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
Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County.
Names
Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...
.
Geography
Aukštaitija is in the northeast part of Lithuania and also encompasses a small part of
Latvia and
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 ...
. The largest city and, though not in any strict political sense, the considered capital of the region is
Panevėžys
Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population ...
. The largest cities (by population) are:
*
Panevėžys
Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population ...
– 84,587
*
Jonava
Jonava ( ; pl, Janów; german: Janau) is the ninth largest city in Lithuania with a population of .
It is located in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, north east of Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. It is served by Kaunas Interna ...
– 26,423
*
Utena
Utena () is a city in north-east Lithuania. It is the administrative center of Utena district and Utena County. Utena is one of the oldest settlements of Lithuania. The name of the city is most probably derived from a hydronym. The name of the s ...
– 25,397
*
Kėdainiai – 22,677
*
Ukmergė – 20,154
*
Visaginas
Visaginas () is the centre of Lithuania's youngest municipality, located on the north-eastern edge of the country. It was built as a town for workers engaged in the construction of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. Visaginas is the only town in ...
– 18,024
*
Radviliškis
Radviliškis () (german: Radwilischken; pl, Radziwiliszki; yi, ראדווילישאָק, ''Radvilishok'') is a town in the Radviliškis district municipality, Šiauliai County, Lithuania. Radviliškis has been the administrative center of th ...
– 15,161
The region has many lakes, mainly on the eastern side.
History
Historically Aukštaitija had been correspondent to the
Duchy of Lithuania up to the 13th century. Its initial capital most likely was
Kernavė. In the treaty of
Gediminas
Gediminas ( la, Gedeminne, ; – December 1341) was the king or Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death. He is credited with founding this political entity and expanding its territory which later spanned the area ranging from t ...
of 1322, Aukštaitija is named ''terra Eustoythen'' (land of Aukštaitians).
Some German sources also titled Grand Duke
Gediminas
Gediminas ( la, Gedeminne, ; – December 1341) was the king or Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death. He is credited with founding this political entity and expanding its territory which later spanned the area ranging from t ...
, after whom the
Gediminids dynasty is named after, as ''Rex de Owsteiten'' ( en, King of Aukštaitija).
Aukštaitija was mentioned as ''Austechia'' in ''
Chronicon terrae Prussiae
''Chronicon terræ Prussiæ'' (Latin for "The Chronicle of the Prussian Land") is a chronicle of the Teutonic Knights, by Peter of Dusburg, finished in 1326. The manuscript is the first major chronicle of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and the Gra ...
'' written around 1326.
Politically, since the end of the 13th century, it comprised the Duchy of Vilnius/Lithuania and Duchy of
Trakai, and perhaps was employed to refer to them both taken together. Since the 15th century, corresponding
Trakai Voivodeship and
Vilnius Voivodeship made up Aukštaitija, as a political and ethnically based unit, also known as
Lithuania proper.
Demographics
Local people mainly speak the
Aukštaitian dialect of
Lithuanian. Under the new classification of dialects Lithuanian is divided into just two dialects, Aukštaitian and
Samogitian with all previous dialects being classified as subdialects. The
Sudovian and
Dzūkian dialects are also considered subdialects of Aukštaitian now, therefore the specific subdialect spoken in Aukštaitija is known as
East Aukštaitian.
The region has
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
and
Belarusian minorities in the east, sub-dialects there use more loan words from those languages. However the usage of dialects, as in Lithuania in general, is decreasing.
See also
*
Aukštaitija National Park
*
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 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aukstaitija
Lithuanian ethnographic regions
Historical regions in Lithuania