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Dzūkija or Dainava is one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. Dzūkija is a cultural region defined by traditional lifestyles and dialects of the local Lithuanian population (mostly rural farmers) and has never been defined as a political or administrative unit. Traditionally, Alytus is regarded as the capital of the region and largest city. The region has a significant Polish minority of around one third of the region's total population. Although Vilnius is surrounded by Dzūkija, city itself is not included in any ethnographic region. Dzūkija is situated in southeastern Lithuania, and consists of Alytus County and southern Vilnius County. Historically, it extended into what is now northeastern Poland (Podlaskie Voivodeship) and northwestern Belarus (Grodno Region). Large parts of Dzūkija have light sandy soil, unsuited for agriculture. Therefore, the region is densely covered with pine forests, one of which is Dainava Forest, the largest in Lithuania. The Čepkeliai Marsh, the largest swamp in Lithuania, is situated in the region, near the border with Belarus. Dzūkija is also the most sparsely populated region in Lithuania, with average population density dropping below 15 people per square kilometer in Varėna district municipality. Due to lower harvests in infertile soil, the region was relatively poorer than the rest of Lithuania. Farmers had to supplement their yields with edible mushrooms and berries collected in the forests. Mushroom hunting remains an important part of the local economy. Two of the five national parks in Lithuania are to be found in Dzūkija: Dzūkija National Park east of Varėna (established there in 1991), and Trakai National Historic Park near Trakai (1992). The largest settlements (by population) are: Alytus – 53,514 Druskininkai – 13,170 Elektrėnai – 11,009 Varėna – 8,021 Šalčininkai – 6,857 Nemenčinė – 4,831 Pabradė – 4,837 Trakai – 4,141 Skaidiškės – 4,051 Dzūkian dialect People in Dzūkija traditionally speak the Dzūkian dialect (also known as South Aukštaitian), which is a sub-dialect of the Aukštaitian dialect.

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Related concepts (8)

Vilnius District Municipality

Vilnius District Municipality (Vilniaus rajono savivaldybė) is one of the 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It surrounds the capital city of Vilnius on three sides. The municipality is also bordered by Trakai district and Elektrėnai municipality in the west, Astravyets and Ashmyany districts of Belarus in the east, Širvintos, Molėtai and Švenčionys districts in the north and Šalčininkai district in the south. The population of the district is one of the fastest growing in Lithuania because of the migration of Vilnius' inhabitants to the suburbs.

Vilnius County

Vilnius County (Vilniaus apskritis) is the largest of the 10 counties of Lithuania, located in the east of the country around the city Vilnius and is also known as Capital Region (Sostinės regionas) by the statistics department and Eurostat. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Vilnius County remains as the territorial and statistical unit. Until the Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in late 18th century the area belonged to the Vilnius Voivodship and Trakai Voivodship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Cultural regions of Lithuania

Lithuania can be divided into five historical and cultural regions (called ethnographic regions). The exact borders are not fully clear, as the regions are not official political or administrative units. They are delimited by culture, such as country traditions, traditional lifestyle, songs, tales, etc. To some extent, regions correspond to the zones of Lithuanian language dialects. This correspondence, however, is by no means strict. For example, although the Dzūkian dialect is called South Aukštaitian, it does not mean that Dzūkija is part of Aukštaitija.