Belarusians in Lithuania Belarusians in Lithuania The Belarusian minority in Lithuania (, "biełarusy", , "byelorusy", Lithuanian: "baltarusiai" or "gudai") numbered 36,200 persons at the 2011 census, and at 1.2% of the total population of Lithuania, being the third most populous national minority. The Belarusian national minority in Lithuania has deep historical, cultural and political relations. Many famous Belarusians lived and created in Lithuania, mostly its capital Vilnius; it was in Vilnius that the first standardized Belarusian language grammar was printed in. According to the 2011 census, only 18.4% of Belarusians speak Belarusian as their mother tongue, while Russian is native for 56.3%, Polish
Centennial of the Restored State of Lithuania of Independence of Lithuania, which proclaimed the restoration of an Independent State of Lithuania, creating a modern state. During World War II, Lithuania was forcibly occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, followed by Nazi Germany in 1941, and again by the Soviets in 1944 as one of its constituent republics. During the late 1980s and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania fought to restore its independence which culminated in the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania signed on 11 March 1990. In order to have every Lithuanian citizen experience the significance of this