Šalčininkai

Šalčininkai

Šalčininkai

City in Dzūkija, Lithuania

Šalčininkai (pronunciationⓘ; Polish: Soleczniki; German: Sassenicken; Yiddish: סאָלעטשניק Solechnik; Belarusian: Салечнікі) is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, situated south-east of Vilnius, near the border with Belarus.

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The name of the town derives from Šalčia river, šalta meaning cold in Lithuanian.[2]

In the medieval period the region around Šalčininkai was dominated by Lithuanians and it was the birthplace of many authors of the earliest Lithuanian-language texts (including Stanislovas Rapalionis, Jurgis Zablockis and Aleksandras Rodūnonis [lt], to name a few). At the late 19 century most of the local inhabitants were assimilated with the neighboring Belarusians and called themselves Tutejszy (the locals), while staying Catholics, that meant Polish self-identification of many.

The region is known for its uncodified Belarusian[3] vernacular (also known as 'po prostu', meaning 'simply' or 'plainly')[4] and the city itself is considered the provincial centre of Polish culture in Lithuania (the urban centre being Vilnius).

Šalčininkai attained the town status in 1956 and is now a capital of the Šalčininkai district municipality. According to the latest census of 2021, Šalčininkai had 6857 inhabitants and features a multi-ethnic population of 4930 Poles (71.9%), 920 Lithuanians (15.7%), 438 Russians (6.4%), 286 Belarusians (4.2%), 61 Ukrainians (0,9%) and 222 people of other background (3.2%). 12.2% of all inhabitants in Šalčininkai district municipality, according to the 2021 census were born abroad, while 87.8% were born in Lithuania. This was a decrease from 14.3%, recorded by the previous – 2011 census. Out of 34.5 thousand inhabitants in 2011, 3711 or 10.7% of all the inhabitants were born in Belarus, 728 or 2.1% in Russia.[5]

Šalčininkai contains the highest percentage number of self-identified Poles of any town in Lithuania. The town's coat of arms, designed by Arvydas Každailis, shows three hazelnuts symbolizing solidarity.

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Lithuania

Šalčininkai is twinned with:[6]

References

  1. [1]
    "GYVENTOJAI GYVENAMOSIOSE VIETOVĖSE" (XLSX). Osp.stat.gov.lt. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  2. [2]
    Šalčininkų rajono miestų vardų kilmė ir kirčiavimas
  3. [3]
    "Jankowiak: Po prostu for me is just a synonym of Belarusian language" – Lithuanian Polish media article – an interview with the Polish linguist on "po prostu speech
  4. [4]
    "A language which is not" – Lithuanian Russian tv series about the so-called Tutejszy phenomenon and an analysis of the speech by the linguist
  5. [5]
    Population and Housing Censuses of Lithuania, 2011, 2021
  6. [6]
    "Tarptautinis bendradarbiavimas". Salcininkai.lt (in Lithuanian). Šalčininkų rajono savivaldybė. Retrieved 2021-04-02.


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