Lithuania
Republic of Lithuania
Capital: Vilnius
History
Lithuanian lands were united under MINDAUGAS in 1236; over the next century, through alliances and conquest, Lithuania extended its territory to include most of present-day Belarus and Ukraine. By the end of the 14th century Lithuania was the largest state in Europe. An alliance with Poland in 1386 led the two countries into a union through the person of a common ruler. In 1569, Lithuania and Poland formally united into a single dual state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This entity survived until 1795 when its remnants were partitioned by surrounding countries. Lithuania regained its independence following World War I but was annexed by the USSR in 1940 - an action never recognized by the US and many other countries. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first of the Soviet republics to declare its independence, but Moscow did not recognize this proclamation until September of 1991 (following the abortive coup in Moscow). The last Russian troops withdrew in 1993. Lithuania subsequently restructured its economy for integration into Western European institutions; it joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.
Geography
Metric Units
|
Total Area
|
65,300
sq km
|
| Land Boundaries |
1,574
km
|
| Border Countries |
Belarus 680 km, Latvia 576 km, Poland 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 227 km |
| Coastline |
90
km
|
| Terrain |
lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil |
| Minimum Elevation |
0
m
|
| Maximum Elevation |
294
m
|
| Climate |
transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers |
| Natural Resources |
peat, arable land, amber |
| Arable Land |
33.48% |
| Permanent Crops |
0.47% |
Economy
Budget & Debt
Trade
| Exports |
$29.01 billion |
| Export Items |
mineral products, machinery and equipment, chemicals, textiles , foodstuffs, plastics |
| Export Partners |
Russia 15.6%, Latvia 9.7%, Germany 8.9%, Poland 6.7%, Estonia 6.3%, Netherlands 5.8%, Belarus 4.8% (2011) |
| Imports |
$31.41 billion |
| Import Items |
mineral products, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, chemicals, textiles and clothing, metals |
| Import Partners |
Russia 32.1%, Germany 9.6%, Poland 9%, Latvia 6.5%, Netherlands 4.8% (2011) |
People
| Population |
3,515,858 |
| Population Growth |
-0.28% |
| Ethnic Groups |
Lithuanian 84%, Polish 6.1%, Russian 4.9%, Belarusian 1.1%, other or unspecified 3.9% (2009) |
| Religion |
Roman Catholic 79%, Russian Orthodox 4.1%, Protestant (including Lutheran and Evangelical Christian Baptist) 1.9%, other or unspecified 5.5%, none 9.5% (2001 census) |
| Life Expectancy |
75.77 years |
| Infant Mortality |
0.89 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Maternal Mortality |
-0.5 deaths/100,000 live births |
Energy
