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Šalčininkai

City in Dzūkija, Lithuania From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

Quick facts Soleczniki (Polish), Country ...
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Etymology

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

History

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Church in 1937

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])[citation needed]. In 1420, Lithuanian-speaking Nicholas of Šalčininkai was born in Šalčininkai and in 1453–1467 he served as the Bishop of Vilnius, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[3]

In the late 19th century many of the local inhabitants mixed with the neighbouring Belarusians and called themselves tutejszy ("the locals"), while staying Catholics, they didn't assign themselves to a single ethnic group.

The region is known for its uncodified Belarusian[4] vernacular (also known as 'po prostu', meaning 'simply' or 'plainly')[5] and the city itself is considered the provincial centre of Polish culture in Lithuania (the urban centre being Vilnius).[citation needed]

Šalčininkai attained the town status in 1956 and is now a capital of the Šalčininkai district municipality.[citation needed]

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Demographics

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.[6]

In 2000 coat of arms of Šalčininkai was adopted by a decree of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, designed by Arvydas Každailis, coat of arms consists of three hazelnuts symbolizing solidarity.[7]

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

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

Šalčininkai is twinned with:[8]

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References

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