According to the Lithuanian Census of Population and Housing, 2011 there were 200 317 Poles living in the country. The majority of Poles live in the municipalities of Šalčininkai (77.8%), Vilnius (52.1%), Trakai (30.1%) and Švenčionys (26%). 2016 According to Statistics Lithuania, at the beginning of the year 162,344 Poles lived in Lithuania.
HISTORICAL INTERFACES. Polish history in Lithuania seeks the origins of the country’s statehood. 14th century The request of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas to come to the Franciscans, who speak Polish, shows that the number of Poles living in Lithuania was significant at that time. After 1387 By the time of the baptism of the Catholic Church, Polish clergy, nobility, merchants and townspeople were born. Eventually, the Polish community formed in Vilnius.
LANGUAGE. Lithuanian Poles are best identified by their informal, unwritten language, some called “gwara wileńska” or “after wileńsku”, which has been formed in the Southeastern Lithuania for centuries and is close to Poles. The local Polish dialect existed in the vicinity of the Byelorussian and Lithuanian languages, which left many traces in it. Gwara wileńska is more closely related to the interwar Polish language of the village. Meanwhile, “after wileńsku” is more closely related to the language of Vilnius city inhabitants, which has only some regional features. Sometimes Poles make fun of themselves by saying that, after a short period of words, they put in a word more appropriate to them from another Lithuanian, Russian or Gujarati language that is convenient for them. Although somewhat ironic, Lithuanian Poles are proud of this unique and very impressive language, which is characterized by a singular pronunciation of vowels and sharp consonants ł and h, and a different articulation of the soft consonants ź, ś, ć, dź.
DISHES. Traditional Polish cuisine is quite saturated and high-calorie. Polish cuisine traditions were influenced by German, French and Jewish national cuisines.
