The Republic of Lithuania is a country variously defined as being part of Eastern or Northern Europe. Situated along the south-eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, sharing borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of the Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest. Lithuania is a member of NATO and of the European Union. The population is 3.4 million, the largest city and the capital is Vilnius.
During the 1300s, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe, as present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the Lublin Union of 1569 Poland and Lithuania formed a new state: the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was finally destroyed by its neighboring countries in 1795. Most of Lithuania's territory was annexed by the Russian Empire, until the Act of Independence was signed on February 16, 1918, which declared re-establishment of a sovereign state. Between 1940 and 1945 Lithuania was occupied by several powers — Soviet Union, Nazi Germany. When World War II was near its end in 1944 and the Nazis retreated, Lithuania would again be merged into the Soviet Union. On March 11, 1990, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare its renewed independence.
Present-day Lithuania has one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union. Lithuania became a full member of the Schengen Agreement on 21 December 2007. In 2009 Lithuania will celebrate the millennium of its name. Lithuania is situated in northern Europe. It has around 99 kilometres (61.5 mi) of sandy coastline, of which only about 38 kilometers (24 mi) face the open Baltic Sea and which is the shortest among the Baltic Sea countries; the rest of the coast is sheltered by the Curonian sand peninsula. Lithuania's major warm-water port, Klaip?da, lies at the narrow mouth of the Curonian Lagoon, a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad. The main river, the Neman River, and some of its tributaries carry international shipping vessels.
The Lithuanian landscape has been smoothed by glaciers. The highest areas are the moraines in the western uplands and eastern highlands, none of which are taller than 300 meters (1,000 ft) above sea level, with the maximum elevation being Aukštojas Hill at 294 meters (964 ft). The terrain features numerous lakes, Lake Vištytis for example, and wetlands; a mixed forest zone covers 30% of the country. The climate lies between maritime and continental, with wet, moderate winters and summers. According to one geographical computation method, Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, lies only a few kilometers south of the geographical center of Europe.
Lithuania consists of different historical and cultural regions viz., Aukštaitija - literally, the "Highlands" Samogitia - literally, the "Lowlands", Dz?kija, Sudovia, Lithuania Minor also known as "Prussian Lithuania". Region was part of the Prussia since Middle Ages until 1945. Most of it today is part of Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast). |
