The Belarusian minority in Lithuania (Belarusian: Беларусы Літвы, romanized: Biełarusy Litvy; Russian: Белорусы в Литве, romanized: Belorusy v Litve; Lithuanian: Lietuvos baltarusiai) 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.
According to Polish professor Jan Otrębski's article published in 1931, the Polish dialect in the Vilnius Region and in the northeastern areas in general are very interesting variant of Polishness as this dialect developed in a foreign territory which was mostly inhabited by the Lithuanians who were Belarusized (mostly) or Polonized, and to prove this Otrębski provided examples of Lithuanianisms in the Tutejszy language.[3][4] In 2015, Polish linguist Mirosław Jankowiak [pl] attested that many of the Vilnius Region's inhabitants who declare Polish nationality speak a Belarusian dialect which they call mowa prosta ('simple speech').[5]
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.
^Nitsch, Kazimierz; Otrębski, Jan (1931). "Język Polski. 1931, nr 3 (maj/czerwiec)" (in Polish). Polska Akademia Umiejętności, Komisja Języka Polskiego: 80–85. Retrieved 3 November 2023. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
