On all of the measures so far considered, there are considerable differences between the capital city, Vilnius, and the rest of Lithuania. As already noted, the ethnic composition of Vilnius municipality (pop. 553,904) shows a larger concentration on minorities than the rest of Lithuania. This is shown in Table 13.
Table 13: Ethnic Groups in Lithuania (excluding Vilnius) and in Vilnius Municipality 2001
Ethnic Group
|
Lithuania (excl. Vilnius)
|
Vilnius Municipality
|
%
|
%
|
Lithuanian
|
88.4
|
57.4
|
Russian
|
4.8
|
14.0
|
Polish
|
4.4
|
18.9
|
Belarussian
|
0.7
|
4.1
|
Other
|
1.6
|
5.5
|
Source: Lithuanian Statistics Department. Special tabulations
This is reflected in the percentages of all minorities in the Vilnius population, but particularly in the case of Russians and Poles. Whereas these two minorities constitute only 9.2% of the population outside the capital, in Vilnius they make up one third of the population.
Obviously, these differences in ethnic composition are reflected in the language statistics as well. In Table 14, comparative figures are given for the percentages who claim selected languages as native or mother tongues.
Table 14: Native languages spoken in Lithuania (excluding Vilnius) and in Vilnius Municipality by Ethnic Group
-
Ethnic group
|
Native/ mother tongue
|
Lithuanian
|
Russian
|
Polish
|
Belarus
|
Other
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
%
|
Lithuania (Excluding Vilnius)
|
0.1
|
|
|
Lithuanian
|
97.0
|
0.2
|
0.0
|
2.7
|
Russian
|
8.5
|
87.1
|
0.1
|
0.0
|
4.2
|
Poles
|
8.2
|
6.6
|
83.6
|
0.5
|
1.1
|
Belarussian
|
5.5
|
47.5
|
5.0
|
38.6
|
3.5
|
Ukrainian
|
7.4
|
46.9
|
0.3
|
0.1
|
45.3*
|
Other
|
17.8
|
15.6
|
0.5
|
0.1
|
66.0
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vilnius Municipality Only
|
|
|
|
Lithuanian
|
93.8
|
1.1
|
0.3
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
Russian
|
2.4
|
93.0
|
0.2
|
0.0
|
0.1
|
Poles
|
6.3
|
13.2
|
75.4
|
0.4
|
0.0
|
Belarussian
|
2.3
|
56.5
|
6.6
|
30.0
|
0.0
|
Ukrainian
|
3.0
|
63.1
|
0.6
|
0.0
|
27.1**
|
Other
|
12.3
|
46.3
|
1.1
|
0.2
|
31.7
|
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