Lithuanian People - Ethnic Composition of Lithuania

Ethnic Composition of Lithuania

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 Tatars, Finns, Danes, Jews and other.

Poles are concentrated in the Vilnius region, the area controlled by Poland in the interwar period. Especially large Polish communities are located in the Vilnius district municipality (61.3% of the population) and the Šalčininkai district municipality (79.5%). This concentration allows Election Action of Lithuania's Poles, an ethnic minority-based political party, to exert political influence. This party has held 1 or 2 seats in the parliament of Lithuania for the past decade. The party is more active in local politics and controls several municipality councils.

Russians, even though they are almost as numerous as Poles, are much more evenly scattered and do not have a strong political party. The most prominent community lives in 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 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 or later emigrated to the United States and Israel. Now there are about 3,200 Jews living in Lithuania.