Šalčininkai

54°19′0″N 25°23′0″E / 54.31667°N 25.38333°E / 54.31667; 25.38333Country LithuaniaEthnographic regionDzūkijaCounty Vilnius CountyMunicipalityŠalčininkai district municipalityEldershipŠalčininkai eldershipCapital ofŠalčininkai district municipality
Šalčininkai eldershipFirst mentioned1311Granted town rights1956Area • Total3 km² (1 sq mi)Population • Total6,857Time zoneUTC+2 (EET) • Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)

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

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

History

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], to name a few)^{[citation needed]}. At the late 19 century most of the local inhabitants were assimilated with the neighboring Belarusians and called themselves tutejszy ("the locals"), while staying Catholics, that meant Polish self-identification of many.^{[citation needed]}

The region is known for its uncodified Belarusian^[3] vernacular (also known as 'po prostu', meaning 'simply' or 'plainly')^[4] 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]}

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.^[5]

Šalčininkai contains the highest percentage number of self-identified Poles of any city in Lithuania.^{[citation needed]}

The city coat of arms, designed by Arvydas Každailis, shows three hazelnuts symbolizing solidarity.^{[citation needed]}

Notable people

• Władysław Kozakiewicz (born 1950), Polish pole vaulter and Olympic champion
• Henoch Leibowitz
• Aaron Soltz

Twin towns – sister cities

Šalčininkai is twinned with:^[6]

References