Poles in Lithuania

Poles In Lithuania

The Polish minority in Lithuania numbered 200,317 persons, according to the Lithuanian census of 2011, or 6.6% 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. Poles are concentrated in the Vilnius Region (Polish: Wileńszczyzna).

People of Polish ethnicity have lived in the territory of modern Lithuania for many centuries. The relationship between the two groups has been long and complex. Their countries were united during the era of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but both nations lost their independence after the Partitions of Poland in the late 18th century. Both nations regained their independence in the wake of World War I, but hostilities over the ownership of Vilnius (Polish: Wilno) and the surrounding region broke out in 1920. The disputes became politically moot after the Soviet Union exercised its authority over both countries during and immediately after World War II. Some tensions over the Vilnius Region resurfaced after Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, but have since remained at manageable levels. Poland was highly supportive of Lithuanian independence, and became one of the first countries to recognise independent Lithuania, despite apprehensions over Lithuania's treatment of its Polish minority.