VILNIUS COUNTY - Population
The largest share of non-Lithuanians
Just under a quarter of the county's population, or 848 090 people lived in Vilnius County at the beginning of 2003. It is the most densely populated county in Lithuania, with 87.2 people per km2. Characteristic for Vilnius County is the disproportionate size of the three largest towns: Vilnius city, Ukmerge and Elektrenai. Vilnius is very dominant, with 541 578 inhabitants, as the population of Ukmerge is only 4.3% of that and the population of Elektrenai only 2.1%. About one fifth of the County's population is living in rural areas.
The share of ethnic Lithuanians in Vilnius County is considerably lower than in any other County in Lithuania. Lithuanians constitute about a half of the County's population. The other large groups are Polish (with more than a quarter of the population) and Russian (about 12%). This mix of the nationalities is mainly due to historical circumstances. 61% of the population in Vilnius district area are Poles, whereas in the district of Šalcininkai they make up the majority. While Lithuanians are in the majority in Ukmerge and Širvintos districts, they make up only a half of the total population in Trakai and Švencionys districts.
At the beginning of 2003, women made up 53.8 % of the County's population with 1 165 women per 1 000 men, which is slightly above the national average.
Since 1990 there has been a decrease of 7.2 % in Vilnius County's population. Furthermore, since 1993 the number of deaths has outweighed the number of births, and is an additional factor contributing to the declining population here.
Between 1991 and 2002 the birth rate continuously decreased to become one of the lowest in Lithuania (8.4 per 1 000 inhabitants in 2002). The birth rate among women aged 15 to 49 at 31 births per 1 000 women was the second lowest in the country. 24 % of children were born out of marriage. Such a low birth rate was partially influenced by the 50 % decrease in marriages. Nevertheless the marriage rate was the highest in the country in 2002 at 5.2 marriages per 1000 population. The divorce rate was above average in 2002.
The mortality rate in 2002 at 11.1 deaths per 1 000 population was a little lower than the level of the country at 11.8. The infant mortality rate in the country almost equalled the national average.
The age structure of the County's population is rather young, with those aged 65 and over accounting for 13.6 % of the total population as against the national average of 14.7 %.
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