Ethnic minorities in Lithuania
Encyclopedia
Independent Lithuania
From 1918 to 1924 two ministries were specifically dedicated to ethnic minorities, the Ministry for Belarusian AffairsLithuanian Ministry for Belarusian Affairs
The Ministry for Belarusian Affairs was an interwar Lithuanian government portfolio.This ministry was established as a result of bargaining between the Belarusian and Jewish community leaders and the Lithuanian government to gain the support of the latter in the peace conferences negotiations over...
and the Ministry for Jewish Affairs
Lithuanian Ministry for Jewish Affairs
The Ministry for Jewish Affairs was an interwar Lithuanian government portfolio.This ministry was established as a result of bargaining between the Jewish community leaders and the Lithuanian government to gain the support of the latter in the peace conference negotiations over the boundaries of...
.
On May 12, 1922 a Declaration concerning the protection of minorities in Lithuania was signed at Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
under the auspices of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
. Its article 1 stipulated that "The stipulations of this Declaration are recognized as fundamental laws of Lithuania and no law, regulation or official action shall conflict or interfere with these stipulations, nor shall any law, regulation or official action now or in the future prevail over them.".
art.4 §4 Notwithstanding the establishing by the Lithuanian Government of an official language, appropriated facilities will be given to Lithuanian citizens with another language than Lithuanian, for the use of their language, be it by oral way or by written way, before the courts.
World War II (1939–1945)
Soviet Lithuania (1944–1990)
In 1989, a Law on National Minorities was voted and a Committee of Nationalities for the Government of the Republic of Lithuania was established. Since 1999, it has been renamed Department of National Minorities and Émigrés.Independent modern Lithuania (1990–present)
The Council of EuropeCouncil of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was signed on February 1995 by 22 member States of the Council of Europe ....
was signed on February 1, 1995, and ratified on March 23, 2000. It came into force on July 1, 2000. Several other national laws have a direct or indirect link to minorities, e.g. the State Language Law (1995) and the Law of Education (1991, amended in 2003).
According to the census conducted in 2001, about 16,5% of Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
's population was composed of ethnic minorities:
| Ethnic groups | Total population | Compared to all population, % |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 3,483,972 | 100 |
| ethnic Lithuanians | 2,907,293 | 83.45 |
| Poles | 234,989 | 6.74 |
| Russians | 219,789 | 6,31 |
| Belarusians Belarusians Belarusians ; are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Old Belarusian... |
42,866 | 1.23 |
| Ukrainians Ukrainians Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens... |
22,488 | 0.65 |
| Jews | 4,007 | 0.12 |
| Germans | 3,243 | 0.09 |
| Tatars Lipka Tatars The Lipka Tatars are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians... |
3,235 | 0.09 |
| Latvians | 2,955 | 0.08 |
| Roma | 2,571 | 0.07 |
| Armenians Armenians in Lithuania Armenians in Lithuania refers to ethnic Armenians living in Lithuania. They number around 2,500. According to Soviet 1989 census there are 1,655 Armenians in Lithuania.The Armenians live mainly in Vilnius... |
1,477 | 0.04 |
| Other | 6,138 | 0.18 |
| No response on the ethnicity question |
32,921 | 0.94 |
The percentage of ethnic Lithuanians has increased from 79.6% in 1989 to 83.5% in 2001; the percentage of Poles has decreased from 7.0% to 6.7%, Russians from 9.4% to 6.3%.
According to the 2001 census, in Vilnius
Vilnius district municipality
Vilnius district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It surrounds the capital on 3 sides, and the Trakai district municipality touches it on one....
and Šalčininkai
Šalcininkai district municipality
Šalčininkai district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania.It has one of biggest Polish minority populations in Lithuania, with 31,223 or over 80% of the population claiming Polish ethnicity. Šalčininkai is the largest town in and the center of the region.-References:...
district municipalities as well as in the town of Visaginas
Visaginas
Visaginas is a city with municipal rights in eastern Lithuania, situated near the country's biggest lake, Drūkšiai. Its administrative boundaries are in the process of being defined. The Vilnius–Daugavpils railway runs alongside the town, providing convenient communication with Vilnius and...
(which enjoys a special status) ethnic Lithuanians are in minority (22, 10 and 15 per cent respectively).
Samogitians
The respondents in the various censuses do not have the option to choose for the Samogitian ethnicitySamogitians
Samogitians are a part of the Lithuanian ethnicity inhabiting the region of Samogitia in Lithuania. Many speak the Samogitian dialect of the Lithuanian language.-History:...
, a situation similar to the Polish Kashubians
Kashubians
Kashubians/Kaszubians , also called Kashubs, Kashubes, Kaszubians, Kassubians or Cassubians, are a West Slavic ethnic group in Pomerelia, north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia ....
. This was contested before a court by the Žemaitē bova, īr ė būs ("Samogitians were, are and will be") Association, also named Žemaitiu soeiga, which considers that it is a violation of the Constitution, more particularly of the provision that everyone has the right to decide on his nationality. According to Egidijus Skarbalius, the founder of the Samogitian Party
Samogitian Party
The Samogitian Party is an ethnic-regionalist autonomist party of the Lithuania's Samogitian minority founded in April 2008.-Creation:In 2008, the Ministry of Justice refused to register the party claiming that there were not enough participants at its inaugural meeting, but also that the...
, a new Samogitian autonomist party founded in April 2008, Samogitians could be as many as one million, thus representing a third of Lithuania's total population.
Discrimination against ethnic minorities
Since 1990 Lithuanian authorities have been accused of discrimination against ethnic minorities (especially Polish minority). Some journalists claim Lithuania's government tries to make minorities play a secondary role in the societySee also
- Armenians in LithuaniaArmenians in LithuaniaArmenians in Lithuania refers to ethnic Armenians living in Lithuania. They number around 2,500. According to Soviet 1989 census there are 1,655 Armenians in Lithuania.The Armenians live mainly in Vilnius...
- Baltic Germans - Klaipėda RegionKlaipėda RegionThe Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors...
- History of Jews in Lithuania - Lithuanian JewsLithuanian JewsLithuanian Jews or Litvaks are Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania:...
- The Holocaust in Lithuania - Polish minority in LithuaniaPolish minority in LithuaniaThe Polish minority in Lithuania numbered 234,989 persons, according to the Lithuanian census of 2001, or 6.74% of the total population of Lithuania. It is the largest ethnic minority in the country and the second largest Polish diaspora group among the post-Soviet states...
- Russians in Lithuania - Baltic RussiansBaltic RussiansThe term Baltic Russians is usually used to refer to the Russian-speaking communities in the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.The term "Baltic Russians" does not imply a separate ethnic subcategory among the Russians. It came into use in the context of discussions of their fate after...
External links
- Minority related national legislation - Lithuania
- Minority Rights Group International, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Lithuania : Belarusians and Ukrainians, 2008
- Moser, Robert. "The Representation of Ethnic Minorities in Post-Communist Legislatures: Russia and Lithuania Compared" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Hilton Chicago and the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL, Sep 02, 2004