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 l ...
.
Geography
Aukštaitija is in the northeast part of Lithuania and also encompasses a small part of
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
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 R ...
. 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
Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population is 23,667. Its old town dates to ...
– 22,677
*
Ukmergė
Ukmergė (; previously ''Vilkmergė''; pl, Wiłkomierz) is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, located northwest of Vilnius, with a population of about 20,000.
Etymology and variant names
The city took its original name ''Vilkmergė'' from t ...
– 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
The Duchy of Lithuania ( la, Ducatus Lithuaniae; lt, Lietuvos kunigaikštystė) was a state-territorial formation of ethnic Lithuanians that existed from the 13th century to 1413. For most of its existence, it was a constituent part and a nucl ...
up to the 13th century. Its initial capital most likely was
Kernavė
Kernavė was a medieval capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and today is a tourist attraction and an archeological site (population 272, 2011). It is located in the Širvintos district municipality located in southeast Lithuania. A Lithuania ...
. 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
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 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
Trakai (; see names section for alternative and historic names) is a historic town and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Because of its proximity to Vilnius, Trakai is a popular tourist destination. ...
, and perhaps was employed to refer to them both taken together. Since the 15th century, corresponding
Trakai Voivodeship
lt, Trakų vaivadija pl, Województwo trockie
, conventional_long_name = Trakai Voivodeship
, common_name = Trakai
, subdivision = Voivodeship
, nation = Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1413–1569)
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795)
, year_ ...
and
Vilnius Voivodeship
The Vilnius Voivodeship ( la, Palatinatus Vilnensis, lt, Vilniaus vaivadija, pl, województwo wileńskie, be, Віленскае ваяводства) was one of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's voivodeships, which existed from the voivodeship's ...
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
__NOTOC__
Aukštaitija National Park is a national park in north-eastern Lithuania, about 100 km north of Vilnius. Established in 1974, it is the oldest of the five national parks in Lithuania. At first it was named Lithuanian SSR National ...
*
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