Editing Lithuania (section)

===Ethnic groups and languages===
{{Main|Lithuanians|Ethnic minorities in Lithuania|Demographics of Lithuania#Languages}}
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| title = Residents of Lithuania by ethnicity (2025)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://osp.stat.gov.lt/statistiniu-rodikliu-analize#/|title=Rodiklių duomenų bazė - Oficialiosios statistikos portalas}}</ref>
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{{bar percent|Lithuanians|green|82.3}}
{{bar percent|Poles|red|6.2}}
{{bar percent|Russians|blue|5.0}}
{{bar percent|Ukrainians|brown|2.2}}
{{bar percent|Belarusians|purple|2.1}}
{{bar percent|Others|gray|2.2}}
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Lithuania has the most homogeneous population in the Baltic States. Ethnic Lithuanians make up about five-sixths of the country's population. In 2024, 82.6% of the 2,809,977 Lithuania's residents were ethnic [[Lithuanian people|Lithuanians]] who speak [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], which is the official language of the country. Several sizeable minorities exist, such as [[Polish people|Poles]] (6.3%), [[Russians]] (5.0%), [[Belarusians]] (2.1%) and [[Ukrainians]] (1.7%).<ref name="TGKT21">{{cite web | title=Lietuvos Respublikos 2021 m. gyventojų ir būstų surašymo rezultatai. Tautybė, gimtoji kalba ir tikyba | website=osp.stat.gov.lt | url=https://osp.stat.gov.lt/2021-gyventoju-ir-bustu-surasymo-rezultatai/tautybe-gimtoji-kalba-ir-tikyba | language=lt | access-date=6 January 2024 | archive-date=4 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204230406/https://osp.stat.gov.lt/2021-gyventoju-ir-bustu-surasymo-rezultatai/tautybe-gimtoji-kalba-ir-tikyba | url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Poles in Lithuania]] are the largest minority, concentrated in southeast Lithuania (the [[Vilnius region]]), constituting majority in [[Šalčininkai District Municipality|Šalčininkai]] (76.3%) and [[Vilnius District Municipality]] (46.8%). [[Russians in Lithuania]] are the second largest minority, concentrated in [[Visaginas Municipality|Visaginas]] (47.4%), [[Zarasai District Municipality]] (17.2%) and [[Klaipėda]] (16%).<ref name="TGKT21" /> About 2,250 [[Romani people|Roma]] live in Lithuania, mostly in Vilnius, [[Kaunas]] and [[Panevėžys]]; their organizations are supported by the National Minority and Emigration Department.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tspmi.vu.lt/files/mprojektai/finallithsecpapergalutinis.pdf |title=Lithuanian Security and Foreign Policy |website=Tspmi.vu.lt |access-date=5 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325051515/http://www.tspmi.vu.lt/files/mprojektai/finallithsecpapergalutinis.pdf |archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref> For centuries, [[Lipka Tatars|Tatar]] and [[Crimean Karaites|Karaite]] communities have lived in Lithuania. In 2021, there were around 2,150 registered Tatars and 196 Karaites in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/lithuanian_tatars.shtml|title=The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire|website=Eki.ee|access-date=14 September 2013|archive-date=8 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608180539/http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/lithuanian_tatars.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Karaimai Lietuvoje |url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/276df92a4a974d938e3fcc7a9caeac55 |publisher=[[Department of Statistics of Lithuania]] |access-date=6 January 2024 |language=lt-LT |date=15 June 2022 |archive-date=6 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106112228/https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/276df92a4a974d938e3fcc7a9caeac55 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The official language is [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], but in some areas there is a significant presence of minority languages such as [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]. The greatest presence of minorities and the use of these languages are in Šalčininkai, Visaginas, and Vilnius District.<ref name="TGKT21" /> In 1941, Lithuania’s Jewish population reached its peak at approximately 250,000 people, making up about 10% of the total population. Today, however, it has dwindled to a very small number. [[Yiddish]] is spoken by members of the tiny remaining [[History of the Jews in Lithuania|Jewish community]] in Lithuania. The state laws guarantee education in minority languages and there are numerous publicly funded schools in the areas populated by minorities, with Polish as the language of instruction being the most widely available.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lrkm.lrv.lt/en/activities/national-minorities|title=Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, National Minorities|access-date=28 December 2020|archive-date=17 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417192221/https://lrkm.lrv.lt/en/activities/national-minorities|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the survey carried out within the framework of the [[Lithuanian census of 2021]], 85.33% of the country's population speak Lithuanian as their native language, 6.8% are native speakers of Russian and 5.1% of Polish. {{As of|2021}}, 60.6% of residents speak Russian as a foreign language, 31.1% – English, 10.5% – Lithuanian, 8% – German, 7.9% – Polish, 1.9% – French, 2.6% – various others.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://osp.stat.gov.lt/en/gyventoju-ir-bustu-surasymai1|title=Population by command of languages in municipality|access-date=23 September 2022|archive-date=5 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305052046/https://osp.stat.gov.lt/en/gyventoju-ir-bustu-surasymai1|url-status=live}}</ref> Most Lithuanian schools teach English as the first foreign language, but students may also study German, French and Spanish; Russian is available as a second foreign language.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lithuanian students will be able to study Spanish as first foreign language|url=https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2345355/lithuanian-students-will-be-able-to-study-spanish-as-first-foreign-language|date=23 August 2024|access-date=9 May 2025|website=LRT}}</ref> Around 85% of upper secondary school students were studying English in 2022,<ref>{{cite web |title=Foreign language learning statistics |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Foreign_language_learning_statistics |publisher=Eurostat}}</ref> and around 80% of people in the 15-19 age group in Lithuania reported knowing English in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kiek ir kokių kalbų mokame? |url=https://osp.stat.gov.lt/informaciniai-pranesimai?articleId=1458513 |publisher=Statistics Lithuania |access-date=9 May 2025 |language=lt-LT}}</ref>