Lithuanians Lithuanian : lietuviai [a] are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania , where they number around 2,, people. Their native language is Lithuanian , one of only two surviving members of the Baltic language family along with Latvian. According to the census conducted in , Over the centuries, and especially under the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , some of these tribes consolidated into the Lithuanian nation, mainly as a defence against the marauding Teutonic Order and Eastern Slavs.
The Lithuanian state was formed in the High Middle Ages , with different historians dating this variously between the 11th and midth centuries. In fact, the crusade persisted after the definite Christianization of Lithuania in , when Europe's last pagan people were baptised. Thereafter, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania continued existing until , however, since the Union of Lublin in , it maintained its independence in the bi-confederal PolishโLithuanian Commonwealth. There is a current argument that the Lithuanian language was considered non-prestigious enough by some elements in Lithuanian society, meaning that the number of Lithuanian language-speakers decreased with Polonization in the PolishโLithuanian Commonwealth , as well as a Germanisation of Prussia.
The subsequent imperial Russian occupation from until , with some interpositions such as the French invasion of Russia in , the Uprisings of and , accelerated this process of Slavicization. While under Russian occupation, Lithuanians endured Russification , which included the year-long ban on public speaking and writing in Lithuanian see, e. In such a context, the Lithuanian National Revival began in the 19th century.
Some believed at the time that the Lithuanian nation as such, along with its language, would become extinct within a few generations. In February , while World War I was ongoing, the re-establishment of an independent Lithuanian state was declared , years after it was destroyed. However, a third of Lithuania's lands, namely the Vilnius Region , as well as its declared capital, fell under Polish occupation during the Interwar. A standardised Lithuanian language was approved.
First of all, you made and announced a decision about the land of Samogitia , which is our inheritance and our homeland from the legal succession of the ancestors and elders.
