Współczesna społeczno-polityczna kondycja Polaków na historycznej Wileńszczyźnie : litewsko-białoruskie pogranicze polskie
LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Baltarusiai; Lenkai; Pasienis; Politinės permainos; Tautinė mažuma; Vilniaus kraštas; Byelorussians; Frontier; Lithuania; National Minority; Poles; Political changes; Vilnius region; Baltarusija (Belarus).
ENHistorical Wilno Region consists of the Wilno, Troki, Święciany, Ostrów, Oszmiana, Soleczniki and Werenów districts as well as the adjacent Lida, Szczuczyn, Brasław, Świr and Molodeczno districts and some others. Until 1939 it has been inhabited predominantly by the Poles. After the World War II it has been divided by the newly created border between Lithuanian and Belarusian SSR, which has never existed before. The region still retains predominance or significant proportion of Polish population. Together with Latvian so called Polish Inflanty (the cities of Dyneburg - Dźwińsk and surroundings) it is a territory inhabited by ca. 720 000 native Poles, living on the area of 47 482 km2 (Belarus + Lithuania). Including Latvian districts of Krasław, Rzyżyca and southern part (1/2) of Dźwińsk (6 352 km2) this gives a total of 54 334 km2. This is a territory ca. 2000 km2 bigger than the area of the pre-war RoL (52 820 km2). This “Polish belt” between today’s Polish border and Latvia has been artificially (politically) “cut off” and its both Polish parts are objectively separating from each other. In the Lithuania (EU) Polish population, despite the harassments, has a perspective of national and cultural endurance. In the Belarus proceeds the national and state assimilation. [From the publication]
