Act of Independence of Lithuania
The Act of Independence of Lithuania or the Act of February 16th, also the Lithuanian Resolution on Independence, was signed by the Council of Lithuania on February 16, 1918, proclaiming the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania, governed by democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital. The Act was signed by all twenty representatives of the Council, which was chaired by Jonas Basanavičius. The Act of February 16 was the result of a series of resolutions on the issue, including one issued by the Vilnius Conference and the Act of January 8. The path to the Act was long and complex because the German Empire exerted pressure on the Council to form an alliance. The Council had to carefully maneuver between the Germans, whose troops were present in Lithuania, and the demands of the Lithuanian people.
Hand-written original of the document
The original 20 members of the Council of Lithuania after signing the Act of February 16, 1918
Jonas Basanavičius, the chairman of the Council when the Act of February 16 was signed
Hand-written originals of the Act of Independence of Lithuania in the Lithuanian (left) and German languages (right), exhibited in 2022
Lithuanian is an East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are approximately 2.8 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 1 million speakers elsewhere. Around half a million inhabitants of Lithuania of non-Lithuanian background speak Lithuanian daily as a second language.
The oldest surviving manuscript in Lithuanian (c. 1503), rewritten from a 15th century original text.
Ethnolinguistic area of Lithuanians and the Lithuanian language in 1917 by Prussian Lithuanian professor Vilius Gaigalaitis (Wilhelm Gaigalat), the dashed areas represent linguistically mixed border areas where Lithuanians formed a large minority
Title page of Vyriausybės Žinios with articles of the 1922 Constitution of Lithuania. The sixth article established Lithuanian as the sole official language of Lithuania.
Linguistic areal of the Lithuanian language in Russia and German Prussia by Ethnographer Franz Oskar Tetzner in 1902