ENThe basis for multi-faceted studies of the Lithuanian borderland is the language and culture islands which formed in the Lithuanian borderlands of Belarus and Poland. Though relatively distant from each other, they have several common and distinguishing cultural elements. One of these is identity. Complex studies carried out by Lithuanian researchers concerned the ways of maintaining ethnic identity on these islands. The quality of Lithuanian education and the language situation were analyzed. It turns out that language is the first and fundamental sign of ethnographic identity.