Lithuanian Ethnographic Regions – Dzūkija

The coat of arms of the ethnographic region of Dzūkija. At the centre the shield depicts a white armoured warrior bearing a pollaxe, supported by two lynxes. Below, the motto "EX GENTE BELLICOSISSIMA POPULUS LABORIOSUS" (From a most warlike tribe, a hardworking people). Above: the issuing state "LIETUVA" and the year "2021". The inscription "DZŪKIJA" and the Lithuanian mintmark complete the design at the bottom.

Dzūkija is the southernmost of Lithuania's five ethnographic regions, stretching from south of the capital Vilnius to the borders with Belarus and Poland. The region is characterised by extensive pine forests, the valley of the Nemunas River, and a population that lived in considerable isolation well into modern times — producing a particularly distinctive folk culture. The Dzūkai were regarded for centuries as fierce and resilient, a reputation reflected in the region's coat of arms: the motto "Ex gente bellicosissima populus laboriosus" — from a most warlike tribe to an industrious people — describes this historical transformation from a border region locked in constant defence to a hardworking agrarian society. The two lynxes on the coat of arms point to the region's still game-rich forests, which belong to Dzūkija National Park, Lithuania's largest national park.

Culturally, Dzūkija is known above all for its rich oral tradition: nowhere else in Lithuania have so many folk songs, sutartinės (polyphonic Lithuanian singing forms that are part of the UNESCO World Heritage) and folk tales been collected. The region also played a role in the 20th-century struggle for independence — after the Second World War, the forests of Dzūkija sheltered Lithuanian partisans, the so-called Forest Brothers, for years. With the 2021 2-euro commemorative coin, Lithuania honours Dzūkija as part of its series on the country's ethnographic regions, bringing to public attention a cultural heritage that extends far beyond folk art and landscape.