Religion as a Factor

From a religious point, the local Roman Catholics of Vilnius Province are Lithuanians. The Orthodox and Uniates (Eastern Rite Catholics) are Byelorussians. According to prof. Kazys Pakštas, the religious-confessional boundary separating Lithuanian Catholics from Byelorussian Orthodox runs as follows: From the Daugava southward along the 1920 Treaty border (Brėslauja — Pastovis — Lake Narutis) to Smurgainys; then turning to the west below Ašmena and running south again to the Nemunas. Afterwards, the line goes along the Nemunas, turning to the north at Ščiutinas; then along the Katra River toward Druskininkai. Then the line proceeds south toward the Bebra River, leaving Gardinas on the Orthodox side. East of the boundary (on the Orthodox side) are enclaves of Catholics which correspond to the Lithuanian language enclaves: Prozorokai, Glubokai, Glubičiai. South of Vileika these enclaves of Catholics along the Berezina River are: Naugardukas and Zietela. They also extend south of Gardinas along the Svislocius River.
In considering the ethnicity of eastern Lithuania, the culture of the Jewish minority and its development should be analyzed. The first Jewish communities were established at Vilnius and elsewhere in eastern Lithuania during the reign of Grand Duke Gediminas. Lithuania (Lita in Hebrew and Lite in Yiddish) played an important role in the cultural and spiritual development of the Ashkenazim of northeastern Europe. The notion of the Lithuanian Jew or Litvak, as distinct from the Polener or Galizianer, is found in Jewish speech, folklore and literature. The term "Litvaks" applies to the Jewish community developed within the boundaries of historic Lithuania. This area included the provinces of Kaunas, Vilnius, Gardinas, and Suvalkai, and in an extended sense, Vitebsk, Minsk and Mogilev provinces. In the stricter linguistic and cultural sense, the true Litvaks were found in the Lithuanian provinces of Vilnius, Kaunas, Suvalkai and Gardinas and were distinct from the Byelorussian Jews.
The world outlook and way of life of Lithuanian Jewry were based on the Written Law and the Oral Law. The Shulhan Arukh and its commentaries flourished among wide circles, and love of Torah and esteem for its study was widespread among the masses of Lithuanian Jews (see J. Shatzky, Kultur Geshikhte fun der Maskole in Lite. 1950; A. Kariv, Lita Mekherati, 1960). Hebraic and Talmudic studies flourished in Vilnius, reaching highest development under Elijah Gaon of Vilna (1720-1797).
The Polish Jews in the West and the "Volhynians'' in the South in the Russian Empire associated specific characteristics with the Lithuanian Jews: a certain emotional dryness, the superiority of the intellect over emotion, mental alertness, sharpwittedness, and pungency. The piety of the Litvaks was also questioned (hence the popular derogatory appellation by Polish Jews for the Lithuanian Jews, "Tseylemkop"}. It was also a feature of Lithuanian Jewry that Hasidism did not strike roots in Lithuania, while in the provinces of Byelorussia it assumed a different nature and content — Habad trend — from the original Hasidism of Ukraine and Poland. Lithuanian Jews were considered the "prototype" of the Mitnaggedim. The religious distinction between Litvaks and Byelorussian Jews can be drawn along a line which coincides with the Polish-Soviet frontier of 1921.

Linguistic Considerations
The language and dialects of the autochtons are an important criterion in determining the nationality of a territory. In Ethnographic Lithuania — or more precisely in Lithuania Propria, the Lithuanian language was dominant until the 18th century. After 1697 the Lithuanian language began to decline among the people of the eastern and southern frontiers. Nonetheless, even when the linguistic borders shrank, linguistic monuments remain which demonstrate the Lithuanianism of the territory. Toponymy or place-names are utilized in making linguistic determinations. The oldest place-names are hydronyms, followed by the names of habitats along rivers, hills, mounds and other natural formations. The hydronyms of the regions of Suvalkai, Gardinas and Vilnius are of Lithuanian origin, especially the names of rivers with the suffix -ija. In Lithuanian most lake-names are of the masculine gender.
According to the Latvian scholar Stalšans, 61% of the tributaries of the Pripet (from Pina to Lanė) have Yatvygian-Lithuanian names (viz., Pripetė, Pina, Jesiolda, Strumena, Ternra, Vinece, Nocus, Labe). Sixteen of the 26 tributaries of the Narew have Lithuanian names, as, for example: Rudava, Kluona, Lutauna, Nareva, Rudna, Liza, Lukna, Supraslis, Langa, Nereslis, Šlija, Bebras, Sidra, Alšė, Lukas and Visa.
in analyzing the hydronyms of the southern and eastern border areas of Lithuania, the oldest names are of Lithuanian or Yatvygian origin. Some of the larger bodies of water have the following Lithuanian appellations:
In Dysna county: rivers — Dysna, Druja, Joda (Juoda), Degilas, Gulbija, Viešnys, Servečiai; lakes — Dedynas, Aukšlys and Važys)
In Vileika county: rivers — Rakyta, Spengla, Smerdija, Ilija, Iža, Plemenė, Nerys, Narutis, Užla; lakes — Narutis (the Byelorussians refer to Narutis or Naročius as Morza Litevska — "the Lithuanian Lake"), Medilas, Švokštas, Ašmenėlė, Uoksna, Smaltas;
In Maladečina county: Uša, Balta;
in Valažinas county: rivers — Isločius, Šilvė, Beržūna, Gauja, Alšia, Velžė, Kliava, Lazūna, Juoda and Dzitva;
In Naugardukas county: rivers — Baiaite, Plisa, Zietela, Osa, Rūta, Jatra;
In Ščiutinas county: rivers — Turija, Neviša, Spaža, Katra, Šventyčia:
In Gardinas county: rivers — Gardinė, Asužė (Ožė), Mėta, Dorupis, Grūda, Versminis, Juodupis. Birva; Lakes — Grūdas, Salotas, Beržtas, Ilgis, Lytežeris:
In Sokuika-Kuznica county: Verecija, Svisločius, Alšė, Bebra, Sidra. Lašišinė, Akmena, Juodoji Ančia;
And in Augustavas county: rivers — Mėta, Sainas, Sainelis, Kalna, Vilkuša. Tainas, Ančia; lakes — Sirvas and Baltasis.

Place-Names
The southern and western parts of Vilnius province are Dzūkian (dzūkai) regions. The Norwegian philologist O.Broch traced Dzūkian dialects in 1895 in Žirmūnai, Bastūnai and Lyda. According to the Soviet scholar M.J. Grinblat, the area between Ašmena and Brėslauja is Eastern Highland (Rytų Aukštaičiai) territory, while the area between Ašmena-Naugardukas and Gardinas was inhabited by the Yatvygians. According to Grinblat (see "K voprosu ob uchastii litovcev v etnogeneze belorusov") many "Byelorussian Catholics" in Dysna and Vileika counties are persons with Lithuanian surnames. A multitude of place-names have the suffiz -iski, -iski, -iszki, i.e., -iškis, -iškiai, -iškė, -iškės which bears witness to the fact that they are of Lithuanian origin. In all of the border areas of Ethnographic Lithuania one finds Lithuanian place-names. The more prominent place-names of Lithuanian or Baltic origin are given below by county for border areas, to wit:
In Dysna county: Dysna (the county name is derived from the Lithuanian desine (right side)), Girstūnai, Graužė, Lipnagai, Žymgala, Saulukai, Saučionys, Lepeikiai, Kapteliai, Švila, Stašiuliai, Serpučiai, Pašvilė, Lieplėnai, Dailydavas, Kęstučiai. Pestūnai, Gediminavas. Treskūnai, Žerstvė, Armanavičiai (Germanavičiai), Dokšyčiai (Daukšyčiai), Druja, Jodai (Juodai), Rimkai, and Bareikiai;
In Vileika county: Vileika (name derived from Neris-Vilija river), Mikališkes, Nestoniškes, Užnarotė, Spengla, Žadiškes, Vaistamas, Jukantas, Iža, Švedai, Žarai, Rabūnai, Latygala;
In Maladečina county: In old documents the city is called Meldėnai. On December 16, 1389 duke Dimitri Kaributas was granted the town of Maladečina which was called Meldany in the chronicles. Other place-names: Gruzdavas, Užumedis, Ardilava, Luženai, Uša;
In Valažinas county: The town's name is derived from the Velžė River. Other place-names include: Lugamėnai, Lazūnai, Gudenionai, Salos, Valdžikai, Pasaliai, Babrenai, Joskūnai, Užberžis, Vyšniavas, Surviliškės, Trobos, Jurotiškės, Bežemiai, Dervagiai, Daunoriai, Jančiūnai, Uosgiriai, Šeškai, Židžiūnai, Pašviliai, Bokštai, Dora, Daubenai, Peršojys;
Naugardukas county: Naugardukas (town name is derived from nauias (new) and gardas (stockade, fortress), Rūta, Zasečiai, Zietela, Dainava, Pagiriai, Kupiškiai;
In Ščiutinas county: Mastai. Arlia, Panemuniai, Dirvonys, Skribonys, Gaudava, Senosios Vosyliškės, Astryna, Naujadvaris, Jokubonys, Užubalis, Mikeliškės;
In Gardinas county: Gardinas (derived from gardas — "stockade'", "fortress"), Kamantavas, Juronys, Ožiai, Virtiliškės, Graudys, Marcinkonys, Pervalkas, Perlamas, Indura, Ašuža, Berštai, Ežeronys;
In Sokuika-Kuznica county: Sakalėnai, Kilmonai, Eismantai, Maselionys, Aleksyčiai, Sidra. Naujadvaris;
In Augustavas county: Žarnava, Jominiai, Riglaukiai, Babras, Adomonys, Karužai, Silvanonys.

During the 19th century the Lithuanian language boundary shrank west quite swiftly. In writing about the inhabitants of Vileika in 1827, Kazimierz Tyszynski asserted that "people speak Lithuanian beyond the Rakyta River. Priests even give sermons in that tongue. "
The ethnographer Michal Balinski wrote that in 1849 people still used the Lithuanian language on the right bank of the Nemunas, but that in the southern part of Vilnius county the Byelorussian and Polish languages mingled with Lithuanian. Trakai was almost exclusively Lithuanian. The Lithuanian language disappeared from the towns of Ašmena, Alšėnai and Vyšniava. In Lyda county the people still spoke Lithuanian in the towns of Beniakonys, Eišiškės, Žirmūnai, and near the Dzitva River;
beyond Lyda the locals (Tutejszy) began to speak Slavonic (po prostemu).
In Suvalkai region Teodor Narbutt drew the linguistic line through Bakalanavas to the east via Rospuda River to Lake Baitoji near Augustavas, through Studenas, juodoji Ancia to the Nemunas.
According to a 1905 map which appeared in Vilniaus Žinios, the Lithuanian language boundary went from Druja through Vidžiai, Pastovis, Svyriai, Žadiškės, Ašmena, Deveniškes, Subatninkai, Armoniškes, Žirmūnai, Užubalis, Sapackinė, Beržninkai, Seinai, Punskas to Galdapė (East Prussia). But even in modern times Lithuanian-language enclaves survived to the east of this line. Before World War I the peasants spoke Lithuanian at the Glubokai fair. According to the 1936 map of the Soviet Academy of Minsk, based on Soviet data (volosti s litovskim naseleniem po dannvm nasei kartoteki), the Lithuanian language predominated in the following townships of Brėslauja county: Brėslauja, Apsas, Pelekai, Vydžiai, Kamojus, Lentupis, Gervėčiai, Bernakaimis, Varanavas. In Dysna county there were Lithuanian enclaves in the townships of Gruzdava, Miorai, Golubičiai, Armanavičiai and Prozorokai.
In Vileika county, near Vileika itself, in 1941-44 ten villages still spoke Lithuanian. The populace of Krivičiai also spoke Lithuanian. In 1961 twenty villages in the district of Žadiškės still spoke the Dzūkian dialect (dzūkiškai).
Although the population of Maladečina has become Byeiorussified or considers itself as tutejszy, during a 1957 song festival the locals of Maladečina performed with Lithuanian songs.
Until the end of the 19th century, in Lazunai township, county of Valažinas, fifteen villages comprised a Lithuanian language enclave. According to prof. Mykolas Biržiška, in the interwar period (1919-1940) some 12,348 inhabitants of Valažinas countv still spoke Lithuanian. Lithuanian is still spoken by the populace of Naujadvaris, Artia, Astryna, Ščiutinas, Vosyliškės and Roženka townships in Ščiutinas county. In Naugardukas county there were Lithuanian-language enclaves until recently in the districts of Zietela, Zasečiai and Pagiriai.