Lithuania

Republic of Lithuania Lietuvos Respublika(Lithuanian)
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem:Tautiška giesmė National Hymn
Location ofLithuania(dark green) – on theEuropean continent(green & dark grey) – in theEuropean Union(green) — [Legend]
Capital and largest city	Vilnius 54°41′N25°19′E
Official languages	Lithuanian
Other languages	Russian Polish
Ethnic groups (2015)	86.7%Lithuanians 5.6%Poles 4.8%Russians 1.3%Belarusians 0.7%Ukrainians 0.9%other
Demonym(s)	Lithuanian
Government	Unitarysemi-presidentialrepublic
•President	Gitanas Nausėda
•Prime Minister	Ingrida Šimonytė
•Seimas Speaker	Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen
Legislature	Seimas
IndependencefromRussia/Germany(1918)
•First mention of Lithuania	9 March 1009
• Coronation ofMindaugas	6 July 1253
•Union with Poland	2 February 1386
•Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealthcreated	1 July 1569
•Partitions of the Commonwealth	24 October 1795
•Independence declared	16 February 1918
•Lithuanian SSR	15 June 1940
•Nazi German occupation	22 June 1941
• Liberation from the Nazi occupation	July 1944
•Independence restored	11 March 1990
• Independence recognized by theSoviet Union	6 September 1991
•Admittedto theUnited Nations	17 September 1991
•JoinedtheEuropean Union	1 May 2004
Area
• Total	65,300 km2(25,200 sq mi) (121st)
• Water (%)	1.35
Population
• 2020 estimate	2,794,329(137th)
• Density	43/km2(111.4/sq mi) (173rd)
GDP(PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	$107 billion(83rd)
• Per capita	$38,751(38th)
GDP(nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	$56 billion(80th)
• Per capita	$20,355(42nd)
Gini(2018)	36.9 medium
HDI(2018)	0.869 very high·34th
Currency	Euro(€) (EUR)
Time zone	UTC+2(EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3(EEST)
Date format	yyyy-mm-dd (CE)
Driving side	right
Calling code	+370
ISO 3166 code	LT
Internet TLD	.lta
Also.eu,shared with other European Union member states.

Lithuaniais acountryinEurope.It bordersLatviato thenorth,Belarusto thesoutheast,Polandto thesouthandRussiato thesouthwest.It is one of theBaltic states.The country'sareais 65,300 km² and there are about 2.8 million people who live in Lithuania. Thenational languageis theLithuanianlanguage, which is spoken by around 3 million people.Vilniusis thecapitaland largest city. Lithuania is a member of theEuropean Union,NATO,and several other organizations.

The colors of theLithuanian flagare yellow (at the top), for the sun, green (in the middle), for the fields, and red (at the bottom), for the blood of Lithuanians fighting for its independence.

History

Lithuania began to turn into a country in the7th–9thcenturiesfromBaltic nations group.The Balts, theancestorsof Lithuanians andLatvians,came to the area betweenNemunas,Daugavariversand theBaltic Sea,from a supposed original homeland of theProto-Indo-European languages.Manyscientiststhink they came there sometime in the3rd millennium BC.

The traditional date of the beginning of the country is 1236 when the Lithuanians won theBattle of Šiauliai(Battle of Sun).

Lithuania (at that time - TheGrand Duchy of Lithuania) made a Treaty withPolandin 1569. The country was taken over by theRussian Empirein 1795, ending thePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.It got back itsindependenceon February 16, 1918. In 1940 the country became a Soviet republic and joined to theSoviet Union. On June 22, 1941, after German invasion, the republic was occupied. It continued until 1944. Lithuania re-declared its independence on March 11, 1990. Currently, Lithuania is anindependent,semi-presidential,democraticrepublic.

Politics

Valdas Adamkus, a former president and US vice-president Dick Cheney in Vilnius

Lithuania has been a member of NATO and the European Union since 2004.

Lithuania is a semi presidential republic, that restored its independence and democracy in 1990. Since then, very important reforms were made and Lithuania is now declared as a democratic state that grants the human rights.

The Constitution that was adopted in 1992 declares that the leader of the country is the President, who must be elected to take office. The elections are held every 5 years. If the President breaks their oath, they can be forced to resign by the Parliament. The President also represents Lithuania abroad and is the commander-in-chief.

The legislative power of Lithuania is called the Seimas, or Parliament. There are 141 members of Seimas who are elected for 4-year-terms. Seimas passes the laws that must be executed by the government, that is formed in Seimas, and it must be accepted by the President. The Prime Minister is set and fired by the President.

The justice is under the power of the courts. The supreme court in Lithuania is the Constitutional Court.

Administrative subdivisions

The counties and municipalities in Lithuania

Lithuania is divided into10 counties,60 municipalities and 500 elderates. The counties are:

• Alytus County
• Kaunas County
• Klaipėda County
• Marijampolė County
• Panevėžys County
• Šiauliai County
• Tauragė County
• Telšiai County
• Utena County
• Vilnius County

The countygovernorrules the county. He or she must be appointed by the central government. Municipalities are governed by the Municipal Councils that are elected for 4 year terms. The head of a municipality is themayor.The elderates are governed by the elders. The elders are appointed by the municipal councils.

Geography

Physical map of Lithuania

Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe. Its neighbours are Poland in the southwest, Russia (Kaliningrad) in west, Latvia in north and Belarus in the east. Lithuania borders theBaltic Seaand 99 kilometres of itscoastbelong to Lithuania. The highest hill isAukštojas(294 metres high), the largest lake isDrūkšiai.31% of the land is suitable for farms.

Lithuania is divided into 5 cultural regions according to their past and traditions:

• Aukštaitija
• Dzūkija
• Mažoji Lietuva (Lithuania Minor)
• Suvalkija
• Žemaitija (Samogitia)

Climate

Extreme temperatures in Lithuania (°C)

Month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Highest Temperatures

+12,6

+16,5

+21,8

+28,8

+34

+35

+37,5

+36

+32

+26

+18

+15,6

Lowest Temperatures

-40,5

-42,9

-37,5

-23,0

-6,8

-2,8

+0,9

-2,9

-6,3

-19,5

-23

-34

Economy

Lithuania has a fast growing economy. It grew up to 7% in the first quarter of 2008.

GDP per capita, based on purchasing power parity is estimated to be $19,730 in 2008. The nominal GDP per capita is estimated to be $14,213 at the same year. According to these numbers, Lithuanian per capita GDP reaches only 61% of EU average. However, it is impressive that only in 8 years, since 2000 it grew up from 30% of EU average.

Emigrationstill creates a problem. According to the official data, emigration in 2006 was 30% lower than the previous year, with 3,483 people leaving in four months.

Demographics

Kaunas old town

About 80% of people in Lithuania are Lithuanians. There are large national minorities:

• The Poles, (6.3%), mainly live in Vilnius County, which was taken over by Poland in 1920.
• The Russians, (5.1%), mainly live in Vilnius County and Utena County, as workers at the Ignalinanuclear plant.
• The Belorussians, (1.1%), most of them live in Vilnius County.

Main minorities in Lithuania include Poles 234,989 (6.7%), Russians 219,789 (6.3%), Belarusians 42,866 (1.2%), Ukrainians 22,488 (0.7%) and Jews 4,007 (2001 census data). There are smaller populations of Armenians, Azeris, Germans, Karaims (Karaites), Latvians, Moldovans, Roma, Tatars and Uzbeks in Lithuania.

Lithuanian is spoken by 82% of the people and it is the only official language. Polish is used mostly in Vilnius County where Polish politicians are elected to represent the Polish minority. The documents and street names must be in Lithuanian.

The biggest cities areVilnius,542,287 people,Kaunas,358,107 people, andKlaipėda,185,899 people.

Largest cities

City	Region	Population	Density* (/km2)	Area (km2)
Vilnius	East	&&&&&&&&&&544206.&&&&&0544,206	&&&&&&&&&&&&1354.&&&&&01,354	401
Kaunas	Middle	&&&&&&&&&&355586.&&&&&0355,586	&&&&&&&&&&&&2281.&&&&&02,281	157
Klaipėda	West	&&&&&&&&&&184657.&&&&&0184,657	&&&&&&&&&&&&1926.&&&&&01,926	98
Šiauliai	North	&&&&&&&&&&127059.&&&&&0127,059	&&&&&&&&&&&&1605.&&&&&01,605	81
Panevėžys	North	&&&&&&&&&&113653.&&&&&0113,653	&&&&&&&&&&&&2236.&&&&&02,236	52
Alytus	South	&&&&&&&&&&&68304.&&&&&068,304	&&&&&&&&&&&&1747.&&&&&01,747	40
Marijampolė	South	&&&&&&&&&&&47010.&&&&&047,010	&&&&&&&&&&&&2271.&&&&&02,271	21
Mažeikiai	North	&&&&&&&&&&&40572.&&&&&040,572	&&&&&&&&&&&&2956.&&&&&02,956	14
Jonava	Middle	&&&&&&&&&&&34446.&&&&&034,446	n/d	n/d
Utena	East	&&&&&&&&&&&32572.&&&&&032,572	&&&&&&&&&&&&2191.&&&&&02,191	15,1
Kėdainiai	Middle	&&&&&&&&&&&31055.&&&&&031,055	n/d	44

Education

Vilnius University Great Yard in 2006

The nursery schools and the kindergartens are the first-level education forms. However, they are not compulsory. The children start attending the primary school at age 7, where educational programs last for 4 years; then they must start attending secondary school (5th to 10th grades). After finishing 8th or 10th grade, the student can continue learning at the high school or choose courses at the vocational college. The students who finish the high school can join colleges and universities. Higher education is free for the students whose annual median of grades is 8 or higher. The others have to pay ~1300 Euros per semester at least.

The higher education schools are universities and colleges. The main universities are:

• Vilnius University(the oldest university in northeastern Europe, founded in 1579);
• University of Vytautas the Great, inKaunas;
• The University of Technology ofGediminas,in Vilnius;
• The Klaipėda University.

Media

The Geographic Centre of Europe is in Lithuania

Radio and Television

Lithuanians can choose from manytelevisionandradiostations. The first radio station was started in 1926 in Kaunas. The first television station started in 1957. The main radio stations are:

• Public broadcaster: LRT Radijas (talk station), LRT Klasika (classical music), LRT Opus (alternative music)
• M-1 (TOP 40)
• Lietus (Lithuanian pop)
• Radiocentras (TOP 40)
• Power Hit Radio (dance)
• ZIP FM (TOP 40)
• M-1 Plius (adult contemporary)
• Žinių Radijas (talk station)

The most popular TV stations are:

• Public broadcaster: LRT Televizija (main programme), LRT Plius (culture, sports, movies)
• TV3 (national)
• LNK (national)
• BTV (national)
• Lrytas TV (national)
• TV1 (women-oriented)
• TV8 (women-oriented)
• TV6 (men-oriented)
• Info TV (news)

Printed Media and Internet

The oldest legalnewspaperin Lithuania is the Polish Kurier Wilenski. It was first published in the 18th century and is now only popular with the Polish community. The biggest selling newspapers are:

• Lietuvos Rytas (national)
• Verslo žinios (business)
• Kauno diena (regional)
• Vakaro žinios (tabloid)
• Vakarų ekspresas (regional)

Internet news portals are very popular in Lithuania. They have the latest information and also let people make comments. The most popular Internet sites with news and information are:

• Delfi.lt
• 15min.lt
• lrytas.lt
• tv3.lt
• lrt.lt

Related pages

• Lithuania at the Olympics
• Lithuania national football team
• List of rivers of Lithuania

Other websites

• The site of the President's administrationArchived2010-06-09 at theWayback Machine
• The site of Lithuanian ParliamentArchived2016-02-21 at theWayback Machine
• The site of Government of LithuaniaArchived2008-06-21 at theWayback Machine
• The Official site of Department of Statistics
• The official site of Vilnius Municipality
• The official site of Kaunas MunicipalityArchived2012-12-18 at theWayback Machine
• The official site of klaipėda Municipality