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 alongside Lithuania proper. Žemaitija is located in northwestern Lithuania. Its largest city is Šiauliai. Žemaitija has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian language.

Etymology and alternative names

Ruthenian sources mentioned the region as жемотьская земля, ''Žemot'skaja zemlja''; this gave rise to its Polish form, , and probably to the Middle High German . In Latin texts, the name is usually written as etc. The area has long been known to its residents and to other Lithuanians exclusively as Žemaitija (the name Samogitia is no longer in use within Lithuania and has not been used for at least two centuries); Žemaitija means "lowlands" in Lithuanian. The region is also known in English as Lower Lithuania or, in reference to its Yiddish names, or .

Geography

Žemaitija is located in northwestern Lithuania in the territories of:
* Akmenė District Municipality
* Jurbarkas District Municipality
* Kelmė District Municipality
* Kretinga District Municipality
* Mažeikiai District Municipality
* Palanga city municipality
* Plungė District Municipality
* Raseiniai District Municipality
* Rietavas Municipality
* Šilalė District Municipality
* Skuodas District Municipality
* Tauragė District Municipality
* Telšiai District Municipality
* Šiauliai District Municipality

Eastern parts of:
* Klaipėda District Municipality
* Šilutė District Municipality

Western part of:
* Joniškis District Municipality
* Šiauliai city municipality.

The largest city is Šiauliai (''Šiaulē''). Telšiai (''Telšē'') is the capital, although Medininkai (now ''Varniai''; ''Varnē'') was once the capital of the Duchy of Samogitia.

The major cities are (the Samogitian language name, if different, is provided after slash):
* Šiauliai (''Šiaulē'') (127,059 inhabitants)
* Mažeikiai (''Mažeikē'') (40,572 inhabitants)
* Telšiai (''Telšē'') (30,011 inhabitants) – considered capital
* Tauragė (''Tauragie'') (27,862 inhabitants)
* Plungė (''Plongė'') (23,187 inhabitants)
* Kretinga (''Kretinga'') (21,452 inhabitants)
* Skuodas (''Skouds'') (7,358 inhabitants)

Demographics and language

The people of Žemaitija speak Samogitian, a variety of Lithuanian that was previously considered one of three main dialects (modern linguists have determined that it is one of two dialects, the other being the Aukštaitian dialect and that both of these dialects have subdialects each).
Samogitian has northern and southern dialects, which are further subdivided. A western dialect once existed in the Klaipėda region, but it became extinct after World War II after its inhabitants fled the region as a result of being expelled or persecuted by the Soviet authorities.
During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Samogitians of the Klaipėda region called themselves "Lietuvininkai", whereas at the end of the 19th century when the area, known in German as the Memelland, was part of Prussia (Germany), they were known as "Prūsai." After World War II, the territory of the western subdialect was resettled mainly by northern and southern Žemaičiai and by other Lithuanians. Samogitian has a broken intonation ("laužtinė priegaidė", a variant of a start-firm accent) similar to that of the Latvian language. In 2010, the Samogitian language was assigned with an ISO 639-3 standard language code ("sgs"), as some languages, that were considered by ISO 639-2 to be dialects of one language, are now in ISO 639-3 in certain contexts considered to be individual languages themselves.

Žemaitija is one of the most ethnically homogeneous regions of the country, with an ethnic Lithuanian population exceeding 99.5% in some districts. During the first part of the 19th century, Žemaitija was a major center of Lithuanian culture (Žemaičiai traditionally tended to oppose any anti-Lithuanian restrictions). The local religion is predominantly Roman Catholic, although there are significant Lutheran minorities in the south.

The use of the Samogitian language is decreasing as more people tend to use Lithuanian, although there have been some minor attempts by local councils, especially in Telšiai, to write certain roadside information in Samogitian as well some schools teach children Samogitian in schools.

History

The modern concept of "dialectological" Žemaitija appeared only by the end of the 19th century. The territory of ancient Samogitia was much larger than current ethnographic or "dialectological" Žemaitija and embraced all of central and western Lithuania.

The very term "Samogitians" is a Latinized form of the ancient Lithuanian name for the region's lowlanders, who dwelt in Central Lithuania's lowlands. The original subethnic Samogitia, i.e. Central Lithuania's flat burial grounds culture, was formed as early as the 5th-6th centuries. The western part of historical Žemaitija (before 12th–13th centuries it was inhabited by southern Semigallians and southern Curonians) became ethnically Lithuanian between the 13th and 16th centuries. The primal eastern boundary of historical Samogitia was the Šventoji River (a tributary of the Neris River); in 1387, the Lithuanian ruler (regent of Lithuania for Jogaila) Skirgaila had expanded the territory of Grand Duke's domain in Aukštaitija along the Nevėžis River

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