About Lithuania

Lithuania

0. Introduction

0.1. Lithuania [Lietuva] (LT) is the most southerly of the three Baltic States. Its
territory covers little more than 65,000 km² of which a considerable part is
woodland (30%). Most of Lithuania’s population (67% of its 3.4 million
inhabitants) resides in urban areas; 33% of the population live in the country. The
five major cities are Vilnius (the capital), Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys.

0.2. Lithuania is a parliamentary republic headed by a president who is directly elected
for a period of five years. The unicameral Lithuanian parliament (the Seimas)
consists of 141 members. They are elected for four years. Lithuania is divided into
10 higher administrative units that are part of the State government (the counties
Alytus, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Marijampolė, Panevėžys, Šiauliai, Tauragė, Telšiai,
Utena and Vilnius) and 60 lower-level administrative units (or municipalities).
One of the major tasks of the counties is to promote regional development. In
recent years Lithuania has had a yearly average economic growth of 6%. The
average standard of living in Lithuania is roughly 30% of the EU average and the
average gross monthly salary is 1,222 Litas (354 EUR). One of the major problems
in Lithuania is unemployment: although it is gradually decreasing in cities, it
remains rather high in the country (approximately 12.4% in 2003 (data provided
by the Ministry of Social Security and Labour).

1. General aspects

1.1 Lithuania’s history dates back to the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC when Baltic tribes
settled on present-day Lithuanian territory.

Although the name Lithuania already appeared in written sources in 1009 AD, the
emergence of the Lithuanian state dates back to 1240. At that time Grand Duke
Mindaugas successfully lead a rebellion against the German crusaders who were
starting to settle in the Baltic regions and whose main goal it was to christianise the
pagans. Because the Catholic Church denied political existence to pagan tribes
Mindaugas accepted baptism and thus achieved peace. He received the title of King
of the Holy Roman Empire on 6 June 1253. According to some historians the
crowning of Mindaugas in 1253 can be seen as the starting date of the Grand Duchy
of Lithuania that was to last until 1795. After the death of Mindaugas, Lithuania
extended its territory from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea under Grand Dukes
Algirdas and Kęstutis (1345-1377). Because of a worsening of general geopolitical
circumstances Lithuania made an alliance with Poland in 1385 (Treaty of Krėva)
and adopted Christianity a second time in 1387 to put a halt to ongoing attacks
from the German crusaders. The bond with Poland was tightened in the late 15th
century and in 1569 Poland and Lithuania united in a confederate state in Lublin.
In the parliament of the Republic of Two Nations, the Seimas, Lithuania held one
third of the seats. Lithuania experienced a flourishing of intellectual life. With the
arrival of Jesuits a network of schools was created and Vilnius University was
founded in 1579. Towards the 17th century the Republic of the Two Nations started
feeling the consequences of the expansionist politics of the Swedes, the Russians,
the Prussians and the Austrians. In 1772 Russia, Prussia and Austria partitioned
Lithuania for a first time. In 1793 Lithuanian territory was reduced for the second
time by Russia and Prussia. And in 1795 the Polish-Lithuanian state ceased to exist
when Prussia, Russia and Austria divided it a third time. The greater part of
Lithuania went to the Russian Empire. Lithuania only recovered its independence
at the end of World War I. This did not last for long, though, since the Polish army
annexed Vilnius and the territory surrounding it in 1920. In 1939 the Soviet Union
helped to return Vilnius and part of its surrounding territory to Lithuania while the
Germans annexed Klaipėda (Memel). In the same year the Molotov-Ribbentrop
Pact marked the end of the independent Lithuanian state. Annexation by the Soviet
Union in 1939 was followed by German occupation from 1941 to 1944 and Soviet
rule from 1944 until 1990. On 11 March 1990 Lithuania declared its independence.

1.2. Since its independence Lithuania has started a period of social and economic
transition. On 17 September 1991 Lithuania joined the UN. Russian troops were
finally withdrawn from Lithuanian territory on 31 August 1993. In March 2004
Lithuania joined NATO. On 1 May 2004 it became a full member of the EU.

2. Demographic data

2.1 According to the population census of 2001 some 115 nationalities, also referred to
as ethnicities in Lithuanian governmental discourse, are living in Lithuania. Apart
from 83.5% Lithuanians who have a clear majority there are 6.7% Poles, 6.3%
Russians, 1.2% Belarussians, 0.7% Ukrainians, 0.1% Jews and some other
minorities such as Tatars, Karaims, Germans and Roma. The following table
compares the figures for nationality/ethnicity from the 1989 census with those of
the 2001 census.
Table 1: Nationalities/Ethnicities in Lithuania (the 1989 and the 2001 census)
1989 2001
Total 3,674,802 100% 3,483,972 100%
Lithuanians 2,925,142 79.6% 2,907,293 83.45%
Poles 257,994 7.0% 234,989 6.74%
Russians 344,455 9.4% 219,789 6.31%
Belarussians 63,169 1.7% 42,866 1.23%
Ukrainians 44,789 1.2% 22,488 0.65%
Jews 12,314 0.3% 4,007 0.12%
Other/unknown 26,939 0.8 39,059 1.12%
The figures show that compared to 1989 the percentage of Lithuanians has
increased in 2001 whereas the percentage of Poles, Russians, Belarussians,
Ukrainians and Jews has decreased. Mainly Russians, Belarussians and
Ukrainians, who had settled in Lithuania as temporary workers after World War II,
moved back to their homelands after Lithuanian independence. Between 1990 and
2000 more than 270,000 people emigrated mainly because of industrial decline
and lack of employment. Now the situation appears relatively stable. Still, mainly
due to considerable emigration in the 1990s, the parliament recently revised the
law on citizenship.

2.2 In its 1989 Law on Citizenship [Pilietybės įstatymas] Lithuania opted for a socalled
‘zero version’. This means that any non-Lithuanian, irrespective of the
duration of his or her stay in Lithuania, was granted Lithuanian citizenship.
Subsequently, a majority of the population (including 90% of all the residents of
different nationality) became Lithuanian citizens. In 1991 the Law on Citizenship
was tightened. From 1991 onwards applicants for naturalisation must have resided
ten years in the country. Furthermore they must have permanent employment (or
another legal source of support) and they must pass an exam testing their
knowledge of the Lithuanian language and the Lithuanian Constitution. This
mainly caused problems for the Roma (⇒ Other languages in Lithuania).
According to the 2001 census 99% of the people living in Lithuania are Lithuanian
citizens, 0.4% are citizens of the Russian Federation, 0.2% are citizens of other
countries, 0.3% have no citizenship and 0.1% did not indicate their citizenship.
Until 2002 Lithuanian citizens automatically lost their citizenship once they
became citizens of another country. But in the 1990s there was considerable
emigration and it was thought that such a provision would practically prevent them
from returning to Lithuania. The Law on Citizenship was therefore changed in
2002. Lithuanian citizens are now allowed to retain Lithuanian citizenship even
after acquiring the citizenship of another country.

2.3 Scientific research in the 1990s has shown that about 80% of the Lithuanian
population consider Lithuanian [lietùvių kalbà] to be their native language
(mother tongue). Judging by the number of native speakers Russian [rùsų kalbà] is
the second language in Lithuania. Approx. 96% of the Russians, about half of the
Ukrainians, Belarusians and Germans, nearly one third of the Jews and Poles, and
smaller percentages of other minorities declare Russian to be their mother tongue.

3. Language Policy

3.1 Art. 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania [Lietuvos Respublikos
Konstitucija] (1988, ratified in 1992) declares Lithuanian to be the state language.
Apart from this, the status of Lithuanian is secured by the Law on the State
Language [Valstybinės kalbos įstatymas] (1995). As can be derived from Art. 37 of
the Constitution and Art. 1 of the 1989 Law on National (Ethnic) Minorities
[Tautinių mažumų įstatymas] the national minorities in Lithuania have the right
to foster their language and are guaranteed that their language shall be respected.
Furthermore Art. 45 of the Constitution emphasizes that national communities of
citizens shall be independent in managing affairs related to their culture,
education, charity and mutual assistance and that the state shall provide support to
national communities. Lithuanian legislation, however, does not contain any
definition of the concept of a national community, national minority or a group of
persons recognized to be a national minority.

3.2 The Law on the State Language (1995) specifies the status of the Lithuanian
language in public life (in state institutions, in court, in official events, in education
and culture, on signs and information). It leaves room for other non-specified
languages in translations and guarantees ethnic minorities the right to use their
own language in education, cultural events, and on radio and television (Art 13).
The rights for minorities are drawn up in the Law on National (Ethnic) Minorities
(1989, amended in 1991). According to Art 4 of the Law on National (Ethnic)
Minorities the language of that national minority (local language) shall be used in
local bodies and organisations alongside the official language in administrativeterritorial
units with a concentrated national minority. Art. 5 states that
information signs in administrative-territorial units referred to in Art. 4 of the Law
can also use the language of the national minority (local language) in addition to
the Lithuanian language. The status of the Lithuanian language is monitored by the
State Lithuanian Language Commission [Valstybinė lietuvių kalbos komisija] and
the State Language Inspectorate [Valstybinė kalbos inspekcija]. National
minorities receive support from a number of institutions. In 1989, the year in
which the Law on National (Ethnic) Minorities was adopted, the government also
established the Department of Nationalities and Lithuanians Living Abroad. This
department formulates and puts into practice the government’s policy on national
minorities. It also conducts surveys on national minorities and informs the public
about them. The Department maintains a House of National Communities in
Vilnius in which minority groups can organise cultural, social and educational
activities. It also offers free legal consultations once a week. Similar centres can be
found in Kaunas, Alytus, Visaginas and Kirtimai (the latter is the public centre of
the Roma community). In 2003 the Lithuanian government established the
regulations of the Department of National Minorities and Lithuanians Living
Abroad. On the basis of these regulations the Board of the Department of National
Minorities and Lithuanians Living Abroad was formed, of which the head of the
Council of National Communities is a member. The Council of National
Communities was founded in 1995 under the authority of the Department of
National Minorities and Lithuanians Living Abroad. This Council coordinates the
activities of national minority communities, maintains and tries to improve interethnic
relations in Lithuania and oversees participation in the implementation of
state-minority policy. It is currently composed of representatives of 20 national
communities (including the Roma). The seats in the Council are allocated
according to the size of the minority: minority communities of 100,000 members
or more are given three seats (this is the case for Poles and Russians), communities
of 10,000 – 100,000 are given 2 seats (this is the case for Belarussians and
Ukrainians) and communities with less than 10,000 members are given 1 seat (this
is, among others, the case for Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Estonians, Georgians,
Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Jews, Karaims, Latvians, Roma, Romanians and
Tatars). In 2003, under the authority of the President, the Council of National
Communities was established. Its members are the head of the Council for
National Communities and the head of the Department of National Minorities and
Lithuanians Living Abroad. The analysis of acts of law, the regulation of the
national legal system and the drafting of policy proposals concerning the
preservation of national identity are the main tasks of this council.

3.3 The main educational issues in Lithuania are regulated by the Constitution of the
Republic of Lithuania. In 1992 the Lithuanian government approved the General
Concept of Education [Lietuvos švietimo koncepcija] in Lithuania. On 2 July 1998
several essential amendments were added to the 1991 Law on Education [Švietimo
įstatymas]: the introduction of basic 10-year education, admission of
schoolchildren from the age of 14 to vocational schools, etc. A draft law of the
amendment was discussed in 2001. On 17 June 2003 a draft of the Law on the
Amendment of the Law on Education [Švietimo įstatymo pakeitimo įstatymas]
was published. Further legal documents dealing with educational matters in
Lithuania are the Law on Science and Studies [Mokslo ir studijų įstatymas] (1991)
on institutions of science and higher education, the Law on Vocational Education
and Training [Profesinio mokymo įstatymas] (1997), the Law on special education
[Specialiojo ugdymo įstatymas] (1998), the Law on Informal Adult Education
[Neformaliojo suaugusiųjų švietimo įstatymas] (1998), and the Law on Higher
Education [Aukštojo mokslo įstatymas] (2000).

3.4 National minorities are granted the right to hold lessons in their mother tongue.
Art 2 of the Law on National (Ethnic) Minorities gives people the right to have
schooling in their own language. Art. 30.2 of the Law on the Amendment of the
Law on Education states that general education and non-formal education schools
must provide teaching in the language of the ethnic minority and foster the ethnic
minority’s culture. Furthermore, it states that in these schools the teaching process
must be conducted or certain subjects must be taught in the language of the ethnic
minority and that the subject of the Lithuanian state language must be a
constituent part of the curriculum. The main provisions describing the place of
schools for national minorities in the educational system of Lithuania are laid
down in the Provisions for Integrating Schools for National Minorities into the
Educational System of the Republic of Lithuania [Tautinių mažumų mokyklų
integravimosi į Lietuvos Respublikos švietimo sistemą nuostatos], i.e. Decision No
76 of 22 December 1992 of the Collegium of the Ministry of Culture and Education.

3.5 In the year 2000 the total number of schools in Lithuania was 2,031. In 74 schools
the language of instruction was Polish, in 68 it was Russian, in 26 Russian and
Polish, in 23 Lithuanian and Russian, in 11 Lithuanian and Polish, in 10
Lithuanian, Russian and Polish, in 1 Belarusian, in 1 Russian and Belarusian and in
1 in Lithuanian and English. The following table, based on data taken from the
Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review (Motuzas 2001), shows the number of pupils
attending schools with Lithuanian, Polish and Russian as language of instruction
from 1990/91 until 2000/01.
Table 2: Number of Pupils According to Language of Instruction
school year Number of pupils according to language of
instruction
Total
number of
pupils
Lithuanian Polish Russian
1990/91 409,295 11,407 76,038 501,740
1991/92 414,119 12,611 72,762 499,692
1992/93 415,971 13,881 67,506 497,359
1993/94 422,216 15,312 58,743 496,384
1994/95 434,469 16,631 57,655 508,887
1995/96 46,336 17,898 55,237 519,659
1996/97 459,799 19,212 52,315 531,480
1997/98 475,253 20,263 49,347 545,042
1998/99 490,589 21,038 46,325 558,160
1999/00 508,373 21,826 44,058 574,486
2000/01 522,569 22,303 41,162 586,294

According to information provided by the Eurydice network, there were 138
secondary schools with one language of instruction, which was not Lithuanian, and
63 schools with several languages of instruction in 2002-2003. According to data
from the Ministry of Education and Science, the number of schools where the
language of instruction is not Lithuanian increased to 202 in 2003-2004. These
schools include 58 schools with Russian as the language of instruction, 83 schools
with Polish as the language of instruction and one school with Belorussian as the
language of instruction. The mixed schools included 17 Lithuanian-Russian, 14
Lithuanian-Polish, 18 Russian-Polish, 8 Lithuanian-Russian-Polish, 2 Jewish and 1
German school. Apart from the schools of national minorities that are financed
according to the same principles and criteria as Lithuanian schools there are also
private schools for national minorities. Certain national minorities have
established Sunday Schools. Since 2001 Lithuania has 38 Sunday Schools: 11 of
them are Polish, 4 Ukrainian, 3 Armenian, 3 Tartar, 3 German, 3 Jewish, 2
Belorussian, 2 Latvian, 2 Russian, 1 Greek, 1 Karait, 1 Estonian, 1 Roma and 1
Romanian. In these schools children improve the knowledge of the minority
language and learn about the history, religion and culture of the minority they
belong to. The Lithuanian Government has introduced a system of student
vouchers that cover some of the money needed to buy textbooks, teaching aids and
other educational needs. Government funds are increased by 10% per pupil of an
ethnic minority school.

3.6 Art. 2 of the 1989 Law on National (Ethnic) Minorities guarantees national
minorities the right to freely express their thoughts and to receive information in
their mother tongue. This is related to the possibility of Lithuania’s national
minorities to have mass media in their mother tongue. As far as radio and
television broadcasting is concerned the principles to be followed are laid down in
the Law on the National Radio and Television [Lietuvos nacionalinio radijo ir
televizijos įstatymas] (1996, amended in 2000). Art. 4 of this law stipulates that
the national broadcaster must ensure a variety of topics and genres in its
programmes and must direct them towards the various strata of society and people
of different ages, various nationalities and convictions. Efforts are made by the
Lithuanian authorities to increase the number of programmes for national
minorities on radio and television in order to present more material and
information on ethnic, linguistic, religious and other groups living in Lithuania.

3.7 Art. 8 of the Lithuanian Law on the State Language states that legal proceedings in
the Republic of Lithuania shall be conducted in the state language. Participants in
the legal proceedings, who do not know the state language, shall be provided with
the services of an interpreter free of charge.

3.8 According to Art. 4 of the Law on National (Ethnic) Minorities the language of
national minorities (local language) shall be used in local bodies and organisations
alongside the official language in administrative-territorial units with a
concentrated national minority.

4. The European dimension

4.1 Lithuania signed the Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities (FCPNM) on 1 February 1995. The convention was ratified on 23 March
2000 and entered into force on 1 July 2000. Lithuania has not yet signed the
European Charter on Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML).


4.2 Lithuania has signed bilateral treaties with the countries its national minorities
belong to. A list of agreements and cooperation is provided for by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.



Short history of Lithuania