Lithuania , officially the
Republic of Lithuania is a
countryIn geography, a country is a geographical region. The term is often applied to a political division or the territory of a state, or to a smaller, or former, political division of a geographical region...
in
Northern EuropeNorthern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. The United Nations defines Northern Europe as including the following countries and dependent regions:** ** ** Ireland** Svalbard and Jan Mayen** ** Channel Islands: and...
, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
, it shares borders with
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
to the north,
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
to the southeast,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, and the
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n exclave of
KaliningradKaliningrad Oblast , informally called Yantarny kray is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. Population: 968,200 ; ....
to the southwest. Lithuania is a member of
NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization ); ), also called "the Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949...
, the
Council of EuropeThe Council of Europe is the oldest international organisation working towards European integration, having been founded in 1949. It has a particular emphasis on legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
, and the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
. Lithuania became a full member of the
Schengen AgreementThe Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed between five of the ten member states of the European Community in 1985. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement some five years later...
on 21 December 2007. Its population is 3.6 million. Its capital and the largest city is
VilniusVilnius Vilnius Vilnius as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the...
. In 2009, Vilnius is the
European Capital of CultureThe European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one calendar year during which it is given a chance to showcase its cultural life and cultural development. A number of European cities have used the City of Culture year to transform their cultural base and,...
and Lithuania celebrates the millennium of
its nameThe first known record of the name of Lithuania is dated by 1009, in chronicles of Quedlinburg . The Quedlinburg Chronicle recorded a Latinized Slavic form of the name Lietuva - Litua pronounced [litvā]...
.
During the 14th century, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe: present-day
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
,
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
, and parts of
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
were territories of the
Grand Duchy of LithuaniaThe Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th /13th century until 1795. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the pagan Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija...
. With the Lublin Union of 1569
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Lithuania formed a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
annexing most of Lithuania's territory. In the
aftermath of World War IThe fighting in World War I ended when the Armistice took effect at 11:00 am GMT on November 11, 1918. In the aftermath of the war the political, cultural, and social order of the world was drastically changed in many places, even outside the areas directly involved in the war...
, Lithuania's
Act of IndependenceThe Act of Independence of Lithuania or Act of February 16 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...
was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the re-establishment of a sovereign state. Starting in 1940, Lithuania was occupied first by the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
then
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
. As
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
neared its end in 1944 and the Nazis retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first
Soviet republicThe Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were ethnically based administrative units that were subordinated directly to the Government of the Soviet Union...
to
declare its renewed independenceThe Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of March 11 signed by the members of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania, proclaimed the re-establishment of Lithuania's independence on March 11, 1990....
. Prior to the global financial crisis of 2008–2009, post-Soviet Lithuania had one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union.
History
The first people settled in the territory of Lithuania after the last glacial period in the 10th millennium BC. Over a millennium the
Proto-Indo-EuropeansThe Proto-Indo-Europeans were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language , an unattested but now reconstructed prehistoric language....
, who arrived in the 3rd – 2nd millennium BC, mixed with local population and formed various Baltic tribes. The
first written mentionThe first known record of the name of Lithuania is dated by 1009, in chronicles of Quedlinburg . The Quedlinburg Chronicle recorded a Latinized Slavic form of the name Lietuva - Litua pronounced [litvā]...
of Lithuania is found in a medieval German manuscript, the Quedlinburg Chronicle, on 14 February 1009. Initially inhabited by fragmented Baltic tribes, in 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by
MindaugasMindaugas was the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, and in 1236 as the leader of all the Lithuanians...
, who was crowned as
King of LithuaniaKing of Lithuania, the title of rulers of Lithuanian state recognised by the Pope. The first of them was King Mindaugas who founded the Christian Kingdom of Lithuania; his successors, however, were known as Grand Dukes, as Lithuania reverted to paganism until the end of 14th century...
on 6 July 1253. After his assassination in 1263,
pagan LithuaniaLithuanian mythology is an example of pagan mythology containing archaic elements, developed by Lithuanians throughout the centuries.-History of scholarship:The information about Baltic paganism in general is very sketchy and incomplete...
was a target of
Christian crusadesThe Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were crusades undertaken by the Christian kings of Denmark and Sweden, the German Livonian and Teutonic military orders, and their allies against the pagan peoples of Northern Europe around the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea...
of the
Teutonic KnightsThe Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem , or for short the Teutonic Order , is a German Roman Catholic religious order. It was formed to aid Catholics on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals to care for the sick and injured...
and
Livonian OrderThe Livonian Order was an autonomous Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order and a member of the Livonian Confederation from 1435–1561. After being defeated by Samogitians in the 1236 Battle of Schaulen , the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword were incorporated into the Teutonic...
. Despite devastating century-long struggle with the Orders, the
Grand Duchy of LithuaniaThe Grand Duchy of Lithuania was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th /13th century until 1795. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the pagan Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija...
expanded rapidly overtaking former Slavic principalities of
Kievan Rus'Kievan Rus , usually written simply Kievan Rus and sometimes Kyivan Rus, was a medieval state which existed from approximately 880 to the middle of the 13th century...
. By the end of the 14th century, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe and included present-day
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
,
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
, and parts of
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Geopolitical situation between the west and the east determined multi-cultural and multi-confessional character the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Lithuanian ruling elite practiced religious tolerance and borrowed Slavic state traditions, such as using Chancery Slavonic language for official documents.
In 1385, Grand Duke
JogailaJogaila, later ' , was Grand Duke of Lithuania and later King of Poland. He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle, Kęstutis. In 1386, he converted to Christianity, was baptized as Władysław, married the young Queen Jadwiga of Poland, inducted into the Order of the Dragon and was...
accepted Poland's offer to become its king. He
converted Lithuania into ChristianityThe Christianization of Lithuania was the event that took place in 1387, initiated by the Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Jogaila with his cousin Vytautas, that signified the official adoption of Christianity by Lithuanians, one of the last pagan nations in Europe...
and established a
personal unionA personal union is the combination by which two or more different states are governed by the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state...
between Poland and Lithuania. After two civil wars
Vytautas the GreatVytautas , c. 1350 October 27, 1430), styled "the Great" from the 15th c. onwards, was one of the most famous rulers of medieval Lithuania...
became the Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1392. During his reign Lithuania reached peak of its territorial expansion, centralization of the state was begun, and Lithuanian nobility became increasingly prominent in state politics. Thanks to close cooperation, the armies of Poland and Lithuania achieved a great victory over the
Teutonic KnightsThe Order of the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary's Hospital in Jerusalem , or for short the Teutonic Order , is a German Roman Catholic religious order. It was formed to aid Catholics on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals to care for the sick and injured...
in 1410 at the
Battle of GrunwaldThe Battle of Grunwald took place on July 15, 1410 with the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led by the king Jogaila , ranged against the knights of the Teutonic Order, led by the Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen...
, one of the largest battles of medieval Europe.
After deaths of Jogaila and Vytautas, Lithuanian nobility attempted to break the union between Poland and Lithuania independently selecting Grand Dukes from the
Jagiellon dynastyThe Jagiellons were a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries between the 14th and 16th century...
. However, Lithuania was forced to seek closer alliance with Poland when at the end of the 15th century growing power of the
Grand Duchy of MoscowThe Grand Duchy of Moscow was a medieval Russian polity centered on Moscow between 1340 and 1547. The Grand Duchy of Moscow, as the state is known in Russian records, has been referred to by many Western sources as Muscovy. However, this term is also sometimes applied to the Tsardom of Russia...
threatened Lithuania's Russian principalities and sparked the
Muscovite–Lithuanian WarsThe Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars were a series of wars between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, allied with the Kingdom of Poland, and the Grand Duchy of Moscow...
and the
Livonian WarThe Livonian War of 1558–1583 was a lengthy series of wars between the Tsardom of Russia and a variable coalition of Denmark–Norway, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Kingdom of Poland , and Sweden for control of medieval Livonia, the territory of the present-day Estonia and Latvia.By the late 1550s,...
. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was created in 1569. As a member of the Commonwealth, Lithuania retained its institutions, including a separate army, currency and statutory laws. However, eventually
Polonization Polonization is the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture, in particular, Polish language, as experienced in some historic periods by non-Polish populations of territories controlled or substantially influenced by Poland.-Piast Poland:...
affected all aspects of Lithuanian life: politics, language, culture, even national identity. From mid-16th to mid-17th centuries culture, arts, and education flourished, fueled by
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
and
Protestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
. From 1573, Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania were
elected by the nobility Free election was the election of individual kings, rather than of dynasties, to the Polish throne between 1572 and 1791, when "free election" was abolished by the Constitution of May 3, 1791....
, who were granted ever increasing
Golden LibertiesGolden Liberty , sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth refers to a unique aristocratic political system in the Kingdom of Poland and later, after the Union of Lublin , in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
. These liberties, especially
liberum vetoLiberum veto was a parliamentary device in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It allowed any member of the Sejm to force an immediate end to the current session and nullify all legislation already passed at it by shouting Nie pozwalam! .From the mid-sixteenth to the late eighteenth century, the...
, led to
anarchyAnarchy may refer to any of the following:* "No rulership or enforced authority." * "Absence of government; a state of lawlessness due to the absence or inefficiency of the supreme power; political disorder."...
and eventual dissolution of the state.
During the
Northern WarsThe Northern Wars is a name sometimes used for the series of conflicts between Sweden and its adversaries Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , Russia , Brandenburg-Prussia , the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark-Norway...
(1655–1661), the Lithuanian territory and economy and was devastated by the Swedish army. Before it could fully recover, Lithuania was again ravaged during the
Great Northern WarThe Great Northern War was a war in which the so-called Northern Alliance composed of Russia, Denmark-Norway, Poland-Lithuania and Saxony engaged Sweden for the supremacy in the Baltic Sea. The war ended with a defeat for Sweden in 1721, leaving Russia as the new major power in the Baltic Sea and...
(1700–1721). The war, plague, and famine resulted in loss of approximately 40% of the country's inhabitants. Foreign powers, especially Russia, became dominant players in domestic politics of the Commonwealth. Numerous nobility fraction used the Golden Liberties to prevent any reforms. Eventually,
the Commonwealth was partitionedThe Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The partitions were carried out by Prussia, Russia and Habsburg Austria dividing up the Commonwealth lands...
in 1772, 1792 and 1795 by the
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
,
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
, and Habsburg Austria. Majority of the Lithuanian territory became part of Russia. After unsuccessful
uprisings in 1831The November Uprising —also known as the Cadet Revolution—was an armed rebellion against the rule of the Russian Empire in Poland and Lithuania. The uprising began on November 29, 1830 in Warsaw when a group of young non-commissioned officer conspirators from the Imperial Russian Army's...
and
1863The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
, the Tsarist authorities implemented a number of
RussificationRussification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attribute by non-Russian communities...
policies, including the
ban on Lithuanian pressThe Lithuanian press ban was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania at the time. Lithuanian-language publications that used the Cyrillic alphabet were allowed and even encouraged...
and close-down of cultural or educational institutions. Between 1868 and 1914, approximately 635,000 people, almost 20% of the population, left Lithuania. Large numbers of Lithuanians first came to the United States in 1867-1868 after a
famineA famine is a widespread scarcity of food that may apply to any faunal species, which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality...
in Lithuania. Nevertheless, the
Lithuanian National RevivalLithuanian National Revival, alternatively Lithuanian National Awakening , was a period of the history of Lithuania in the 19th century at the time when a major part of Lithuanian inhabited areas belonged to the Russian Empire...
laid the foundations of the modern Lithuanian nation and independent Lithuania.
During
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, the
Council of LithuaniaThe Council of Lithuania , after July 11, 1918 The State Council of Lithuania , was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place between September 18 and 23, 1917. The council was granted the executive authority of the Lithuanian people and was entrusted to establish an independent...
declared
independence of LithuaniaThe Act of Independence of Lithuania or Act of February 16 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...
on 16 February 1918. Lithuania's foreign policy was dominated by territorial disputes with Poland and Germany.
Vilnius RegionVilnius Region generally refers to the territory in the present day Lithuania and Belarus, that was inhabited by the ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time, and became disputed between Poland and Lithuania in the...
, including Vilnius, the designated capital in the Constitution of Lithuania, was taken over by Polish forces during the
Żeligowski's MutinyŻeligowski's Mutiny was a sham mutiny led by Polish General Lucjan Żeligowski in October 1920, which resulted in the creation of the short-lived Republic of Central Lithuania. Polish Chief of State Józef Piłsudski had surreptitiously ordered Żeligowski to carry out the operation, and revealed the...
in October 1920 and remained under Polish control until the outbreak of World War II. Acquired during the
Klaipėda RevoltThe Klaipėda Revolt took place during January 1923 in the Memel territory that had been detached from Germany after World War I. The status of the region as a mandated territory under temporary French administration was resolved after the event when it became part of Lithuania as Klaipėda...
of 1923, the
Klaipėda RegionThe Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors...
was ceded back to
GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
after a
German ultimatum1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania was an oral ultimatum presented to Juozas Urbšys, Foreign Minister of Lithuania, by Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, on March 20, 1939. The Germans demanded that Lithuania give up the Klaipėda Region , which had been detached from Germany...
in March 1939. The domestic affairs were controlled by authoritarian
Antanas SmetonaAntanas Smetona was one of the most important Lithuanian political figures between World War I and World War II. He served as the first President of Lithuania from April 4, 1919 to June 19, 1920. He again served as the last President of the country from December 19, 1926 to June 15, 1940, before...
and his Lithuanian National Union, who came to power after the
coup d'état of 1926The 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état was a military coup d'etat in Lithuania that resulted in the replacement of the democratically elected government with a conservative authoritarian government led by Antanas Smetona. The coup took place on December 17, 1926 and was largely organized by the military;...
.
In June 1940, the Soviet Union
occupiedBelligerent military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
and
annexedAnnexation is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities...
Lithuania in accordance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. A year later
Russia was attackedOperation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km front...
by
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
leading to
Nazi occupation of LithuaniaThe occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany refers to the occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany from the start of the German invasion of Soviet Union to the end of the Battle of Memel . At first the Germans were welcomed as "liberators" from the repressive Soviet regime which occupied Lithuania...
. The Nazis and their Lithuanian collaborators murdered around 190,000
Lithuanian JewsLithuanian Jews are Ashkenazi Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ....
(91% of the pre-war Jewish community) during the Holocaust. After the retreat of the
German armed forcesWehrmacht was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe ....
, the Soviets re-established the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1944. From 1944 to 1952 approximately 100,000
Lithuanian partisansThe Lithuanian partisans can refer to various irregular military units in different historical periods active in Lithuania against foreign invaders and occupiers:...
fought a guerrilla war against the Soviet system. An estimated 30,000 partisans and their supporters were killed and many more were arrested and deported to
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
n
GULAGThe Gulag or GULAG was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. The term is infamous for its association with remote places where prisoners were kept and sometimes disappeared...
s. Population losses of Lithuania during World War II are estimated at 780,000.
The advent of
perestroikais the Russian term for the political and economic reforms introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
and
glasnostwas the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of 1980s....
in the late 1980s allowed establishment of
SąjūdisSąjūdis initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania, is the political organization which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was established on June 3, 1988 and was led by Vytautas Landsbergis...
, an anti-communist independence movement. After a landslide victory in elections to the
Supreme SovietThe Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR was the supreme soviet of the Lithuanian SSR, one of the republics compromising the Soviet Union...
, members of Sąjūdis
proclaimed Lithuania's renewed independenceThe Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of March 11 signed by the members of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania, proclaimed the re-establishment of Lithuania's independence on March 11, 1990....
on 11 March 1990 becoming the first Soviet republic to do so. The Soviet Union imposed economic blockade attempting to suppress this secession. The Soviet troops attacked the
Vilnius TV TowerThe Vilnius TV Tower is a tower in the Karoliniškės microdistrict of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is the tallest structure in Lithuania, and is occupied by the SC Lithuanian Radio and Television Centre ....
and killed 13 Lithuanian civilians on the night of 13 January 1991. On 4 February 1991, Iceland became the first country to recognize Lithuanian independence. After the Soviet August Coup, independent Lithuania received wide recognition and joined the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
on 17 September 1991. The last Soviet troops left Lithuania on 31 August 1993 – even earlier than they departed from East Germany. Lithuania, seeking closer ties with the West, applied for
NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization ); ), also called "the Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949...
membership in 1994. After a difficult transition from
planned economyA planned economy or directed economy is an economic system in which the state or workers' councils manage the economy. It is an economic system in which the central government makes all decisions on the production and consumption of goods and services...
to the
free marketA free market describes a market without economic intervention and regulation by government except to regulate against force or fraud. The terminology is used by economists and in popular culture. A free market requires protection of property rights, but no regulation, no subsidization, no single...
, Lithuania became a full member of NATO and the European Union in spring 2004.
Constitutional system
Since Lithuania declared independence on 11 March 1990, it has maintained strong democratic traditions. In the first general elections after the independence on 25 October 1992, 56.75% of the total number of voters supported the
new constitutionThe Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. It was approved in a referendum on October 25, 1992.-History:...
. There were intense debates concerning the constitution, especially the role of the president. A separate referendum was held on 23 May 1992 to gauge public opinion on the matter and 41% of all the eligible voters supported the restoration of the President of Lithuania. Eventually a
semi-presidential systemThe semi-presidential system, also known as the presidential-parliamentary system, or premier-presidential system, is a system of government in which a president and a prime minister are both active participants in the day-to-day administration of the state...
was agreed upon.
The Lithuanian
head of stateHead of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state...
is the President, elected directly for a five-year term, serving a maximum of two consecutive terms. The post of president is largely ceremonial; main policy functions however include foreign affairs and national security policy. The president is also the military
commander-in-chiefA commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the...
. The President, with the approval of the parliamentary body, the
SeimasThe Seimas is the Lithuanian parliament. It has 141 members that are elected for a four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in individual constituencies , and the other half are elected by nationwide vote according to proportional representation...
, also appoints the
Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of Lithuania is the head of the executive arm of Lithuania's government, and is chosen by the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas. The modern office of Prime Minister was established in 1990, although the official title was "Chairperson of the Council of Ministers" until 25...
and, on the latter's nomination, the rest of the
cabinetA Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or Executive Committee.- Overview :...
, as well as a number of other top civil servants and the judges for all courts. The judges of the Constitutional Court (
Konstitucinis Teismas), who serve nine-year terms, are appointed by the President (three judges), the Chairman of the Seimas (three judges) and the Chairman of the Supreme Court (three judges). The unicameral Lithuanian
parliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French parlement, the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at...
, the
SeimasThe Seimas is the Lithuanian parliament. It has 141 members that are elected for a four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative body are elected in individual constituencies , and the other half are elected by nationwide vote according to proportional representation...
, has 141 members who are elected to four-year terms. 71 of the members of this legislative body are elected in single constituencies, and the other 70 are elected in a nationwide vote by
proportional representationProportional representation , sometimes referred to as full representation, is a category of electoral formula aimed at securing a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive...
. A party must receive at least 5% of the national vote to be represented in the Seimas.
Administrative division
The current administrative division was established in 1994 and modified in 2000 to meet the requirements of the European Union. Lithuania has a three-tier administrative division: the country is divided into
10 countiesThe territory of Lithuania is divided into 10 counties , all named after their capitals. The counties are divided into 60 municipalities : 9 city municipalities, 43 district municipalities and 8 municipalities...
(Lithuanian: singular –
apskritis, plural –
apskritys) that are further subdivided into 60 municipalities (Lithuanian: singular –
savivaldybė, plural –
savivaldybės) which consist of over 500
eldershipEldership may refer to:* Eldership , the governance of a local congregation by elders* Elderships of Lithuania, the smallest Lithuanian administrative divisions* Starostwo , a medieval Polish office granted by the king...
s (Lithuanian: singular –
seniūnija, plural –
seniūnijos).
The counties are ruled by
county governorCounty governor is the leader of a county, the first-level administrative unit of Lithuania. County governors are chosen by the Prime Minister and confirmed by the central government rather than elected by the people...
s (Lithuanian:
apskrities viršininkas) appointed by the central government. They ensure that the municipalities adhere to the laws of Lithuania and the constitution. County government oversees local governments and their implementation of the national laws, programs and policies. As the counties have limited functions, there are numerous proposals to reduce their number and organize the new counties around the
ethnographic regions of LithuaniaLithuania can be divided into historical and cultural regions . The exact borders are not fully clear, as the regions are not official political or administrative units. They are delimited by culture, such as country traditions, traditional lifestyle, songs, tales, etc. To some extent regions...
or five major cities with population over 100,000.
Municipalities are the most important administrative unit. Some municipalities are historically called "district municipalities", and thus are often shortened to "district"; others are called "city municipalities", sometimes shortened to "city". Each municipality has its own elected government. In the past, the election of municipality councils occurred once every three years, but it now takes place every four years. The council elects the
mayor"Mayor" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government....
and appoints
eldersThe term Elder is used in several different countries and organizations to indicate a position of authority...
to govern the elderships. There is currently a proposal for
direct electionDirect election is a term describing a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the person, persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen depends upon the...
of mayors and elders, however that would require an amendment to the constitution.
Elderships, numbering over 500, are the smallest units and they do not play a role in national politics. They provide necessary public services close to their homes; for example, in rural areas the elderships register births and deaths. They are most active in the social sector: they identify needy individuals or families and distribute welfare or organise other forms of relief. While the elderships have a potential of becoming source of local initiative to tackle rural problems, complains are made that elderships have no real power and receive too little attention.
Physical features
Lithuania is situated in Northern Europe. It has around of sandy coastline, of which only about face the open
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
and which is the shortest among the Baltic Sea countries; the rest of the coast is sheltered by the
Curonian sand peninsulaThe Curonian Spit is a 98 km long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea.-Geography:The Curonian Spit stretches from the Sambian Peninsula on the south to its northern tip next to a narrow strait, across which is the port city of Klaipėda on the...
. Lithuania's major warm-water port,
KlaipėdaKlaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Curonian Lagoon where it flows into the Baltic Sea. As Lithuania's only seaport, it has ferry terminal connections to Sweden and Germany...
, lies at the narrow mouth of the
Curonian LagoonThe Curonian Lagoon is separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit. Its surface area is 1,619 square kilometers...
(Lithuanian:
Kuršių marios), a shallow lagoon extending south to
KaliningradKaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
. The main river, the
Neman RiverNeman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
, and some of its tributaries carry international shipping vessels.
The Lithuanian landscape has been smoothed by glaciers. The highest areas are the
moraineA moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past ice age. This debris may have been plucked off the valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
s in the western uplands and eastern highlands, none of which are higher than above sea level, with the maximum elevation being
Aukštojas HillAukštojas Hill is the highest point in Lithuania; it is located in the Medininkai Highlands, Migūnai forestry, approximately 24 kilometers southeast of the capital city of Vilnius. Its elevation was measured in 2004 at 293.84 meters by specialists at the Institute of Geodesy at Vilnius Gediminas...
at . The terrain features numerous lakes,
Lake VištytisLake Vištytis , is a lake on the border between Lithuania and Russia . Prior to World War II it marked part of the border between Germany and Lithuania...
for example, and wetlands; a mixed forest zone covers nearly 33% of the country. The
climateClimate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time...
lies between maritime and continental, with wet, moderate winters and summers. According to one geographical computation method, Lithuania's capital,
VilniusVilnius Vilnius Vilnius as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the...
, lies only a few kilometres south of the
geographical centre of EuropeThe location of the geographical centre of Europe depends on the definition of the borders of Europe, mainly whether remote islands are included to define the extreme points of Europe, and on the method of calculating the final result...
.
PhytogeographicallyPhytogeography, also called geobotany, is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution of plant species, or more generally, plants...
, Lithuania is shared between the Central European and Eastern European provinces of the
Circumboreal RegionThe Circumboreal Region is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan...
within the
Boreal KingdomThe Boreal Kingdom or Holarctic Kingdom is a floristic kingdom identified by botanist Ronald Good , which includes the temperate-to-arctic portions of North America and Eurasia. Its flora is inherited from the ancient supercontinent of Laurasia...
. According to the
World Wide Fund for NatureThe World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in the United States and Canada...
, the territory of Lithuania can be subdivided into two
ecoregionAn ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or "ecozone". Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species...
s: the Central European mixed forests and
Sarmatic mixed foreststhumb|237px|[[Pinophyta|Coniferous trees]] are dominating this sarmatic mixed [[forest]] in southernmost [[Finland]]The Sarmatic mixed forests constitute an ecoregion within the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests zone according to the World Wide Fund for Nature classification...
.
Climate
Lithuania's climate, which ranges between maritime and continental, is relatively mild. Average temperatures on the coast are -2.5
°CCelsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
in January and 16 °C in July. In Vilnius the average temperatures are -6 °C in January and 16 °C in July. Simply speaking, 20 °C is frequent on summer days and 14 °C at night although temperatures can reach 30 or 35 °C. Some winters can be very cold. -20 °C occurs almost every winter. Winter extremes are -34 °C in coastal areas and -43 °C in the east of Lithuania. The average annual precipitation is 800 millimeters on the coast, 900 mm in the Samogitia highlands and 600 millimeters in the eastern part of the country. Snow occurs every year, it can snow from October to April. In some years sleet can fall in September or May. The growing season lasts 202 days in the western part of the country and 169 days in the eastern part. Severe storms are rare in the eastern part of Lithuania but common in the coastal areas.
The longest measured temperature records from the Baltic area cover about 250 years. The data show that there were warm periods during the latter half of the 18th century, and that the 19th century was a relatively cool period. An early 20th century warming culminated in the 1930s, followed by a smaller cooling that lasted until the 1960s. A warming trend has persisted since then.
Lithuania experienced a
droughtA drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
in 2002, causing forest and
peatPeat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter. Peat forms in wetlandbogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests...
bog fires. The country suffered along with the rest of Northwestern Europe during a heat wave in the summer of 2006.
Reported extreme temperatures in Lithuania by month are following:
Economy
In 2003, before joining the European Union, Lithuania had the highest economic growth rate amongst all candidate and member countries, reaching 8.8% in the third quarter. In 2004 — 7.3%; 2005 — 7.6%; 2006 — 7.4%; 2007 — 8.8%, 2008 Q1 — 7.0% growth in GDP reflects the impressive economic development. Most of the trade Lithuania conducts is within the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
.
By UN classification, Lithuania is a country with high average income. The country boasts a well developed modern infrastructure of railways, airports and four-lane highways. As of October 2008, the unemployment rate is 4.7%. According to officially published figures, EU membership fueled a booming economy, increased outsourcing into the country, and boosted the tourism sector. The
litasThe Lithuanian litas is the currency of Lithuania. It is divided into 100 centų...
, the national currency, has been pegged to the
euroThe euro is the official currency of 16 of the 27 Member States of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone, are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain...
since 2 February 2002 at the rate of EUR 1.00 = LTL 3.4528, and Lithuania is expecting to switch to the euro on 1 January 2013. There is gradual but consistent shift towards a knowledge-based economy with special emphasis on
biotechnologyBiotechnology is technology based on biology, agriculture, food science, and medicine. Modern use of the term usually refers to genetic engineering as well as cell- and tissue culture technologies...
(industrial and diagnostic) – major biotechnology producers in the Baltic countries are concentrated in Lithuania – as well as
laserA laser is a device that emits light through a process called stimulated emission. Laser light is usually spatially coherent, which means that the light either is emitted in a narrow, low-divergence beam, or can be converted into one with the help of optical components such as lenses...
equipment. Also
mechatronicsMechatronics is the combination of Mechanical engineering, Electronic engineering, Computer engineering, Control engineering, and Systems Design engineering to create useful products.-Description:...
and
information technologyInformation technology , as defined by the Information Technology Association of America , is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic...
(IT) are seen as prospective knowledge-based economy directions in Lithuania.
Lithuania has a
flat taxA flat tax is a tax system with a constant tax rate. Usually the term flat tax would refer to household income being taxed at one marginal rate, in contrast with progressive taxes that may vary according to such parameters as income or usage levels...
rate rather than a progressive scheme. Lithuanian income levels are lower than in the older EU Member States. According to
EurostatEurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the harmonisation of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...
data, Lithuanian PPS GDP per capita stood at 61 per cent of the EU average in 2008. Lower wages have been a factor that in 2004 fueled emigration to wealthier EU countries, something that has been made legally possible as a result of
accession to the European UnionEnlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951...
. In 2006, personal income tax was reduced to 27% and a reduction to 24% was made in October 2007. Income tax reduction and 19.1% annual wage growth is starting to make an impact with some emigrants gradually beginning to come back. The latest official data show emigration in early 2006 to be 30% lower than the previous year, with 3,483 people leaving in four months.
Corporate tax rate in Lithuania is 20%. The government offers special incentives for investments into the high-technology sectors and high value-added products.
Lithuania has the highest rating of Baltic states in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s quality of life index.
Education
According to
Invest in Lithuania, Lithuania has twice as many people with higher education than the EU-15 average and the proportion is the highest in the Baltic. Also, 90% of Lithuanians speak at least one foreign language and half of the population speaks two foreign languages, mostly
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
,
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
, and
PolishPolish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
.
Vilnius UniversityVilnius University , is one of the oldest universities in both the Baltic states and Europe...
is one of the
oldest universities in Northern Europe and the largest
university in Lithuania.
Kaunas University of TechnologyKaunas University of Technology is the largest technical university in the Baltic States and the second largest university in Lithuania....
is the largest technical university in the Baltic States and the second largest university in Lithuania. Other universities include
Kaunas University of MedicineKaunas University of Medicine is a medical school in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was founded in 1919 and from 1922 it was a Faculty of Medicine of University of Lithuania....
,
Lithuanian Academy of Music and TheatreThe Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in Vilnius, Lithuania, is a state-supported conservatory that trains students in music, theatre, and multimedia arts.-History:...
,
Vilnius Pedagogical UniversityVilnius Pedagogical University is a university in Vilnius, Lithuania, which specializes in preparing school teachers and other educators. As of 2007 it had approximately 12,500 students.-History:...
,
Vytautas Magnus UniversityVytautas Magnus University is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university...
,
Mykolas Romeris UniversityMykolas Romeris University is a university in the capital city of Vilnius, Lithuania, bearing the name of the Lithuanian jurist and politician Mykolas Römeris. Established in 2004, it is a state-funded institution....
, Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, The General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, Klaipėda University, Lithuanian Veterinary Academy, Lithuanian University of Agroculture, Siauliai University and Vilnius Academy of Arts.
Infrastructure
- Klaipėda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Curonian Lagoon where it flows into the Baltic Sea. As Lithuania's only seaport, it has ferry terminal connections to Sweden and Germany...
port is the only port in Lithuania. Vilnius International AirportVilnius International Airport is the largest civil airport in Lithuania. It is located south of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It began operations in 1944. The old terminal was built in 1954.- History:...
is the largest airport. It served 2 million passengers in 2008.
- Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant
Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant is a two-unit RBMK-1500 nuclear power station in Visaginas, Lithuania. It is named after a larger nearby town Ignalina. Unit #1 was closed in December 2004, as a condition of Lithuania's entry into the European Union; the plant is similar to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power...
is a Soviet-era nuclear station.
- Unit #1 was closed in December 2004, as a condition of Lithuania's entry into the European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
; the plant is similar to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power PlantThe Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is a decommissioned nuclear power plant near the city of Prypiat, Ukraine, 18 km northwest of the city of Chernobyl, 16 km from the border of Ukraine and Belarus, and about 110 km north of Kiev. It was the site of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, but...
in its lack of a robust containment structure. The remaining unit, as of 2006, supplied about 70% of Lithuania's electrical demand.
- Unit #2 is tentatively scheduled for closure in 2009. Proposals have been made to construct another nuclear power plant in Lithuania.
According to the study carried out by
Speedtest.netSpeedtest.net is a free broadband connection analysis website founded by in 2006. Users can test their internet speed against hundreds of geographically dispersed servers around the world...
, Lithuania has the fastest internet upload speed in the world and is fourth by download speed.
Ethnic composition
The population of Lithuania stands at 3.3662 million, 84.6% of whom are ethnic
LithuaniansLithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number slightly over 3 million people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland...
who speak
LithuanianLithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
which is the official language of the country. Several sizable minorities exist, such as
PolesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a Western Slavic ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. Poles are sometimes defined as people who share a common Polish culture and are of Polish descent. Their religion is predominantly Roman Catholic...
(6.3%),
RussiansThe Russian people are an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
(5.1%), and
BelarusiansBelarusians are an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus. Introduced to the world as a new state in the early 1990s, the Republic of Belarus brought with it the notion of a re-emerging Belarusian ethnicity, drawn upon the lines of the Belarusian language...
(1.1%).
Poles are the largest minority, concentrated in southeast Lithuania (the
Vilnius regionVilnius Region generally refers to the territory in the present day Lithuania and Belarus, that was inhabited by the ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time, and became disputed between Poland and Lithuania in the...
). Russians are the second largest minority, concentrated mostly in two cities. They constitute sizeable minorities in
VilniusVilnius Vilnius Vilnius as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the...
(14%) and
KlaipėdaKlaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Curonian Lagoon where it flows into the Baltic Sea. As Lithuania's only seaport, it has ferry terminal connections to Sweden and Germany...
(28%), and a majority in the town of
VisaginasVisaginas is a city with municipal rights in eastern Lithuania, situated near the country's biggest lake, Drūkšiai. Its administrative boundaries are in the process of being defined. The Vilnius–Daugavpils railway runs alongside the town, providing convenient communication with Vilnius and Daugavpils...
(52%). About 3,000 Roma live in Lithuania, mostly in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Panevėžys; their organizations are supported by the National Minority and Emigration Department.
According to the Lithuanian population census of 2001, about 84% of the country's population speak Lithuanian as their native language, 8.2% are the native speakers of Russian, 5.8% – of Polish. More than 60% are fluent in Russian, while only about 16% say they can speak English. According to the
EurobarometerEurobarometer is a series of surveys regularly performed on behalf of the European Commission since 1973. It produces reports of public opinion of certain issues relating to the European Union across the member states...
survey conducted in 2005, 80% of Lithuanians can speak Russian and 32% can speak English. Most Lithuanian schools teach English as a first foreign language, but students may also study
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
, or, in some schools,
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
. Schools where Russian and Polish are the primary languages of education exist in the areas populated by these minorities.
Largest cities
2008 data
| City | Population | | Area (km²) |
|---|
VilniusVilnius Vilnius Vilnius as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the...
|
East |
|
| 401 |
KaunasKaunas Kaunas Kaunas and Vilnius-Klaipėda (A1)...
|
Middle |
|
| 157 |
KlaipėdaKlaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Curonian Lagoon where it flows into the Baltic Sea. As Lithuania's only seaport, it has ferry terminal connections to Sweden and Germany...
|
West |
|
| 98 |
ŠiauliaiŠiauliai , is the fifth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 129,075. It is the capital of Šiauliai County. Unofficially, the city is the capital of Northern Lithuania...
|
North |
|
| 81 |
PanevėžysPanevėžys see also other names, is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2008, it occupied 50 square kilometers with 113,653 inhabitants.-History:...
|
North |
|
| 52 |
| Alytus Alytus , is a city with municipal rights in southern Lithuania. It is the capital of Alytus County. Its population in 2007 was 68,835. Alytus is the historical centre of the Dzūkija region. The city lies on the banks of the Nemunas River. The major highways linking Vilnius, Kaunas, Lazdijai, and...
|
South |
|
| 40 |
MarijampolėMarijampolė is an industrial city and the capital of the Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The population of Marijampolė is 48,700...
|
South |
|
| 21 |
MažeikiaiMažeikiai is a city in the north-western Lithuania, on the Venta River. It has a population of around 45,300, making it the 8th largest city in Lithuania. The city is the administrative center of Mažeikiai district municipality in Telšiai County...
|
North |
|
| 14 |
JonavaJonava is the 9th largest city in Lithuania with a population around 35,000. It is located in the Kaunas County in central Lithuania, north east from Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania. It is served by Karmėlava Airport....
|
Middle |
|
| n/d |
UtenaUtena is a city in north-east of Lithuania. It is the administrative center of Utena district and Utena County. Utena is famous for its brewery – Utenos alus. The name of the city is most probably derived from a hydronym....
|
East |
|
| 15,1 |
KėdainiaiKėdainiai , also known by several other names) is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It is located on the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population as of 2008 was 30,214. Its old town dates to the 17th century.The city is the...
|
Middle |
|
| 44 |
Health and welfare
As of 2007 Lithuanian life expectancy at birth was 65 years for males and 77 for females – the largest gender difference and the lowest male life expectancy in the European Union. As of 2008 The infant mortality rate was 5.9 per 1,000 births. The annual population growth rate increased by 0.3% in 2007. Less than 2% of the population live beneath the poverty line, and the adult literacy rate is 99.6%. At 38.6 people per 100,000, Lithuania has seen a dramatic rise in suicides in recent years, and now records the highest
suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
rate in the world. Lithuania also has the highest
homicideHomicide refers to the act of a human killing a human being. A common form of homicide, for example, would be murder. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
rate in the EU.
LGBT
Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is legal in Lithuania, but households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.
Religion
In 2005, 79% of Lithuanians belonged to the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
. The Church has been the majority denomination since the Christianisation of Lithuania in the end of fourteenth century and beginning of fifteenth century. Some priests actively led the resistance against the Communist regime (symbolised by the
Hill of CrossesThe Hill of Crosses is a site of pilgrimage about 12 km north of the city of Šiauliai, in northern Lithuania. The exact origins are unknown, but it is considered that the first crosses were placed on the former Jurgaičiai or Domantai hill fort after the 1831 Uprising...
). Church attendance has increased since the end of the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
.
In the 16th century,
ProtestantismProtestantism is a branch within Christianity, containing many denominations with some differing practices and doctrines, that principally originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the major divisions within Christianity, together with the Roman...
started to spread from Western Europe. A united reformed church organization in Lithuania's church province can be counted from the year 1557 at the Synod in Vilnius on December 14 of that year. From that year the Synod met regularly forming all the church provinces of The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, at first from two and later growing to six districts and representative district synods. The abbreviated name for the church is in Latin, Unitas Lithuaniae or in Polish, Jednota Litewska (Lithuanian church provincial union). It sent its representatives to the General Polish/Lithuanian Synods; however in its administration it was in fact a self-governing Church. The first Superintendent was Simonas Zacijus (Szymon Zacjusz, approx 1507–1591). In 1565 the anti- Trinitarian Lithuanian Brotherhood who rejected the learning of the Trinity separated from UL. The UL parish network covered nearly all of The Grand Duchy. Its district centers were Vilnius, Kedainai, Biržai, Slucke, Kojdanove and Zabludove later Izabeline.
In the first half of 20th century, the Lutheran Protestant church had around 200,000 members, 9% of total population, although
LutheranismLutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the 16th century German reformer Martin Luther. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
has declined since 1945. Small Protestant communities are dispersed throughout the northern and western parts of the country. Believers and clergy suffered greatly during the Soviet occupation, with many killed, tortured or deported to Siberia. Various Protestant churches have established missions in Lithuania since 1990. 4.9% are Eastern Orthodox (mainly among the Russian minority), 1.9% are Protestant and 9.5% have
no religionIrreligion is an absence of religion, indifference to religion, and/or hostility to religion. Depending on the context, it may be understood as referring to atheism, deism, nontheism, agnosticism, ignosticism, antireligion, skepticism, freethought, or secular humanism. Irreligious people may have...
.
Lithuania was historically home to a large and influential
JewishLithuanian Jews are Ashkenazi Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ....
community that was almost entirely eliminated during the Holocaust. The first noticeable presence of
Islam in LithuaniaIn Lithuania, unlike many other northern and western European countries, Islam came long ago. It was so because the medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, stretching from Baltic to Black seas, included some Muslim lands in the south, inhabited by Crimean Tatars...
began in the 14th century. From this time it was primarily associated with the
Lipka TatarsThe Lipka Tatars are a group of Tatars who originally settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the beginning of 14th century. The first settlers tried to preserve their shamanistic religion and sought asylum amongst the non-Christian Lithuanians....
(also known as Lithuanian Tatars), many of whom settled in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth while continuing their traditions and religious beliefs.
According to the most recent
Eurobarometer PollEurobarometer is a series of surveys regularly performed on behalf of the European Commission since 1973. It produces reports of public opinion of certain issues relating to the European Union across the member states...
2005, 12% said that "they do not believe there is any sort of
spiritThe English word "spirit" has many differing meanings and connotations, but commonly refers to a supernatural being or essence — transcendent and therefore metaphysical in its nature: the Concise Oxford Dictionary defines it as "the non-physical part of a person"...
,
godGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
, or life force" , 36% answered that "they believe there is some sort of
spiritThe English word "spirit" has many differing meanings and connotations, but commonly refers to a supernatural being or essence — transcendent and therefore metaphysical in its nature: the Concise Oxford Dictionary defines it as "the non-physical part of a person"...
or life force" and 49% of Lithuanian citizens responded that "they believe there is a
GodGod is a deity in theistic and deistic religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
".
Culture
Culturally Lithuania (and some of neighboring territory) is divided into the following
regionsLithuania can be divided into historical and cultural regions . The exact borders are not fully clear, as the regions are not official political or administrative units. They are delimited by culture, such as country traditions, traditional lifestyle, songs, tales, etc. To some extent regions...
:
- Aukštaitija
Aukštaitija is the name of one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. The name comes from the fact that the region is relatively elevated, particularly in its eastern parts.-Geography:...
– literally, the "Highlands"
- Samogitia
Samogitia is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania.-Geography:The region is located in northwestern Lithuania in the territories of Palanga city municipality, Rietavas municipality, Tauragė district municipality, Šilalė district municipality, Skuodas district municipality, Jurbarkas...
(Lithuanian: Žemaitija, SamogitianSamogitian is a dialect of the Lithuanian language spoken mostly in Samogitia . Certain attempts have been made to standardize it...
: Žemaitėjė) – literally, the "Lowlands"
- Dzūkija
Dzūkija or Dainava is one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania.-Geography:Dzūkija is situated in the south of Lithuania and consists of Varėna district municipality, Alytus district municipality, Alytus city, Šalčininkai district municipality, Trakai district municipality, Vilnius district...
(Lithuanian: Dzūkija or Dainava)
- Suvalkija
Suvalkija or Sudovia is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Its unofficial capital is Marijampolė. People from Suvalkija are called suvalkiečiai or suvalkietis . It is located south of the Neman River, in the former territory of Vilkaviškis bishopric...
(Lithuanian: Suvalkija or Sūduva)
- Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor or Prussian Lithuania is a historical ethnographic region of Prussia, later East Prussia in Germany, where Prussian Lithuanians or Lietuvininkai lived. Lithuania Minor enclosed the northern part of this province and got its name due to the territory's substantial...
also known as "Prussian Lithuania" – (Lithuanian: Mažoji Lietuva or Prūsų Lietuva). The region was part of Prussia from the Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
until 1945. Most of it today is part of RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(Kaliningrad OblastKaliningrad Oblast , informally called Yantarny kray is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. Population: 968,200 ; ....
).
Art and Museums
The
Lithuanian Art MuseumThe Lithuanian Art Museum was initially established in Vilnius in 1933 as the Vilnius City Museum. It houses Lithuania's largest art collection.-History:...
was founded in 1933 and is the largest museum of art conservation and display in Lithuania. Among other important museums is the
Palanga Amber MuseumThe Palanga Amber Museum , near the Baltic Sea in Palanga, Lithuania, is a branch of the Lithuanian Art Museum. It is housed in the restored 19th-century Tiškevičiai Palace, Palanga and is surrounded by the Palanga Botanical Garden. The museum's collection of amber comprises about 28,000 pieces, of...
, where
amberAmber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since neolithic times. Good quality amber is used for the manufacture of ornamental objects and jewelry...
pieces comprise a major part of the collection.
Perhaps the most renowned figure in Lithuania's art community was the composer
Mikalojus Konstantinas ČiurlionisMikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, also known as M. K. Čiurlionis was a Lithuanian painter and composer. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and art nouveau and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. During his short life he composed about 250 pieces of music and created about 300...
(1875–1911), an internationally renowned musician. The
2420 Čiurlionis' is a main belt asteroid with an orbital period of 1496.2748368 days .The asteroid was discovered in October 3, 1975 at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory and was named after Lithuanian artist Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis.-References:...
asteroidthumb|260px|right|[[253 Mathilde]], a [[C-type asteroid]] measuring about across. Photograph taken in 1997 by the [[NEAR Shoemaker]] probe.Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, especially in the inner Solar System; they are...
, identified in 1975, honors his achievements. The
M. K. Čiurlionis National Art MuseumThe M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum is a group of museums based in Kaunas, Lithuania. It is primarily dedicated to exhibiting and publicizing the works of the painter and musician M.K. Čiurlionis ....
is located in Kaunas.
A future museum,
Vilnius Guggenheim Hermitage MuseumVilnius Guggenheim Hermitage Museum is a proposed art museum in the city of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. On April 8 2008 an international jury named Zaha Hadid, a British-Iraqi architect, the winner of the international design competition for the museum...
, will present
exhibitionsArt exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
of new media art, parts of the
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
anthology film archive, and
FluxusFluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
art. The museum is scheduled to open in 2011.
Literature
A wealth of Lithuanian literature was written in Latin, the main scholarly language in the Middle Ages. One of the first instances of such, was the edicts of Lithuanian King
MindaugasMindaugas was the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, and in 1236 as the leader of all the Lithuanians...
.
Letters of GediminasThere are 6 surviving transcripts of letters of Gediminas written in 1323–1324 by Grand Duke Gediminas. These letters are one of the first surviving documents from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Since they were sent to the Western Europe, the pope, merchants, and craftspeople, they were written in...
is another important monument of Lithuanian Latin writings.
Lithuanian literary works in the
Lithuanian languageLithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
were first published in the 16th century. In 1547
Martynas MažvydasMartynas Mažvydas Martynas Mažvydas Martynas Mažvydas (1510 near Žemaičių Naumiestis (now in Šilutė district municipality) - May 21, 1563 in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) was the author and the editor of the first printed book in the Lithuanian language....
compiled and published the first printed Lithuanian book
The Simple Words of Catechism, which marks the beginning of printed Lithuanian literature. He was followed by
Mikalojus DaukšaMikalojus Daukša was a Lithuanian and Latin religious writer, translator and a Catholic church official...
in Lithuania Propria with his Katechizmas. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Lithuanian literature was primarily religious. Development of the old Lithuanian literature (14th–18th centuries) ends with Kristijonas Donelaitis, one of the most prominent authors of the
Age of EnlightenmentThe Age of Enlightenment, or simply The Enlightenment, is a term used to describe a time in Western philosophy and cultural life, centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority....
. Donelaitis poem "The Seasons" is a national epos and is a cornerstone of Lithuanian fiction literature.
Lithuanian literature of the first half of the 19th century with its mix of
ClassicismClassicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
,
SentimentalismSentimentalism , as a literary and political discourse, has occurred much in the literary traditions of all regions in the world, and is central to the traditions of Indian literature, Chinese literature, and Vietnamese literature .The term sentimentalism is used in two senses: An...
, and
RomanticismRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
features is represented by
Antanas StrazdasAntanas Strazdas was a Lithuanian priest and poet. Because of his humble origins and lifestyle, he became somewhat of a folklore hero...
, Dionizas Poška, Silvestras Valiūnas,
MaironisMaironis is one of the most famous Lithuanian romantic poets. He was born in Pasandravys, Raseiniai district municipality, Lithuania. Maironis graduated from Kaunas high school and went on to study Literature at Kiev University...
,
Simonas StanevičiusSimonas Stanevičius was a Lithuanian writer and an activist of the "Samogitian Revival", an early stage of the Lithuanian National Revival.-Biography:...
,
Simonas DaukantasSimonas Daukantas or Szymon Dowkont was a Lithuanian writer, ethnographer and historian. One of the pioneers of the Lithuanian national revival, he is credited as an author of the the first book on the history of Lithuania written in the Lithuanian language...
, and
Antanas BaranauskasAntanas Baranauskas , was a Lithuanian poet, mathematician and a catholic bishop of Polish town Sejny. He used the pseudonyms A.B., Bangputys, Jurksztas Smalaūsis, Jurkštas Smalaūsis, and Baronas.. He also wrote Poetry in Polish.-Early years:Baranauskas was born to a humble peasant family of...
. During Tsarist annexation of Lithuania,
Lithuanian press banThe Lithuanian press ban was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania at the time. Lithuanian-language publications that used the Cyrillic alphabet were allowed and even encouraged...
was implemented, which lead to a formation of the
KnygnešiaiBook smugglers were people who transported Lithuanian language books printed in the Latin alphabet into Lithuanian-speaking areas of the Russian Empire, defying a ban on such materials in force from 1866 to 1904...
(Book smugglers) movement.
20th century Lithuanian literature is represented by
Juozas Tumas-VaižgantasJuozas Tumas, also known by the pen name Vaižgantas , was a prominent Lithuanian writer, Roman Catholic priest, social activist, literary historian, and one of the founders of the Party of National Progress. He wrote novels, short fictional pieces, and non-fiction...
,
Antanas VienuolisAntanas Vienuolis was a Lithuanian writer, dramatist and one of the most famous realistic prosaists.- Biography :...
,
Bernardas BrazdžionisBernardas Brazdžionis was a Lithuanian poet. Bernardas Brazdžionis also used various pen names, such as Vytė Nemunėlis, Jaunasis Vaidevutis.-Biography:...
,
Vytautas MačernisVytautas Mačernis was a Lithuanian poet existentialist.- Biography :He was born in village Šarnelė , where he created most of his poems. His grandmother, who died in 1934, appears in most of his poems as a warm and pleasant memory...
and others.
Music
Lithuanian musical tradition traces its history to pagan times, connected with
neolithicThe Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BCE in the Middle East that is traditionally considered the last part of the Stone Age...
corded ware culture. Lithuanian folk music is archaic, evolved for ritual purposes.
- Lithuanian mythology
Lithuanian mythology is an example of pagan mythology containing archaic elements, developed by Lithuanians throughout the centuries.-History of scholarship:The information about Baltic paganism in general is very sketchy and incomplete...
- Symbols of Lithuania
The symbols of Lithuania are used in Lithuania and abroad to represent the country and its people, history, culture, and nature. These symbols are seen in official capacities, such as flags, coats of arms, postage stamps, and currency, and in URLs...
Sports
Among all the sports personalities of Lithuania, the most popular individual known to the Western world is basketball player
Žydrūnas IlgauskasŽydrūnas Ilgauskas is a Lithuanian professional basketball player in the NBA who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He plays the center position.-Pro career:...
who plays as
centerThe center, colloquially known as the five or the pivot, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...
for the
Cleveland CavaliersThe Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team and won their first Eastern Conference Championship in 2007.-1970–1980: Expansion and early hope:The Cavaliers first...
of the NBA. Another popular individual is professional ice hockey player
Darius KasparaitisDarius Kasparaitis is a Lithuanian-Russian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League...
who played for the
New York IslandersThe New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
,
Pittsburgh PenguinsThe Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League and are the defending Stanley Cup champions. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first...
,
Colorado AvalancheThe Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1996 and 2001. The franchise was founded in...
, and
New York RangersThe New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York, New York, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
of the NHL. Also
Arvydas SabonisArvydas Romas Sabonis is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player and a businessman. He played the center position.-Early years:Sabonis began playing basketball at age 13...
, played in the NBA for a long time.
Ignatas KonovalovasIgnatas Konovalovas is an Lithuanian road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team Cervélo TestTeam....
is a 23 year old professional cyclist with, in 2009, the Cervelo Test Team; he also has ridden for the French Credit Agricole team. Konovalovas won the final stage of the
2009 Giro d'ItaliaThe 2009 Giro d'Italia was the 92nd running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It marked the 100th year since the first edition of the race. It was held from 9–31 May 2009...
.
See also
- Foreign relations of Lithuania
Lithuania became a member of the United Nations on September 18, 1991, and is a signatory to a number of its organizations and other international agreements. It is also a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, NATO and its adjunct North Atlantic Coordinating Council,...
- Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union. It was established after the Soviet Annexation of Lithuania in 1940 and existed until 1990...
- Lithuanians
Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number slightly over 3 million people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland...
- Military of Lithuania
The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of ~15,000 active personnel and are supported by 100,000 reserve forces. Conscription was ended in September 2008....
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