Ethnic minorities in Lithuania

The Census of 2011 showed that 15.8% of inhabitants belonged to ethnic minorities: the two largest groups were the Poles and the Russians, although the proportions had decreased since independence in 1989.

[1] There was a significant Jewish community in Lithuania prior to World War II, and an influx of Jews from Nazi-occupied Poland in 1941 increased this population to its maximum of nearly 250,000.

[7] According to the 2001 census, in Šalčininkai District Municipality as well as in the town of Visaginas (which enjoys a special status) ethnic Lithuanians are in minority (10 and 15 per cent respectively).

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.

The Kuršininkai were considered Latvians until after World War I when Latvia gained independence from the Russian Empire, a consideration based on linguistic arguments.