Poles is still the largest minority in Lithuania

As you can notice in the census from March 2011, Lithuania had 3 million 43 thousand permanent residents, said Lithuanian Department of Statistics (Lietuvos statistikos departamentas). In September the number of permanent residents in Lithuania decreased.

Currently, in Lithuania are living 2 million 989 thousand people. According to data from the Department of Statistics since 2001 the number of inhabitants in Lithuania decreased by 12 percent (440, 6 thousand people). The greatest impact on reducing the number of people was emigration.

In 10 years, from Lithuania emigrated 402, 9 thousand people and came only 64, 2 thousand. The impact on small number of people has also demographic rate.

Last year in March, 2/3 of population were living in cities. In 10 years the number of urban population has decreased by 12 percent. Similar rates were recorded in rural areas.

According to census in Lithuania are living 154 nationalities. The largest one are Lithuanians (84.2 percent), the second are Poles (6.6 percent), third are Russians (5.8 percent) and Belarusians are 1.2 percent of the total population of Lithuania. In comparison with 2001 the number of Poles fell by 0.1 percent.

For the first time in the census citizens declared their mother tongue. One mother tongue declared 99,4 percent of residents. Lithuanian is the native language for 85.4 percent of people. Two mother tongues declared 0.6 percent (17 thousand people). The most popular were: Lithuanian and Russian, Lithuanian and Polish, Polish and Russian. 

Source: http://pl.delfi.lt/aktualia/litwa/polacy-nadal-najliczniejsza-mniejszoscia-na-litwie.d?id=59610567

Tłumaczenie Daria Bergmann w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Daria Bergmann the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.