Vitaju! I am Alesia Piasieckaja, your web-master. Here is a brief intro about the themes and objectives of this web-site.

Litvins (Licviny) is a new nation in Europe with an old history. This site's main purpose is to disseminate information about Litvins' culture.

Litvins originate from the Paniamonnie region (Nioman and Szara river basins), northern Belarus.

Litvins constituted the major part of the multi-ethnical state known as Great Duchy of Litvania, Ruthenia and Samogitia (GDL).

Ever since the decline of GDL and partitions of the Litvanian Polish Commonwealth (Rzecz Pospolita), the Litvanian nation almost got dissolved within the neighboring ethnic groups.

For example, Adam Mickievicz, a renown Litvanian writer, is known as a representative of the Polish culture. Even though he, himself, stressed many times that his motherland is Litvania. The same goes for our national hero, Tadevusz Kasciuszka, who said: "I am a born Litvin."

Apart from Poland, Belarus is the major host for Litvins. In fact, many people see Belarusians as the ancestors of Litvins or, even more so, use the word Litvin interchangeable with Belarusian to refer to themselves.

The basic features that distinguish a Litvanian from a Belarusian:

• Strong national identity
• Usage of Latin alphabet (as opposed to Cyrillics)
• Predominantly Catholic religion (as opposed to Russian Orthodox)
• Long history of statehood (as opposed to nationhood)

We are always open for discussion. If you have your own opinion, you are free to express it and join our discussions:

• Czat -- on-line chat discussion
• Dyskus -- web-based discussion
• Ambasada -- our feedback form

Contact web-master at the following address: litvania@europemail.com.

Usiaho najlepszaha,
Alesia from Litvania Web Team