| The Republic of Lithuania (in Lithuanian,
Lietuva) is a republic in Northeastern Europe. One of the three Baltic States along the Baltic
Sea, it shares borders with fellow Baltic State Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland to the south, and
the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia to the southwest.
Its capital has been Vilnius since the rules of King Gediminas. During the Polish
occupation of the city and Eastern Lithuania from 1920 to 1939, the temporary capital was Kaunas.
History
Main article: History of Lithuania
First mentioned in February 14, 1009, Lithuania grew to be a significant nation in the Middle
Ages. The date of Statehood is counted from the official crowning of king Mindaugas in July 6, 1253 in
Voruta/Vilnius who united warring
Lithuanian dukes to one nation and state. Lithuania became an independent multi-ethnic Kingdom that eventually stretched across much of Eastern
Europe from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea in 15th century. In 1385, it joined with Poland in a personal union under one monarch since
Lithuanian king Jogaila was crowned as the Polish king in 14th century. In 1569 Poland and Lithuania
formed the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth. This union remained until the partitions of
Poland in 1795 when Lithuania was itself annexed by Imperial Russia.
Lithuania re-established its independence in 16 February 1918. It subsequently was plagued by territorial disputes with Poland (over occupied capital
Vilnius and Eastern Lithuania) and Germany (over Klaipėda). It was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 during World War II on secret Soviet-Nazi pact signed by Foreign Ministers Nazi's
Ribbentropf and Soviet's Molotov.
Communist rule ended after the advent of glasnost and Lithuania, lead with
anti-communist and anti-soviet movement for Independence Sajūdis proclaimed its renewed independence on 11 March
1990, the first Soviet republic to do so, though Soviet forces unsuccessfully tried to
suppress this until August 1991, which finally led to crack of Soviet Union itself. The last Russian troops left 31
August 1993 - even earlier than from East Germany.
On February 4, 1991 Iceland
became the first country to recognise Lithuanian independence and Sweden first country
to open its embassy in the country. The United States
of America never recognized the U.S.S.R.'s claim on Lithuania.
Lithuania was admitted into the United Nations on September 17, 1991. 31 May 2001 Lithuania became 141st member of the World Trade Organization. Lithuania has since 1988 sought
closer ties with the West and so 4 January 1994 Lithuania became the first Baltic State to apply for NATO membership,
21 November 2002 is invited to start
membership negotiations with NATO and 29
March 2004 became a full and equal NATO member.
February 1, 1998 became an Associate
Member of the EU, 16 April 2003 signed the EU Accession Treaty, 11 May 2003 91% of Lithuanians
back EU membership in a referendum and 1 May 2004 became a EU member coming back to that
major goal to be a part of West and Europe of king Mindaugas in 1254.
Politics
Main article: Politics of Lithuania
The Lithuanian head of state is the president, elected directly for a five-year
term, who also functions as commander in chief overseeing foreign and security policy. The president, on the approval of the
parliament, also appoints the prime minister and on the latter's
nomination the rest of the cabinet, as well as a number
of other top civil servants and the judges for all courts, including the Constitutional Court (Konstitucinis Teismas).
The unicameral Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has 141 members that are elected for a
four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative body are
elected in single constituencies (71), and the other half (70) are elected in the nationwide vote by proportional representation. A party must receive at
least 5% of the national vote to be represented in the Seimas.
Counties
Main article: Counties of Lithuania
Lithuania consists of 10 counties (apskritys, singular - apskritis), each named after their principal city. The
counties are subdivided into 56 municipalities, both cities and districts (see: List of municipalities in Lithuania).
This administrative division was created in 1994.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Lithuania
The largest and most populous of the Baltic states, Lithuania is a
partly maritime country with about 100 km of sandy coastline, of which only 38 km face the open Baltic Sea. Lithuania's major warm-water port of Klaipėda lies at the narrow mouth of Kuršių Marios (Curonian Lagoon), a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad. The main river Nemunas and some of its tributaries are
used for internal shipping.
The Lithuanian landscape is glacially flat, except for morainic hills in the
western uplands and eastern highlands no higher than 300 m, with the highest point being the Juozapinės at 292 m. The
terrain is marked by numerous lakes (e.g. Lake Vištytis) and swamps,
and a mixed forest zone covers 30% of the country. The climate lies between maritime
and continental, with wet, moderate winters and summers. According to some geographers, Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, lies a few kilometres south of the geographical centre of Europe.
Lithuania consists of historical and cultural
regions:
- Aukštaitija (literally the Highlands).
- Samogitia, (also known as Žemaitija, or literally the
Lowlands).
- Lithuania Minor (Mažoji Lietuva) also known as
Prussian Lithuania (Prūsų Lietuva).
- Dzūkija (Dzūkija or
Dainava).
- Sudovia (Sūduva or Suvalkija).
Economy
Main article: Economy of Lithuania
In 2003 Lithuania had the highest economic growth ratio among all European Union candidates, reaching 8.8% in the third
quarter. In 2004, Lithuania's 6.6% growth in GDP reflects impressive economic development. Prior to 1998 Lithuania was the
Baltic state that conducted the most trade with Russia; however, the 1998 Russian financial crisis forced the country to orient toward the West. Lithuania has
since gained membership in the World Trade
Organization, and joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. Accession to the EU has reduced previously high unemployment to 10.6% in 2004. Lithuania has nearly completed its privatization of the large, state-owned utilities, with one of two power distribution networks and railways
left. The litas, the national currency, has been pegged to the euro since 2 February 2002 at a rate of EUR 1.00 = LTL 3.4528
and country is expected to switch to the euro and thus become one of the first among the new EU members to do so in 2006.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of
Lithuania
83.5% of the Lithuanian population are ethnically Lithuanian and speak Lithuanian language (one of two remaining living members of the Baltic language group), which is also the official language of the state. Several sizable minorities
exist, such as Russians (6%), Poles (6%)
and Belarusians (1.5%), and each respective language is also spoken in
Lithuania.
The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, but Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism and Judaism also exist as minority religions.
Culture
Main article: Culture of Lithuania
Lithuanians Abroad
Miscellaneous topics
External links
- Lithuanian Central Internet Gates (http://www.lietuva.lt/index.php?Lang=5&ItemId=27616) - Main Lithuanian portal
- Vyriausybe (http://www.lrv.lt/main_en.php) - Official governmental site
- Prezidentas (http://www.president.lt/en) - Official presidential site
- Seimas (http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter/w3_eng_h.home) - Official parliamentary site
- Lithuania Online (http://www.on.lt) - Wide collection of Lithuanian links
- mii.lt (http://neris.mii.lt/) - Portal of the Lithuanian Institute of Mathematics and Informatics
with rich material about Lithuania
- Istorija.net (http://www.istorija.net) - Pages and forum on the history of Lithuania (in Lithuanian,
English, Russian)
Maps & GIS
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