as a small yet notable population of immigrants from all parts of Europe, from Italy to Scotland and from the Low Countries to Germany.

During the rule of the Russian tsars, Polish remained the Lingua franca as it had been in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. By the middle of the 17th century, most Lithuanian upper nobility was Polonized. Over time, the nobility of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth unified politically and started to consider themselves to be citizens of one common state. The leader of interwar Poland, the Lithuanian-born Józef Piłsudski, was an example of this phenomenon. [16]

Pilsudski's bilingual Appeal to the citizens of former Grand Duchy of Lithuania of April 1919 MWP Pilsudski odezwa.JPG
Piłsudski's bilingual Appeal to the citizens of former Grand Duchy of Lithuania of April 1919

Statistics

Following is a list of censuses that have been taken in the city of Vilnius and its region since 1897. The list is incomplete. Data are at times fragmentary.


Lebedkin's statistic of 1862

Michail Lebedkin used lists of the parish's inhabitants and judged their ethnicity based on their mother tongue. [3] Lebedkin considered Polish-speaking Catholics as Poles, yet the largest percentages of them were in districts of Dysna (43.4%), Vilnius (34.5%) and Vileyka (22.1%). [3] However, these districts were disconnected from ethnographic Poland and because there was no Polish colonisation, the sole conclusion is that the Polish-speaking Catholics were Polonized Lithuanians. [3]

Vilna Governorate (light green), 1843-1915 Lithuania-1867-1914-EN.svg
Vilna Governorate (light green), 1843–1915
Distribution of Polish population (1912) incorporates data from the 1897 Russian census. A map by Henryk Merczyng Polska1912.jpg
Distribution of Polish population (1912) incorporates data from the 1897 Russian census. A map by Henryk Merczyng

Russian census of 1897

Lithuanian language area (1840s). A fragment of an ethnographic map of Europe (1847) Ethnographische Karte von Europa by Heinrich Berghaus, 1847 (fragment).jpg
Lithuanian language area (1840s). A fragment of an ethnographic map of Europe (1847)
Lithuanian language area (without language islands outside the compact area). A map by Friedrich Kurschat (1876) Litauisches Sprachgebiet (1876).JPG
Lithuanian language area (without language islands outside the compact area). A map by Friedrich Kurschat (1876)

In 1897, the first Russian Empire Census was held. The territory covered by the tables included parts of today's Belarus, that is, the Hrodna, Vitebsk and Minsk voblasts. Its results are currently criticised concerning ethnic composition because ethnicity was defined by the language spoken. In many cases, the reported language of choice was defined by general background (education, occupation) rather than ethnicity. Some results are also thought of as skewed since Pidgin speakers were assigned to nationalities arbitrarily. Moreover, the Russian military garrisons were counted in as permanent inhabitants of the area. Some historians point out the fact that the Russification policies and persecution of ethnic minorities in Russia were added to the notion to subscribe Belarusians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians and Poles to the category of Russians. [18] [19] [20]

Russian Population Figures for the 1897 Census:

Area
Language
City of Vilna [21] Vilensky Uyezd [22]

(no city)

Troksky Uyezd [23] Vilna Governorate [24]
Belarusian 6 5144.2%87 38241.85%32 01515.86%891 90356.1%
German2 1701.4%6740.32%4570.22%3 8730.2%
Lithuanian 3 1312.1%72 89934.92%118 15359.01%279 72017.6%
Polish 47 79530.9%25 29312.11%22 88410.99%130 0548.2%
Russian30 96720.0%6 9393.32%9 3144.22%78 6234.9%
Tatar 7220.5%490.02%7990.19%1 9690.1%
Ukrainian 5170.3%400.02%1540.08%9190.1%
Yiddish 61 84740.0%15 3777.37%19 3989.32%202 37412.7%
Other6820.4%890.06%1550.10%1 1190.1%
Total154 532100%208 781100%203 401100%1 591 207100%

1916 German census

Ober Ost, 1916 OberOst.jpg
Ober Ost, 1916

During World War I, all of modern-day Lithuania and Poland was occupied by the German Army. On 9 March 1916, the German military authorities organized a census to determine the ethnic composition of their newly conquered territories. [25] Many Belarusian historians note that the Belarusian minority is not noted among the inhabitants of the city.[ citation needed ]

German censuses of Vilnius 1915-1917
Nationality1 Nov 19159-11 Mar 191614 Dec - 10 Jan 1917
Poles70 62950,15%74 46653,65%
Jews61 26543,50%57 51641,44%
Belarusians1 9171,36%6110,44%
Lithuanians3 6992,63%2 9092,10%
Russians2 0801,48%2 2121,59%
Germans1 0000,71%8800,63%
Other3000,21%1930,14%
Overall142 063140 840138 787

The census was organised by Oberbürgermeister Eldor Pohl. Representatives of local population were included in the commission. Poles were represented by Jan Boguszewski, Feliks Zawadzki and Władysław Zawadzki, Jews by Nachman Rachmilewicz, Simon Rosenbaum and Zemach Shabad, Lithuanians by Antanas Smetona, Aleksandras Stulginskis and Augustinas Janulaitis. Belarusians did not have any representation. [26] Each member of the commission was responsible for the census in one of the nine parts into which the city was divided, and was accompanied by two representatives of other nationalities. As a result each part of the city was entrusted to commission consisted of one Pole, Jew and Lithuanian. [27] Each commission had an ethnically mixed team of clerks at their disposal. Overall 425 of them were engaged in carrying out the census; 200 of them were Jews, 150 Poles, 50 Lithuanians and 25 Belarusians. [27] Yet it didn't stop many Lithuanians from complaining that many of the clerks employed in carrying out the census were Polish citizens of Germany, mainly from Poznań, so the results of the census were unreliable. [28]

Map of areas where Polish was used as a primary language in 1916 Mapa rozsiedlenia ludnosci polskiej z uwzglednieniem spisow z 1916 roku.jpg
Map of areas where Polish was used as a primary language in 1916

Census itself was carried out in days 9–11 March, for 5 more days people were able to correct their declarations and make complaints. [29] The main complain was that many of the clerks, mainly Jewish ones, did not know any other language other than Yidish or Russian, often also didn't know latin script, which in effect let to many mistakes, also many people simply refused to answer the questions they didn't understand. [30] There were also instances when for political reasons people were registered as belonging to different nationality than they declared. [31] Overall according to census city was inhabited by 140 480 people, 76 196 of them were Roman Catholics (54,10%), 70 692 were Polish (50,15%). The second group were Jews, 61 265 declared such nationality (43,5%) and 61 233 declared Judaism as their religion (43,47%). [32] The population of the city decreased from 205 300 in 1909 to just 140 800 registered in the new census. Almost all of Russians left the city with the army, their percentage shrank from 20% in 1909 to just 1,46% now. [33]

In comparison with the first Germans census (carried out in November 1915, wasn't asking about nationality), the number of inhabitants decreased by 1 223 from 142 063. [34] The most striking result was the difference in the number of inhabitants and the number of people registered for food ration stamps. According to responsible office in March 1916 there was 170 836 people in the city eligible to receive food rations, which gave the difference of about 18%. [35] German authorities alarmed by the results reformed the rationing system and in October the number of stamps was reduced so the number of registered persons decreased to 142 218. [36] Given people were rather leaving Vilnius — refugees were going back to their homes, people were trying to find better life conditions in the countryside — the numbers were still most likely inflated. [36] In a result Germans decided to carry out additional census.

Every inhabitant of Vilnius was ordered to appear in the right office with a passport and a ration card. In front of ethnically mixed commission he needed to declare his and his family nationality and religion, and also declare the number of people in the household. After that he was given a new ration card where such informations were included. Results were even more favourable for Poles, their number increased to 74 466 (53,65%), while the overall number of people in the city decreased to 138 787. [37]

Area
Nationality
City of Wilna [38] Wilna county [39] [40]

(no city)

Occupied Lithuania/
Ober OstA [39] [41]
Belarusians 1 9171.4%5590.9%60 7896.4%
Lithuanians 3 6992.6%2 7134.3%175 93218.5%
Poles 70 62950.2%56 63289.8%552 40158.0%
Russians 2 0301.4%2900.5%12 1211.2%
Jews61 26543.5%2 7114.3%139 71614.7%
Other1 3001.0%
Total140 840100%63 076100%950 899100%

AData collected from the following districts (Kreise): Suwałki, Augustów, Sejny, Grodno, Grodno-city, Płanty  [ be ], Lida, Radun, Vasilishki, Vilnius-city, Vilnius, Širvintos, Pabradė, Merkinė, Molėtai, Kaišiadorys, and Švenčionėliai. [39] [41]

A similar census was organized for all of the territories of German-occupied Lithuania, and the northern border of the territory was more or less correspondent to that of present-day Lithuania; however, its southern border ended near Brest-Litovsk, and included the city of Białystok.[ citation needed ]


1921–1923 Polish census

Polish population in Lithuania and northern Poland, a map published in 1929 by Poland's Institute for the Study of Nationalities, interpreting the results of the elections to the parliament of Lithuania in 1923, census of Vilnius region in 1921 and elections to the Polish parliament in 1922 Mapa rozsiedlenia ludnosci polskiej na terenie Litwy w 1929.jpg
Polish population in Lithuania and northern Poland, a map published in 1929 by Poland's Institute for the Study of Nationalities, interpreting the results of the elections to the parliament of Lithuania in 1923, census of Vilnius region in 1921 and elections to the Polish parliament in 1922

The Peace of Riga, which ended the Polish–Soviet War, determined Poland's eastern border. In 1921, the first Polish census was held in territories under Polish control. However, Central Lithuania, seized in 1920 by General Lucjan Żeligowski's forces after a staged mutiny, was outside of de jure Poland. Poland annexed the short-lived state on 22 March 1922.

As a result, the Polish census of 20 September 1921 covered only parts of the future Wilno Voivodeship area, that is the communes of Breslauja, Duniłowicze  [ pl ], Dysna and Vileika. [42] The remaining part of the territory of Central Lithuania (that is the communes of Vilnius, Ašmena, Švenčionys and Trakai) was covered by the additional census organised there in 1923. The tables on the right give the combined numbers for Wilno Voivodeship's area (Administrative Area of Wilno), taken during both the 1921 and 1923 censuses. It is known that Lithuanians were forced to declare their nationality as Polish. [43]

Source: 1921–1923 Polish census [44]

Area
Nationality
City of Wilno 1923 [38] Administrative Area of Wilno
Belarusians 3 9072.3%25.7%
Lithuanians 1 4450.9%
Poles 100 83060.2%57.9%
Russians 4 6692.8%
Jews56 16833.5%8.1%
Other4350.26%8.3%
Total167 454100%100%

Polish census of 1931

Wilno voivodeship Podzial wojewodztwa wilenskiego 1937.png
Wilno voivodeship

The 1931 Polish census was the first Polish census to measure the population of the whole Wilno and Wilno Voivodeship at once. It was organised on 9 December 1931 by the Main Statistical Office of Poland. However, in 1931 the question of nationality was replaced by two separate questions of religion worshipped and the language spoken at home. [45] Because of that, it is sometimes argued that the "language question" was introduced to diminish the number of Jews, some of whom spoke Polish rather than Yiddish or Hebrew. [45] The table on the right shows the census findings on language. Wilno voivodeship did not include Druskininkai area and included just a small part of Varėna area where the majority of inhabitants were Lithuanians. Even then, some Lithuanians were recorded as belonging to the Polish nationality. [43] The voivodeship, however, included Brelauja, Dysna, Molodečno, Ašmena, Pastovys and Vileika counties which now belong to Belarus.

In stark contrast to the Polish interwar censuses, the Vilnius region was the site of 30 Lithuanian Kindergartens, 350 Lithuanian Primary schools, 2 Lithuanian gymnasiums and a Lithuanian teacher's seminary, all of which indicate that there were far more Lithuanians in the Vilnius region than the censuses accounted for.

Linguistic (mother tongue) and religious structure of Northern Kresy (today parts of Belarus and Lithuania) according to the Polish census of 1931 Kresy Pn.png
Linguistic (mother tongue) and religious structure of Northern Kresy (today parts of Belarus and Lithuania) according to the Polish census of 1931

[3]

Polish Second General Population Census of 9 December 1931. [46]
Area
Language
City of WilnoWilno-Troki county

(no city)

Wilno and the

Wilno-Troki county

Wilno

voivodeship

Belarusian 1 7000.9%5 5492.6%7 2861.8%289 67522.7%
German5610.3%1710.1%7320.2%1 3570.1%
Lithuanian 1 5790.8%16 9347.9%18 5134.5%66 8385.2%
Polish 128 62865.9%180 54684.2%309 17475.5%761 72359.7%
Russian7 3723.8%3 7141.7%11 0862.7%43 3533.4%
Yiddish and Hebrew 54 59628.0%6 5083.0%61 10414.9%108 8288.5%
Other5980.3%1 0500.5%1 6480.4%4 1650.3%
Total195 071100%214 472100%409 543100%1 275 939100%

Lithuanian census of 1939

Lithuanians troops who entered Vilnius in 1939 had to resort to French and German to communicate with the city's inhabitants. According to the official Lithuanian data from 1939, Lithuanians made up 6% of Vilnius population. [47] A Lithuanian sanitary platoon didn't find any Lithuanian-speaking villages despite traveling for two weeks in the surrounding countryside. [48] In December 1939, shortly after the return of Lithuanian control to what it claimed was its capital city, the Lithuanian authorities organized a new census in the area. However, the census is often criticized as skewed, intending to prove Lithuania's historical and moral rights to the disputed area rather than determine the factual composition. [49] Lithuanian figures from that period are criticized as significantly inflating the number of Lithuanians. [50] People receiving Lithuanian citizenship were pressured to declare their nationality as being Lithuanian rather than Polish. [48]

German-Lithuanian census of 1942

Administrative division of Reichskommissariat Ostland. The city of Vilnius (Wilna-Stadt) and the region of Vilnius (Wilna-Land) are separate divisions Reichskommissariat Ostland Administrative.png
Administrative division of Reichskommissariat Ostland. The city of Vilnius (Wilna-Stadt) and the region of Vilnius (Wilna-Land) are separate divisions

After the outbreak of the German-Soviet War in 1941, the area of eastern Lithuania was quickly seized by the Wehrmacht. On 27 May 1942 a new census was organised by the German authorities and the local Lithuanian collaborators. [51] The details of the methodology used are unknown[ further explanation needed ] and the results of the census are commonly believed[ by whom? Discuss ] to be an outcome of the racial theories and beliefs of those who organised the census rather than the actual ethnic and national composition of the area. [51] Among the most notable features is a complete lack of data on the Jewish inhabitants of the area (see Ponary massacre for explanation) and a much lowered number of Poles, as compared to all the earlier censuses. [52] [53] However, Wilna-Gebiet did not include Breslauja, Dysna, Maladečina, Pastovys and Vileika counties but included Svieriai  [ lt ] district. That explains the decline in the number of Belarusians in Wilna-Gebiet.

Population estimated by the Germans on 1 January 1941 [54]
Area
Nationality
City of WilnaWilna countyWilna city

and county

Belarusians 5 3482.55%9 7356.36%15 0834.16%
Germans 5240.25%1680.11%6920.19%
Lithuanians 51 11124.37%66 04843.15%117 15932.29%
Poles 87 85541.89%71 43646.67%159 29143.91%
Russians 4 0901.95%1 6841.10%5 7741.59%
Jews58 26327.78%3 5052.29%61 76817.03%
Other2 5381.21%4900.32%3 0280.83%
Total209 729100%153 066100%362 795100%
Nationality census of Lithuania of 27 May 1942 [55]
Area
Nationality
City of WilnaWilna county

(no city)

Wilna city

and county

Wilna-Land

and city

Belarusians 3 0292.11%5 9984.00%9 0273.07%80 85310.87%
Germans 4760.33%520.03%5280.18%7710.10%
Lithuanians 29 48020.54%73 75249.13%103 23235.17%310 44941.75%
Poles 103 20371.92%67 05444.67%170 25757.99%324 75043.67%
Russians 6 0121.95%2 7131.81%8 7252.97%23 2223.12%
Jews
Latvians780.05%190.01%970.03%1820.02%
Other1 2200.37%5150.20%1 7350.59%3 4520.46%
Total143 498100%150 105100%293 601100%743 582100%

Soviet data from 1944 to 1945

Vilnius' registered population was about 107,000. People who moved to the city during the German occupation, military personnel, and temporary residents were not included in the population count. According to the data from the beginning of 1945, the total population of Vilnius, Švenčionys and Trakai districts amounted to 325,000 people, half of them Poles. [56] About 90% of the Vilnius Jewish community had perished in the Holocaust. All Vilnius Poles were required to register for resettlement, and about 80% of them were relocated to Poland. [57]

Soviet census of late 1944-early 1945:A [58]

Area
Nationality
City of VilniusVilnius districtTrakai districtŠvenčionys district
Belarusians 2 0621.9%800
Lithuanians 7 9587.5%7 500~70 00069 288
Poles 84 99079.8%105 000~40 00019 108
Russians 8 8678.3%2 600~3 5002 542
Ukrainians ~500 [56]
Jews~1 500 [56]
Total106 497100%115 900100%~114 000100%93 631100%

AIn the Trakai and Švenčionys districts, a certain number of Belarusians was included into the categories of Russians and Poles. [58]

Soviet census of 1959

During the 1944-1946 period, about 50% of the registered Poles in Lithuania were transferred to Poland. Dovile Budryte estimates that about 150,000 people left the country. [59] During 1955–1959 period, another 46,600 Poles left Lithuania. However, Lithuanian historians estimate that about 10% of people who left for Poland were ethnic Lithuanians[ citation needed ]. While the removal[ dubious discuss ] of Poles from Vilnius constituted a priority[ dubious discuss ] for the Lithuanian communist authorities, the depolonization of the countryside was limited due to the concerns of depopulation and agricultural labour force deficit. The population transfers and migration processes resulted in the formation of territorial ethnic segregation, with Lithuanians and Russians prevailing in Vilnius and Poles predominating in the city's surroundings. [60] [61]

These are the results of the migration to Poland and the growth of the city due to industrial development and the Soviet Union policy.

1959 Soviet census:

Area
Nationality
City of Vilnius [57] [62] Vilnius Region
Belarusians 14 7006.2%
Lithuanians 79 40033.6%
Poles 47 20020.0%
Russians 69 40029.4%
Tatars 4960.2%
Ukrainians 6 6002.8%
Jews16 4007.2%
Other0.8%
Total236 100100%

Soviet census of January 1989

Poles accounted for 63.6% of the population in Vilnius rayon/county (currently Vilnius district municipality, excluding the city of Vilnius itself), and 82.4% of the population in Šalčininkai rayon/county (currently known as Šalčininkai district municipality). [63]

Area
Nationality
City of Vilnius [62] Vilnius Region
Belarusians 5.3%
Lithuanians 50.5%
Poles 18.8%
Russians 20.2%
Tatars 0.2%
Ukrainians 2.3%
Jews1.6%
Other1.1%
Total582 500100%

Lithuanian census of 2001

Poles in Lithuania (2001) Polnische Minderheit in Litauen.svg
Poles in Lithuania (2001)

2001 Lithuanian census: [64]

Area
Nationality
Vilnius city municipality [57] [62] Vilnius district municipality
Belarusians 22 5554.1%3 8694.4%
Lithuanians 318 51057.5%19 85522.4%
Poles 104 44618.9%54 32261.3%
Russians 77 69814.0%7 4308.4%
Ukrainians 7 1591.3%6190.7%
Jews2 7850.5%37<0.01%
Other2 5280.5%4840.5%
Total553 904100%88 600100%

Lithuanian census of 2011

Poles in Lithuania (2011) Poles in Lithuania Barry Kent.png
Poles in Lithuania (2011)
Area
Nationality
Vilnius city municipality [65] Vilnius district municipality [65]
Belarusians 18 9243.5%3 9824.2%
Lithuanians 338 75863.2%30 96732.5%
Poles 88 40816.5%49 64852.1%
Russians 63 99111.9%7 6388.0%
Ukrainians 5 3381.0%6230.7%
Jews2 0260.4%1090.1%
Other4 7540.9%7540.8%
Not indicated13 4322.5%1 6271.6%
Total535 631100%95 348100%

Jews of Vilnius

The Jews living in Vilnius had their own complex identity, and labels of Polish Jews, Lithuanian Jews or Russian Jews are all applicable only in part. [66] The majority of the Yiddish speaking population used the Litvish dialect.

The situation today

The Vilnius urban region is the only area in East Lithuania that doesn't face a decrease in population density. Polish people constitute the majority of native rural inhabitants in the Vilnius region. However, the share of Poles across the region is dwindling mainly due to the natural decline of rural population and process of suburbanization – most of new residents in the outskirts of Vilnius are Lithuanians. [61]

Most Poles in the area today speak a dialect known as the simple speech (po prostu). [67] Colloquial Polish in Lithuania includes dialectic qualities and is influenced by other languages. [68] Educated Poles speak a language close to standard Polish.[ citation needed ]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of Central Lithuania</span> Short lived puppet state of Poland (1920-1922)

The Republic of Central Lithuania, commonly known as the Central Lithuania, and the Middle Lithuania, was an unrecognized short-lived puppet state of Poland, that existed from 1920 to 1922. It was founded on 12 October 1920, after successful Żeligowski's Mutiny, during which the volunteer 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division under command of general Lucjan Żeligowski seized the Vilnius Region that Lithuania made claims to. It was incorporated into Poland on 18 April 1922.

Tutejszy was a self-identification of Eastern European rural populations, who did not have a clear national identity. The term means "from here", "local" or "natives". This was mostly in mixed-lingual Eastern European areas, including Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia, in particular, in Polesia and Podlachia. As a self-identification, it persisted in Lithuania’s Vilnius Region into the late 20th century. For example, in 1989, a poll of persons whose passports recorded their ethnicity as Polish revealed that 4% of them regarded themselves as tuteišiai, 10% as Lithuanians, and 84% as Poles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kresy</span> Former eastern regions of Poland

Eastern Borderlands or simply Borderlands was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with a Polish minority, it amounted to nearly half of the territory of interwar Poland. Historically situated in the eastern Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, following the 18th-century foreign partitions it was divided between the Empires of Russia and Austria-Hungary, and ceded to Poland in 1921 after the Treaty of Riga. As a result of the post-World War II border changes, all of the territory was ceded to the USSR, and none of it is in modern Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilno Voivodeship (1926–1939)</span> Former voivodeship of Poland

The Wilno Voivodeship was one of 16 Voivodeships in the Second Polish Republic, with the capital in Wilno. The jurisdiction was created in 1926 and populated predominantly by Poles, with notable minorities of Belarusians, Jews and Lithuanians. Before 1926, the voivodeship's area was known as the Wilno Land; it had the same boundaries and was also within the contemporary borders of Poland at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polonization</span> Adoption or imposition of Polish culture

Polonization or Polonisation is the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture, in particular the Polish language. This happened in some historic periods among non-Polish populations in territories controlled by or substantially under the influence of Poland.

The city of Vilnius, the capital and largest city of Lithuania, has an extensive history starting from the Stone Age. The city has changed hands many times between Imperial and Soviet Russia, Napoleonic France, Imperial and Nazi Germany, Interwar Poland, and Lithuania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vilnius Region</span> Historical region in present-day Lithuania and Belarus

Vilnius Region[a] is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division</span> 1918–1923 Polish Army combat formation

The 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division was a volunteer unit of the Polish Army formed around December 1918 and January 1919 during the Polish–Soviet War. It was created out of several dozen smaller units of self-defence forces composed of local volunteers in what is now Lithuania and Belarus, amidst a growing series of territorial disputes between the Second Polish Republic, the Russian SFSR, and several other local provisional governments. The Division took part in several key battles of the war. According to Paulius Pacevičius around 15-18% of the division were ethnic Lithuanians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1922 Republic of Central Lithuania general election</span>

The general election in the Republic of Central Lithuania was an election to the Vilnius Sejm (parliament) of the Polish-dominated Republic of Central Lithuania on 8 January 1922. The new parliament was intended to formally legalize incorporation of Central Lithuania into Poland. Such measure was fiercely opposed by Lithuania, which claimed the territory for itself. The election was boycotted by non-Polish population and its results were unrecognized by either the Lithuanian government in Kaunas or the League of Nations. The elected parliament convened in February and, as expected, voted on 20 February 1922 to have the Republic incorporated into Poland. At the end of March 1922, Central Lithuania became Wilno Land of the Second Polish Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poles in Lithuania</span> Ethnic group in Lithuania

The Poles of Lithuania, also called Lithuanian Poles, estimated at 183,000 people in the Lithuanian census of 2021 or 6.5% of Lithuania's total population, are the country's largest ethnic minority.

The Belarusian minority in Poland is composed of 47,000 people according to the Polish census of 2011. This number decreased in the last decades from over 300,000 due to an active process of assimilation. Most of them live in the Podlaskie Voivodeship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish population transfers (1944–1946)</span> Post WWII resettlement

The Polish population transfers in 1944–1946 from the eastern half of prewar Poland, were the forced migrations of Poles toward the end and in the aftermath of World War II. These were the result of a Soviet Union policy that had been ratified by the main Allies of World War II. Similarly, the Soviet Union had enforced policies between 1939 and 1941 which targeted and expelled ethnic Poles residing in the Soviet zone of occupation following the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland. The second wave of expulsions resulted from the retaking of Poland from the Wehrmacht by the Red Army. The USSR took over territory for its western republics.

After centuries of relative ethnic diversity, the population of modern Poland has become nearly completely ethnically homogeneous Polish as a result of altered borders and the Nazi German and Soviet or Polish Communist population transfers, expulsions and deportations during and after World War II. Ethnic minorities remain in Poland, however, including some newly arrived or increased in number. Ethnic groups include Germans, Ukrainians and Belarusians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1931 Polish census</span> Polands second census during the interwar period

The Polish census of 1931 or Second General Census in Poland was the second census taken in sovereign Poland during the interwar period, performed on December 9, 1931 by the Main Bureau of Statistics. It established that Poland's population amounted to almost 32 million people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish-Lithuanian identity</span> Shared identity in Eastern Europe

The Polish-Lithuanian identity describes individuals and groups with histories in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth or with close connections to its culture. This federation, formally established by the 1569 Union of Lublin between the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, created a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state founded on the binding powers of national identity and shared culture rather than ethnicity or religious affiliation. The term Polish-Lithuanian has been used to describe various groups residing in the Commonwealth, including those that did not share the Polish or Lithuanian ethnicity nor their predominant Roman Catholic faith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Vilnius</span>

Vilnius is the historic and present-day capital of Lithuania. Records of demographic measures go back to 1766, though the city itself has existed much longer. In recent days, the demographics have been heavily influenced by the war in neighboring Ukraine.

The History of Poles in Lithuania describes the history of Polish culture and language in Lithuanian lands, as well as the process of formation in the Polish community there before 1990.

The demographic history of Vilnius goes back to the times after the Last Glacial Period some 12 thousand years ago.

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Sources