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conventional long form: Republic of Lithuania conventional short form: Lithuania local long form: Lietuvos Respublika local short form: Lietuva former: Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
Please note - These data have been taken from the CIA
World Factbook and are
used with permission
Country Profile [CIA World Factbook]
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.
Disputes
Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still conforming, as a EU member state having an external border with a non-EU member, to strict Schengen border rules; the Latvian parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania, primarily due to concerns over potential hydrocarbons; as of January 2007, ground demarcation of the boundary with Belarus was complete and mapped with final ratification documents in preparation
| Location |
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia |
| Coordinates |
56° 0' N 24° 0' E |
| Capital
| Vilnius |
| Main Cities |
Kaunas, Siauliai |
| Area |
65200 km2 |
| Boundaries (km) |
1,273 - Belarus 502, Latvia 453, Poland 91, Russia (Kaliningrad) 227 |
| Coastline (km) |
99 |
| Timezone (GMT) |
2 |
| Population |
3,555,179 (July 2009 est.) (Demographics) |
| Public Holidays |
Independence Day, 16 February (1918); note - 16 February 1918 is the date of independence from German, Austrian, Prussian, and Russian occupation, 11 March 1990 is the date of independence from the Soviet Union |
| Currency |
litas (LTL) |
| GDP |
$59.64 billion (2007 est.) (Economic data) |
| Main Exports |
mineral products 23%, textiles and clothing 16%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 6%, wood and wood products 5%, foodstuffs 5% (2001) |
| Climate |
transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers |
| Natural Hazards |
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| Physical Features |
Neman river, glaciated plains |
| Environmental Agreements |
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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These data have been taken from the CIA World Factbook and are
used with permission
