Belarusians in Lithuania
The Belarusian minority in Lithuania (Belarusian: беларусы, biełarusy, Russian: белорусы, byelorusy, Lithuanian: baltarusiai or gudai) numbered 36,200 persons at the 2011 census, and at 1.2% of the total population of Lithuania, being the third most populous national minority.[2] The Belarusian national minority in Lithuania has deep historical, cultural and political relations. Many famous Belarusians lived and created in Lithuania, mostly its capital Vilnius; it was in Vilnius that the first standardized Belarusian language grammar was printed in.
Total population | |
---|---|
36,200 1.2% of the Lithuanian Population[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Vilnius, Visaginas, Klaipėda | |
Languages | |
Russian, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Ukrainian | |
Religion | |
Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Belarusians, Slavs, especially East Slavs |
According to the 2011 census, only 18.4% of Belarusians speak Belarusian as their mother tongue, while Russian is native for 56.3%, Polish - 9.3%, Lithuanian - 5.2% of Belarusians.
The most widespread Christian denominations among Belarusians in Lithuania are Roman Catholicism (49.6%) and Orthodoxy (32.3%).
Francysk Skaryna gymnasium is the only Belarusian school in Vilnius. One Catholic church in Vilnius (St. Bartholomew’s Church) provides religious services in Belarusian.
Some famous Lithuanian Belarusians
- Frantsishak Alyakhnovich
- Klaudzi Duzh-Dusheuski
- Konstantinas Galkauskas
- Hryhoriy Kurec
- Vaclau Lastouski
- Anton Luckevich
- Ivan Luckevich
- Leonidas Muraška
- Pyotra Sergyevich
- Władysław Syrokomla
- Kazimir Svajak
- Branislaw Tarashkyevich
- Zoska Veras
See also
- Ethnic minorities in Lithuania
- Belarus-Lithuania relations
References
- Lithuania census 2011
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2013-07-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)