{{short description|Region of Lithuania}} [[File:1712. Samogitie et Lithuanie Propre, Grand Duché de Lithuanie.png|right|thumb|Lithuania proper (in green) and Samogitia (in red) within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in a map from 1712]] {{History of Lithuania}} {{History of Belarus}} '''Lithuania proper'''{{efn|{{langx|la|Lithuania propria}};{{Sfn|Gimžauskas|2001|p=108}}{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=67}} {{langx|lt|Tikroji Lietuva, Didžioji Lietuva}};{{Sfn|Gimžauskas|2001|p=108}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spečiūnas |first=Vytautas |title=Didžioji Lietuva [Greater Lithuania] |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/didzioji-lietuva/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija}}</ref> {{Langx|pl|Litwa ścisła}},{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=67}} {{Lang|pl|Litwa Właściwa}}{{Sfn|Gimžauskas|2001|p=108}} or {{Lang|pl|Litwa Rdzenna}};{{Sfn|Gimžauskas|2001|p=108}} {{Langx|ru|собственная Литовская земля|lit=sobstvennaja Litovskaja zemlja}}{{Sfn|Frost|2015|p=67}} or {{Lang|ru|Коренная Литва}};{{Sfn|Gimžauskas|2001|p=108}} {{langx|be|Літоўская зямля|Litowskaja ziamla}}; {{langx|yi|ליטע|Lite}}; {{langx|da|egentlig Litauen}}; {{langx|de|Eigentliches Litauen}}; {{langx|fr|Lituanie propre}}}} refers to a region that existed within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania where the Lithuanian language was spoken.{{Sfn|Stone|2014|p=4}} The primary meaning is identical to the Duchy of Lithuania, a land around which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania evolved. The territory can be traced by Catholic Christian parishes established in pagan Baltic lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania subsequent to the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387. Lithuania proper (''Lithuania Propria'') was always distinguished from the Ruthenian lands since the Lithuanians differed from the Ruthenians in their language and faith (Paganism in the beginning and Catholicism since 1387).<ref>{{cite web |title=Legacy of Medieval Lithuania |url=http://viduramziu.istorija.net/etno/index-en.htm |access-date=26 September 2020}}</ref>{{Sfn|Gaučas|1986|p=195-196}}{{Sfn|Safarewicz|1967|p=257-259}} The term in Latin was widely used during the Middle Ages and can be found in numerous historical maps until World War I.

Lithuania proper is sometimes also called Lithuania Major, particularly in contrast with Lithuania Minor.

The Lithuanian geographer Kazys Pakštas wrote that Lithuania proper was known since the administrative division of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1566, when the name was assigned to the palatinates of Vilnius and Trakai.{{Sfn|Gimžauskas|2001|p=108}} The name was used in documents and maps.{{Sfn|Gimžauskas|2001|p=108}} Lithuania proper also included the Duchy of Samogitia.{{Sfn|Gimžauskas|2001|p=108}}

==Evolution of the term== {{See also|Name of Lithuania}}

===Before the Grand Duchy of Lithuania=== [[File:Lithuania in the map of Pietro Vesconte, 1321.png|thumb|upright=1.1|Lithuania in the Mappa mundi of Pietro Vesconte, 1321. The inscription reads: ''Letvini pagani'' - pagan Lithuanians.]] A few Baltic confederations from the second half of the 12th century and the 13th century are known.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |title=Baltų žemių konfederacijos |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/baltu-zemiu-konfederacijos/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=10 March 2023 |language=lt}}</ref>

Historians designate Lithuania proper (or the Land of Lithuania in a narrow sense) as a Lithuanian land that existed prior to Grand Duchy of Lithuania, near other lands: Land of Nalšia, Land of Deltuva, Land of Upytė.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |title=Lietuvių žemių konfederacija |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/lietuviu-zemiu-konfederacija/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=10 March 2023 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gudavičius |first1=Edvardas |last2=Jasas |first2=Rimantas |title=Nalšia |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/nalsia/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=10 March 2023 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Baranauskas |first1=Tomas |title=Deltuva |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/deltuva-1/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=10 March 2023 |language=lt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Upytė |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/upyte-3/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=10 March 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> According to Henryk Łowmiański, Lithuania proper was in the nucleus of future Trakai Voivodeship between rivers: Nemunas, Neris and Merkys.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jasas |first1=Rimantas |title=Lietuva |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/lietuva/ |website=Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija |access-date=10 March 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> Tomas Baranauskas suggests<ref>{{cite journal |last=Baranauskas |first=Tomas |year=2002 |url=http://images.katalogas.lt/maleidykla/lit22/L-003.pdf |title=Kur buvo Lietuvos žemė? |journal=Lituanistica |volume=2 |pages=3–18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928130535/http://images.katalogas.lt/maleidykla/lit22/L-003.pdf |archive-date=2007-09-28 }}</ref> that Lithuania proper was around Ašmena area, ethnic Lithuanian lands in modern Belarus. According to Belarusian writer Mikola Yermalovich (although his reliability is questioned by scholars<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gudavičius |first=Edvardas| author-link=Edvardas Gudavičius|year=1996 |url=http://viduramziu.istorija.net/etno/gudavicius-en.htm |title=Following the Tracks of a Myth |journal=Lithuanian Historical Studies |volume=1 |pages=38–58 |doi=10.30965/25386565-00101003 |s2cid=231347582 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>Насевіч В.Л. Працэс утварэння Вялікага княства Літоўскага (13-14 стст.) // Актуальныя пытанні гісторыі Беларусі ад старажытных часоў да нашых дзён. Мн., 1992. С. 54-63.</ref>) Lithuania ({{langx|be|Летапiсная Лiтва}}, literary: Lithuania of chronicles) was in the upper Nemunas region,<ref>{{ cite web |url=http://veras.litvin.org/008.jpg |title=Карта летапiснай Лiтвы |author=Виктор Верас |access-date=2010-10-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723082144/http://veras.litvin.org/008.jpg |archive-date=2011-07-23 }} {{in lang|be}}</ref><ref>{{ cite web|url=http://veras.litvin.org/010.html|title=У истоков исторической правды / Летописи о местонахождении Литвы|author=Виктор Верас|access-date=2010-10-05|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008214234/http://veras.litvin.org/010.html|archive-date=2010-10-08}} {{in lang|ru}}</ref> now in modern Belarus.

===In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania=== Scholars often use the term ''Lithuania proper'' to refer to lands inhabited by ethnic Lithuanians<ref>{{cite web | first=Tomas | last=Venclova | url=http://www.pogranicze.sejny.pl/archiwum/krasnogruda/pismo/8/forum/vencl.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050505180838/http://www.pogranicze.sejny.pl/archiwum/krasnogruda/pismo/8/forum/vencl.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=2005-05-05 | title=Native Realm Revisited: Mickiewicz's Lithuania and Mickiewicz in Lithuania | access-date=2007-04-24 | author-link=Tomas Venclova }}</ref> as opposed to lands controlled by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania inhabited by Ruthenians (ancestors of modern Belarusians and Ukrainians), Poles, Lithuanian Jews or many other nationalities.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}} Already during the Grand Duchy times, Lithuania proper was a term designated to land where Lithuanians live.<ref>{{cite book |last= Ochmański |first= Jerzy |title= Litewska granica etniczna na wschodzie od epoki plemiennej do XVI wieku |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SWYdAAAAMAAJ&q=lithuania%20propria |access-date=2006-04-26 |year= 1981 |publisher= Wydawn. Nauk. Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza |language= pl |pages= 69–73 }}</ref> Administratively, it consisted of Vilnius Voivodeship, Trakai Voivodeship and the Duchy of Samogitia.<ref>{{in lang|lt}} Viduramžių Lietuva {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070419214013/http://viduramziu.lietuvos.net/socium/provincijos.htm Viduramžių Lietuvos provincijos]}}. Retrieved on 2007.04.11</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gimžauskas |first1=Edmundas |title=LDK idėjos likimas XX a. Lietuvos bei Baltarusijos valstybingumų dirvoje |journal=Naujasis Židinys-Aidai |date=2005 |page=528 |url=https://nzidinys.lt/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/NZ-2005-nr-11-12.pdf |access-date=10 October 2023 |language=lt}}</ref> This division continued even after the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned.<ref>Authentic maps showing ''Lithuania Propria'':<br /> {{cite web |url=http://data.lnb.lv/nba05/kartes/PDF/116.pdf |title=Poloniae Regnum ut et Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae Accuratiss |access-date=2007-04-22}}<br /> {{cite web |url=http://data.lnb.lv/nba05/kartes/PDF/114.pdf |title=Poloniae Regnum ut et Magni Ducatus Lithuaniae Accuratiss |access-date=2007-04-22}}</ref> Thus, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was divided into the historical regions Samogitia (literally ''Lower Lithuania''), Lithuania proper and Ruthenia.

===Eastern part of Lithuania Propria=== For centuries, eastern and southern lands of this territory, that had direct contacts with Ruthenia and Poland, initially inhabited by ethnic Lithuanians were slowly Ruthenised, Polonised and Russified, and the Lithuanian-speaking territory shrunk. Eastern parts of Lithuania Propria suffered heavy population losses during the Deluge, and further on during the Great Northern War and following plague epidemic in 1710–1711. Subsequent immigration of Ruthenians and Poles into these territories accelerated the process. A significant push to the de-Lithuanisation ensued when Lithuania became a part of the Russian Empire, and especially, after Lithuanian language books were forbidden to print in Latin letters in 1864. The process continued at the time of Polish rule, as Lithuanian language schools and libraries were closed, and later under Soviet rule, as no Lithuanian schools were in these territories at all. Nowadays significant "islands" of Lithuanian-speaking people remain in eastern and southern parts of Lithuania proper (modern Belarus (see {{Interlanguage link|Gervėčiai|lt}} and {{Interlanguage link|Pelesa, Belarus|lt=Pelesa|lt|Pelesa}} in Grodno Region) and Poland (see Punskas in Podlaskie Voivodeship). Many people of these territories now speaking Belarusian still refer to themselves as Lithuanians.<ref name='Sav'>{{cite journal|title= Etnokonfesiniai santykiai Pietryčių Lietuvoje istorinės antropologijos aspektu |url=http://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/get/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2003~1367162172108/DS.002.0.01.ARTIC | journal=Kultūrologija |year=2003 |first=Viriginijus |last=Savukynas|authorlink=Virginijus Savukynas |volume=10 |pages=80–98|access-date=2007-12-11 }}</ref>

<gallery class="center" caption="Lithuania proper in maps" widths="180" heights="180"> File:LithuaniaHistory.png|Map showing territorial changes of Lithuania from the 13th century to the present day File:Lithuanian language in the 16th century.png|Area of the Lithuanian language in the 16th century File:Litvania map 1570.png|Lithuania on a 1570 map File:Carte des Estats de Suede, de Dannemarq, et de Pologne; sur la Mer Baltique.jpg|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1700 with Samogitia (''{{lang|fr|Samogitie}}''), Lithuania proper (''{{lang|fr|Vraye Lithuanie}}'') and Lithuanian White Ruthenia (''{{lang|fr|Russie Blanche ou Lituanique}}'') File:Nicolas de Fer, Les êtates de la couronne de Pologne (FL35472138 2572223).jpg|1716 map of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with Lithuania proper (Vraye Lithuanie) File:Regni Poloniae Magnique Ducatus Lithuaniae (3741150) (cropped).jpg|Map of Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1720 with Lithuania proper File:Karta över Polen, från 1700-talet - Skoklosters slott - 97979.tif|18th century map of Poland–Lithuania with Lithuania proper File:Polonia and Lithuania at the time of Augustus II the Strong.jpg|1733 map of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the time of Augustus II the Strong with Lithuania proper File:Nicolas de Fer, Carte pour l'inteligence des affaires presente des Turcs des Tartares, de Hongrois, des Polonois, des Suedois, et des Moscovites (FL36380653 2622070).jpg|Map of northern, central and eastern Europe in 1737 with Lithuania proper (Lithuanie Particuliere) File:Mappa Geographica Regni Poloniae ex novissimis quotquot sunt mappis specialibus composita et al L.L. Stereographicae projectionis revocata a Tob. Mayero. . . . MDCCLXXIII.jpg|1773 map of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with Lithuania proper File:Poland map (1814).jpg|1814 map of the partitioned Commonwealth with Lithuania proper (Duchy of Lithuania) File:Mapa Polski za panowania Jana III Sobieskiego wydana z okazji 200 rocznicy odsieczy wiedenskiej.jpg|1883 map of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with Lithuania proper (Litwa) File:Poland at the end of the 14th century.jpg|1886 map of Poland and Lithuania during the 14th century with Lithuania proper (Litauen) File:C. 1560 Poland and Lithuania.jpg|1888 map of Poland and Lithuania circa 1560, before the Union of Lublin (1569) with Lithuania proper File:Borders of Poland before 1660 (128904766).jpg|1890 map of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1660 and 1667 with Lithuania proper File:439 of 'Geografija arba Żemēs Apraszymas. Pagal Geikie, Nalkowskį ir kitus. Sutaise szernas' (11290675693).jpg|1899 map of Lithuania Proper (Lietuva tikroji) from a Lithuanian language atlas "Geografija arba Żemēs Apraszymas. Pagal Geikie, Nalkowskį ir kitus. Sutaise szernas". File:Poland in 1770s-1790s (partitions).jpg|1910 map from the Historical Atlas of Poland with Lithuania proper (Litwa) File:Litauen BV044875323.jpg|1918 ethnographic map of Balts by the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies with Lithuania proper and Lithuanian Ruthenia File:Lithuanian state - project - 1920 AD.jpg|A territorial project of Lithuania in 1920 with Vilnius Voivodeship, Trakai Voivodeship and Samogitian Eldership listed under Lithuania Proper </gallery>

===Modern developments=== At the end of World War I, the Council of Lithuania declared an independent Lithuanian state re-established in the ethnic Lithuanian lands.

After negotiations with Bolshevik Russia, a large part of Lithuania proper was acknowledged by Soviets as part of the Lithuanian Republic by signing the Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty of 1920. Some of these territories were also claimed by the Second Republic of Poland. This led to series of military conflicts and eventually to war.

In 1943, Antanas Smetona (in exile at the time) began working on a study "Lithuania Propria".<ref>{{cite journal |last = Smetona |first = Antanas |author-link = Antanas Smetona |title = Lithuania Propria |journal = Darbai ir dienos |volume = 2 |pages = 191–234 |language = lt | issue=11}}</ref> The book was dedicated to the history of Lithuanian lands before Polonisation, Russification, and Germanisation, hoping that it would help to substantiate a claim to unreturned territories in a peace conference after World War II. His work was left unfinished, and for a long time was available only as a manuscript and was virtually unknown.<ref>{{cite journal |last = Aleksandravičius |first = Egidijus|title = Istorija ir politika|journal = Darbai ir dienos |volume = 2 |pages = 185–190 |language = lt | issue=11}}</ref>

Currently the Republic of Lithuania has no territorial claims.<ref>{{in lang|it}}Claudio Carpini, ''Storia della Lituania: identità europea e cristiana di un popolo'', Città Nuova, 2007, {{ISBN|978-88-31-10341-1}}, p.199</ref>

==See also== * Duchy of Lithuania * Bruno of Querfurt * Ethnographic Lithuania * Lithuanians in Belarus

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Sources== * {{Cite journal |last=Gaučas |first=P. |date=1986 |title=К вопросу о восточных и южных границах литовской этнической территории в средневековье |trans-title=On the issue of the eastern and southern borders of the Lithuanian ethnic territory in the Middle Ages |url=https://inslav.ru/images/stories/books/BSI1986%281988%29.pdf |journal=Балто-славянские исследования |language=ru |location=Moscow |publisher=Nauka |pages=195–213}} * {{Cite journal |last=Gimžauskas |first=E. |date=2001 |title=The Belorussian Factor in the Genesis of the Modern Lithuanian State, 1915-1917 |journal=Lithuanian Historical Studies |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=107–126 |doi=10.30965/25386565-00601006 |s2cid=251242686 |issn=1392-2343|doi-access=free }} * {{Cite book |last=Stone |first=Daniel Z. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxETCgAAQBAJ&q=Lithuania+proper |title=The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386-1795 |publisher=University of Washington Press |year=2014 |isbn=9780295803623}} * {{Cite book |last=Frost |first=Robert |title=The Oxford History of Poland-Lithuania |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-19-820869-3 |volume=1: The Making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, 1385—1569 |lccn=2014948999 |author-link=Robert I. Frost}} * {{Cite book |last=Safarewicz |first=J. |title=Studia językoznawcze |year=1967 |location=Warszawa}} {{Lithuania topics}} Category:Historical regions in Lithuania Category:Metropolitan or continental parts of states