Litvin ( be, ліцьвін, літвін, lićvin, litvin; lt, litvinas; pl, Litwin; russian: литвин, litvin; uk, литвин, lytvyn) is a Slavic word for residents of

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, which was used no earlier than the 16th century mostly by the

East Slavs The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor.John Channon & Robert H ...

. Currently, Litvin or its

cognates In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical eff ...

are used internationally for

Lithuanians Lithuanians ( lt, lietuviai) are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another million or two make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Uni ...

(; ; ; ).

Meanings

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

In the 16–18th centuries, the term "Litvin" was mostly used by

to refer to all inhabitants of Lithuania, i.e.

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

. Вячаслаў Насевіч
Літвіны
// Вялікае княства Літоўскае: Энцыклапедыя. У 2 т. / рэд. Г. П. Пашкоў і інш.Т. 2: Кадэцкі корпус — Яцкевіч. — Мінск: Беларуская Энцыклапедыя, 2005. С. 206—208. Several authentic sources, surviving from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, with expressed opinion of the

Grand Dukes of Lithuania The monarchy of Lithuania concerned the monarchical head of state of Lithuania, which was established as an absolute and hereditary monarchy. Throughout Lithuania's history there were three ducal dynasties that managed to stay in power—Hou ...

themselves proves that the

(founders,

rulers A ruler, sometimes called a rule, line gauge, or scale, is a device used in geometry and technical drawing, as well as the engineering and construction industries, to measure distances or draw straight lines. Variants Rulers have long ...

from the

Gediminids The House of Gediminid or simply the Gediminids ( lt, Gediminaičiai, sgs, Gedėmėnātē, be, Гедзімінавічы, pl, Giedyminowicze, uk, Гедиміновичі;) were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reig ...

dynasty) were those who spoke

Old Lithuanian Lithuanian ( ) is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.8 milli ...

and originated from the

cultural regions Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

of ''

Aukštaitija Aukštaitija (; literally in Lithuanian: ''Upper lands'') is the name of one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. The name comes from lands being in upper basin of Nemunas River or being relative to Lowlands up to Šiauliai. Geography Au ...

'' and ''

Žemaitija Samogitia or Žemaitija ( Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five cultural regions of Lithuania and formerly one of the two core administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuani ...

'', while their Eastern neighbours were

Rus' people The Rusʹ (Old East Slavic: Рѹсь; Belarusian language, Belarusian, Russian language, Russian, Rusyn language, Rusyn, and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Русь; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki, Garðar''; Greek language, Greek: Ῥῶς, ''Rhos ...

(

Ruthenians Ruthenian and Ruthene are exonyms of Latin origin, formerly used in Eastern and Central Europe as common ethnonyms for East Slavs, particularly during the late medieval and early modern periods. The Latin term Rutheni was used in medieval sourc ...

Ethnic group in Ukraine

Litvins are a small ethnic group in the area of the mid-stream

Desna River The Desna (russian: Десна́; uk, Десна) is a river in Russia and Ukraine, a major left-tributary of the Dnieper. Its name means "right hand" in the Old East Slavic language. It has a length of , and its drainage basin covers .

(northern Ukraine). The ethnographic or cultural studies about Litvins are poorly noted and are traced to the beginning of the 18th century.Horlenko, Volodymyr
Litvins of the Ukraine North are possibly a fragment of legendary tribe of Siverians (Литвини півночі України - ймовірний уламок племені літописних Сіверян)
'. "Landmarks of Ukraine". 2001. The poet-monk who published several cultural studies noted that Litvins, perhaps after an older pagan tradition, worked on Sundays and rested on Fridays. More notes about Litvins were provided at the end of the 18th century by historians of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and . According to Markovych, Litvins are a regional group such as

Gascons Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

in France or

Swabians Swabians (german: Schwaben, singular ''Schwabe'') are a Germanic people who are native to the ethnocultural and linguistic region of Swabia, which is now mostly divided between the modern states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, in southwestern ...

in Germany. The name Litvin (Litvyak) owes its origin to political factors and is a

demonym A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

(politonym) referencing the

. Litvins in the Chernihiv region (

Chernihiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast ( uk, Черні́гівська о́бласть, translit=Chernihivska oblast; also referred to as Chernihivshchyna, uk, Черні́гівщина, translit=Chernihivshchyna) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. T ...

) call themselves Ruski, but not Moskals or Katsaps. They consider the term Litvin to be derogatory. According to the 2001 census, there were 22 Litvins in Ukraine.

Modern usage in Belarus

Since the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

in 1991, the term "Litvin" has been adopted by some

Belarusian nationalists Belarusian nationalism is the nationalism that asserts the nationality of Belarusians. It originated in the first decade of the 20th century. The Belarusian People's Republic, declared on 25 March 1918, was the first manifestation of Belarusian st ...

to claim the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as Belarusian. This is an alternative to the

"Belarusians" which is derived from

White Rus' White Ruthenia ( cu, Бѣла Роусь, Bela Rous'; be, Белая Русь, Biełaja Ruś; pl, Ruś Biała; russian: Белая Русь, Belaya Rus'; ukr, Біла Русь, Bila Rus') alternatively known as Russia Alba, White Rus' or W ...

and, therefore, implies that it is somehow less than the

Great Russia Great Russia, sometimes Great Rus' (russian: Великая Русь, , , , , ), is a name formerly applied to the territories of "Russia proper", the land that formed the core of Muscovy and later Russia. This was the land to which the eth ...

. Belarusians like

Mikola Yermalovich Mikola Yermalovich ( be, Ермало́віч Міко́ла Іва́навіч, Mikoła Jermałovič) (April 29, 1921 in Dzyarzhynsk Raion, Minsk Voblast – March 5, 2000) was a Belarusian writer and historian. Biography Ermalovich was ...

and

Viktor Veras The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * Victor (1951 film), ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * Victor (1993 film), ...

claim that the Grand Duchy was Belarusian and that modern

are historical

Samogitians Samogitians ( Samogitian: ''žemaitē'', lt, žemaičiai, lv, žemaiši) are an ethnographic group of Lithuanians of the Samogitia region, an ethnographic region of Lithuania. Many speak the Samogitian language, which in Lithuania is mostly con ...

(the term

Samogitia Samogitia or Žemaitija ( Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five cultural regions of Lithuania and formerly one of the two core administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

translates as Lowlands of Lithuania proper) who, despite being "not Lithuanians", somehow managed to usurp the name "Lithuania" for themselves. In other words, these writers in contrast to Lithuanian linguists claim that modern Belarusians are the true Lithuanians referred to in historical texts and not modern Lithuanians. This theory is considered fringe and is not accepted by historians. During the 2009 census, 66 people identified themselves as Litvins in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...

is considered by some Belarusians to be "Litvin", but is more often considered to be a

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

Modern usage in Poland

The

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

still use the words ''Litwini'' and ''Litwa'' when referring to the

and

respectively. While the

Belarusians , native_name_lang = be , pop = 9.5–10 million , image = , caption = , popplace = 7.99 million , region1 = , pop1 = 600,000–768,000 , region2 = , pop2 ...

and

are named as ''Białorusini'' and ''Białoruś'' respectively in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Modern usage in Ukraine

The

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

nowadays refer to Lithuania as (''Lytva'') in

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

, which is its historic name from the

, and to the

as (''Lytovtsi''). The

is called (''Velyke kniazivstvo Lytovske'').

References

External links

* Litvin, I
''"Our "Lost world". Selected pages of Belarusian history'' ("Наш "Затерянный мир". Некоторые страницы белорусской истории")
{{in lang, ru

Baltic peoples Demographic history of Lithuania Ethnic groups in Ukraine Slavic ethnic groups Social history of Belarus Social history of Ukraine