The Rights of national minorities
ENAccording to the statistical data Lithuanians form 83 % of all the citizens, whereas the Polish (6.7 % of all the number of the citizens) and Russians (6.3 % of all the citizens) are the largest national minorities in Lithuania. Other national minorities are much smaller (e. g. Byelorussians – 1.2 %, Ukrainians – 0.7 %, all other – not more than 0.1 % of the entire citizens). Historically, national minorities are mostly concentrated in the Eastern Lithuania where Lithuanians often form the so called “minority within minority”, e. g. Šalčininkai, Vilnius region or Visaginas city. According to the population census the most varied city among the biggest ones by its national composition is Vilnius (Lithuanians – 57.8 %, Polish – 18 %, Russians – 14 %, Byelorussians – 4 %, Ukrainians – 1.3 %, other nationalities – 1.4 %) and Klaipėda (Lithuanians – 71.3 %, Russians – 21.3 %, Byelorussians – 1.9 %, Ukrainians – 2.4 %, other nationalities – 1.2 %). It should be noted that mostly conditionally small (3000–4000 persons) communities of Jewry and Roma most often face the intolerance than biggest national and religious minorities in Lithuania. The attention also should be paid that the citizens of Lithuania evaluate the general situation of the rights of national minorities approvingly enough [p. 332].
