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Ethnographic Lithuania is a concept that defines Lithuanian territories as a significant part of the territories that belonged to theGrand Duchy of Lithuania andLithuanians as all people living on them, regardless of whether those people contemporarily or currently speak theLithuanian language andconsidered themselves Lithuanian. The concept was in contrast to those of "historic Lithuania", the territories of the Duchy, and the "linguistic Lithuania", the area whereLithuanian language was overwhelmingly spoken.[1][2]
According to the interpretation ofPolish historian Piotr Lossowski, the concept of ethnographic Lithuania clashed with the right forself-determination of people living in that large territory, particularly Poles andBelarusians, who, according to the supporters of the ethnographic Lithuania, were "slavicized Lithuanians" who needed to be re-Lithuanized. They argued that an individual cannot choose hisethnicity andnationality, which are determined not by language but by ancestry.[2]
In 1920, Lithuanian politicianMykolas Biržiška wrote aboutnationality:
"One cannot define it according to the opinion of every individual. Belonging or not to a given nationality is not something everybody can decide for themselves, it is not something that can be solved according to political liberalism, even if hidden under the cloak of democratic slogans. It is too complex, too tied with ancient history, too related with the history of a given nation, for the will or passivity of any individual to challenge it. [...] Ethnographic Lithuania does not end where the locals no longer speak Lithuanian, it spreads further, to the regions which do not speak - but used to - Lithuanian, since it is composed of one Lithuanian nation, regardless of whether it speaks Lithuanian, has forgotten the language or even holds it in contempt."[2]
The geographical scope ofethnographic Lithuania was noted in 1905, the year ofGreat Seimas of Vilnius, whenRussian prime ministerSergei Witte received the following memorial:
"Lithuanians, knowing that territory inhabited by them since the historical times consists of the Lithuaniangubernyas of theNorthwestern Krai:Vilna Governorate,Kovno Governorate andGrodno Governorate, part ofCourland andSuwałki Governorate (incorporated into theKingdom of Poland), consider them in the ethnographic perspective Lithuanian, and their inhabitants living there alongside the Lithuanians as either newcomers - such as Poles,Jews andRussians - or slavicized Lithuanians, such as Belarusians."[2]
According to the interpretations of Polish historian, demands of this early program would only slightly be modified in the coming decades[2] (some would also include part of theMinsk Governorate aroundNaugardukas and theLithuanian Minor territory aroundMemel). In essence, Lithuanian elites demanded the creation of a Lithuanian country with 125,000 square miles (320,000 km2), from theBaltic Sea in the West,Daugava River in the north, toBug River andPolesie marshes in the south.[2] That territory was inhabited in the early 20th century by 5,850,000 people; out of those, according to the officialRussian Empire statistics, linguistic Lithuanians formed 1,659,000 - i.e. less than 30%.[2] Out of the regions mentioned in the 1905 declaration, only the Kovno Governorate and the northern part of Suwałki Governorate had a clear Lithuanian-speaking majority.[2]
The concept of ethnographic Lithuaniaconflicted with thenewly established Polish state, which sought to create a nationalPolish state on the territory ofthe former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Currently, theRepublic of Lithuania has no territorial claims.
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