ithuania. Page 2(2).

The Encyclopedia Lituanica, Vol 1, Boston, 1970, further adds that the region constituting Belorussia was settled by East Slavic tribes in the 5th-8th centuries. They did expand from the Carpathian Mountains and encroached on areas settled by the Eastern Balts (Letts and Lithuanians, while the Old Prussians formed the Western Baltic tribe). The encyclopedia points out that "Some of the Balts were surrounded in large and small enclaves and eventually became assimilated; others were pushed further west. The reputed ancestors of the Belorussian nation (Belaruski narod) were the Krivichi, Dregovichi and Radimichi tribes. The term "Belorussians" or "White Russians" is first mentioned in historical sources under 1472, but the name Belorussia (Rus. Belarussija) came into official use only late in the 18th century."

The encyclodedia's section on Belorussia continues as follows:

"By ancestry and language the Belorussians are closely related to the Russians and Ukrainians, but ethnically they have been less affected by admixture of Turco-Tatar strains. They were protected from a greater Mongol influence by the Lithuanian state, of which Belorussia became a part during the 13th-14th centuries. Previously those Eastern Slavic tribes which were the ancestors of the Belorussians belonged to Kievan Rus', although they were governed as more or less independent principalities. Of these the most important was the principality of Polotsk, founded near the head-waters of the Dauguva in the land of Krivichi tribe and finally extending as far south as the Pripet Marshes. The principality eventually became completely independent of Kiev and ruled most of Belorussia. Early in the 13th century it became weak and gradually came under Lithuanian control. .., and most of the principality of Polotsk were taken by Lithuania during the reign of King Mindaugas (ca. 1236-1263). The city of Polotsk itself was finally captured by Vytenis in 1307. His brother Gediminas (1316-41) extended his sway over the principalities of Minsk, Turov, Pinsk, Vitebsk and the entire middle Dnieper region. In the time of Algirdas (1341-77) Lithuanians ruled all of Belorussia, and it remained a part of the Lithuanian state until the end of the 18th century."

"The long period of Lithuanian rule protected Belorussia from the Tatars and kept it separate from the Muscovites, thus helping the formation of the Belorussian nation. The policy of the Lithuanian rulers fostered this process, since they did not try to change the social and religious structure, called in Russian the 'starina' or old order. Lithuanian settlers in Belorussia readily joined the Greek Orthodox Church, intermarried with the East Slavs and adopted the local language and customs. The Old Church Slavic language, which at that time was the only written one in Eastern Europe, became the official language of the Lithuanian Chancellery and of admininistration and legislation. As the language became increasingly colored by the local Belorussian dialect, the Muscovites distinguished it from their own by calling it the "Lithuanian language" (Litovskii iazyk), and the country, Lithuanian Rus' (Litovskaia Rus')."

"For administrative purposes parts of Belorussia were assigned to the principalities of Vilnius and Trakai, while the remainder was left as regional dominions to be ruled by their former princes or given to Lithuanians as fiefs. During the reigns of Vytautas the Great (1392-1430) and Casimir (1440-92) the local principalities ceased to be hereditary and governors were appointed to rule them. In the 16th century, when all the Lithuanian administration was reorganized, the governors became palatinates. The chief parts of Belorussia then came under the palatinates of Polotsk, Vitebsk and Minsk, and smaller areas under those of Smolensk, Mstislavl, Novogrudok and Brest. After these reforms, and even more so after the 1569 Union of Lublin, the Belorussian social and economic structure was made uniform with that of Poland and Lithuania. With the passage of time, almost all of the Belorussian nobility adopted the Polish customs and manners."

"Lithuania was in almost constant conflict with the growing might of Moscow during the 15th-17th centuries because of the Belorussian lands under its control. After the war of 1654-67 Moscow retained the palatinate of Smolensk and part of of that of Vitebsk. The resulting boundary was upheld till 1772, when in the first partition of Lithuania Tsarina Catherine II took Polotsk with the northern part of its palatinate, the palatinates of Vitebsk and Mstislavl and part of that of Minsk. At the second partition in 1793 the remainder of the palatinate of Minsk and parts of those of Brest, Novogrudok and Vilnius went to Russia. Thus during 1772-93 all of Belorussia came under Russian rule. In 1795 at the final partition, much of ethnographic Lithuania was occupied and the Lithuanian state ceased to exist."

"Russian administration was introduced. At first (1796) a single Belorussian province (Belaruskaia guberniia) was established with its center in Vitebsk. In 1802 it was divided into three provinces (Vitebsk, Mogilev and Minsk), but officially they were still called "Belorussian" and until 1840 they were administered according to the Lithuanian Statute. In 1840 Belorussia was renamed Northwestern Russia ('Severo-Zapadnaia Rossiia'); at the same time the three Lithuanian provinces of Vilnius, Gardinas and Kaunas were renamed the Northwestern Territory ('Severo- Zapadnyi Krai'). After the anti-Russian uprisings in 1831 and 1863, which were largely led by the traditional nobility, strict Russification policies were imposed on Lithuania and Belorussia. From 1864-1904 the Lithuanian press and all Lithuanian cultural activities were forbidden. Many Lithuanians living along the Belorussian border lost their national identity while trying to adapt themselves to changing political circumstances."

I would have to say that it is the outlying environs of Vilnius province where Byelorussians can be found amongst the rural population. Their numbers do seem small compared to the Polish people and/or polonized Lithuanians living in Vilnius (rural parts) and Salcininkai counties.

The latest tourist guidebook, VILNIUS IN YOUR POCKET, Issue No. 11, for May/June 1994, cites for the capital city, Vilnius, the following population statistics: Lithuanian (52.5%); Russian (19.3%); Polish (19.1%); Belarussian (4.8%); Jewish (0.8%), and others (3.4%). Soviet statistics in 1970 had shown that Belorussians comprised only 6.2% in Vilnius, while Lithuanians were 42.8% in their historic capital. The entire population in Vilnius in 1994 is 584,400. In general, Belorussians constitute no more than 5% of the entire country, although some Lithuanians have remarked that the Belorussians' best hope for their own national revival lies in those living in Lithuania. I would think that Belarus's independence within the CIS (which may have been weakened by Russia's economic and political influence in Belarus) makes such a "revival" moot for the time being.

As a historical note, Lithuania regained Vilnius from the USSR in 1939 after the Nazi-Soviet dismemberment of Poland. Lithuania also gained additional districts in the east. Nevertheless, the sum total of Lithuanian territorial acquisitions, consisting of previously Polish-controlled territory, represented only about one-third of the total area which the Soviet state had recognized as Lithuanian in 1920, but which had not been part of the interwar republic. The remaining two-thirds of the Vilnius territory was attached to the Belorussian SSR.

With the introduction of Soviet rule in Lithuania in 1940, delegates of Belorussia at the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in Moscow, on August 3, 1940, offered to return six raions (counties) to Soviet Lithuania: Svencionys, Vydziai, Adutiskis, Astravas, Varanavas, and Rodune. The original pledge of the Belorussian delegates stated that in these areas Lithuanians form the majority of the population. By June 1941, the raions of Druskininkai, Svencionys, Ignalina, and Dieveniskes were joined to the Lithuanian SSR. The other raions might have been joined but this was interrupted by Germany's occupation of Lithuania when war broke out. After World War II, the raions of Vidziai-Apsas, Astravas, Rodune, and Varanavas were not joined to the Lithuanian SSR. Hence, tens of thousands of Lithuanians remained in the Belorussian republic.

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