Independent between the two World Wars, Lithuania was annexed by the USSR in 1940. 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.

Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia

56 00 N, 24 00 E

total: 65,200 sq km
land: NA sq km
water: NA sq km

total: 1,612 km
border countries: Belarus 660 km, Latvia 576 km, Poland 103 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 273 km

90 km

territorial sea: 12 nm

transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers

lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil

lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m
highest point: Juozapines Kalnas 293.6 m

peat, arable land, amber

arable land: 44.81%
permanent crops: 0.9%
other: 54.29% (2005)

70 sq km (2003)

contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products and chemicals at military bases

fertile central plains are separated by hilly uplands that are ancient glacial deposits

3,585,906 (July 2006 est.)

0-14 years: 15.5% (male 284,888/female 270,458)
15-64 years: 69.1% (male 1,210,557/female 1,265,542)
65 years and over: 15.5% (male 190,496/female 363,965) (2006 est.)

total: 38.2 years
male: 35.7 years
female: 40.8 years (2006 est.)

-0.3% (2006 est.)

8.75 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

10.98 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

-0.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.52 male(s)/female
total population: 0.89 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

total: 6.78 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.12 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 5.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

total population: 74.2 years
male: 69.2 years
female: 79.49 years (2006 est.)

1.2 children born/woman (2006 est.)

0.1% (2001 est.)

1,300 (2003 est.)

less than 200 (2003 est.)

noun: Lithuanian(s)
adjective: Lithuanian

Lithuanian 83.4%, Polish 6.7%, Russian 6.3%, other or unspecified 3.6% (2001 census)

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)

Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.6%
male: 99.7%
female: 99.6% (2003 est.)

conventional long form: Republic of Lithuania
conventional short form: Lithuania
local long form: Lietuvos Respublika
local short form: Lietuva
former: Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic

parliamentary democracy

Vilnius

10 counties (apskritys, singular - apskritis); Alytaus, Kauno, Klaipedos, Marijampoles, Panevezio, Siauliu, Taurages, Telsiu, Utenos, Vilniaus

11 March 1990 (independence declared from Soviet Union); 6 September 1991 (Soviet Union recognizes Lithuania's independence)

Independence Day, 16 February (1918); note - 16 February 1918 is the date Lithuania declared its independence from Soviet Russia and established its statehood; 11 March 1990 is the date it declared its independence from the Soviet Union

adopted 25 October 1992

based on civil law system; legislative acts can be appealed to the constitutional court

18 years of age; universal

unicameral Parliament or Seimas (141 seats, 71 members are directly elected by popular vote, 70 are elected by proportional representation; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 10 and 24 October 2004 (next to be held October 2008)
election results: percent of vote by party - Labor 28.6%, Working for Lithuania (Social Democrats and Social Liberals) 20.7%, TS 14.6%, For Order and Justice (Liberal Democrats and Lithuanian People's Union) 11.4%, Liberal and Center Union 9.1%, Farmers and New Democracy Union 6.6%, other 9%; seats by faction - Labor 39, Homeland Union 26, Social Democrats 22, Social Liberals 10, Liberal Political Group 10, Farmers and New Democracy Union 10, Liberal Democrats 9, Liberal and Center Political Group 8, independents 7 (as of mid-April 2006)

Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; judges for all courts appointed by the President

Lithuania, the Baltic state that has conducted the most trade with Russia, has slowly rebounded from the 1998 Russian financial crisis. Unemployment dropped from 11% in 2003 to 5.3% in 2005. Growing domestic consumption and increased investment have furthered recovery. Trade has been increasingly oriented toward the West. Lithuania has gained membership in the World Trade Organization and joined the EU in May 2004. Privatization of the large, state-owned utilities, particularly in the energy sector, is nearing completion. Overall, more than 80% of enterprises have been privatized. Foreign government and business support have helped in the transition from the old command economy to a market economy.

$50.12 billion (2005 est.)

$23.48 billion (2005 est.)

6.7% (2005 est.)

$13,900 (2005 est.)

agriculture: 5.7%
industry: 32.4%
services: 62% (2005 est.)

1.61 million (2005 est.)

agriculture: 20%
industry: 30%
services: 50% (1997 est.)

5.3% (2005 est.)

lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 25.6% (1996)

31.9 (2000)

2.6% (2005 est.)

22.1% of GDP (2005 est.)

revenues: $8.429 billion
expenditures: $9.103 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)

21.4% of GDP (2005 est.)

grain, potatoes, sugar beets, flax, vegetables; beef, milk, eggs; fish

metal-cutting machine tools, electric motors, television sets, refrigerators and freezers, petroleum refining, shipbuilding (small ships), furniture making, textiles, food processing, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, optical equipment, electronic components, computers, amber jewellery

6% (2005 est.)

18.64 billion kWh (2003)

9.109 billion kWh (2003)

12.37 billion kWh (2003)

4.144 billion kWh (2003)

12,360 bbl/day (2003 est.)

89,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

3.03 billion cu m (2003 est.)

2.76 billion cu m (2001 est.)

-$1.87 billion (2005 est.)

$10.95 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

mineral products 23%, textiles and clothing 16%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 6%, wood and wood products 5%, foodstuffs 5% (2001)

Germany 10.2%, Latvia 10.2%, Russia 9.3%, France 6.3%, UK 5.3%, Sweden 5.1%, Estonia 5%, Poland 4.8%, Netherlands 4.8%, Denmark 4.8%, US 4.7%, Switzerland 4.6% (2004)

$13.33 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)

mineral products, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, chemicals, textiles and clothing, metals

Russia 23.1%, Germany 16.7%, Poland 7.7%, Netherlands 4% (2004)

$3.785 billion (2005 est.)

$10.47 billion (31 December 2004 est.)

$228.5 million (1995)

litas (LTL)

calendar year

820,000 (2004)

3,421,500 (2004)

general assessment: inadequate, but is being modernized to provide an improved international capability and better residential access
domestic: a national, fiber-optic cable, interurban, trunk system is nearing completion; rural exchanges are being improved and expanded; mobile cellular systems are being installed; access to the Internet is available; still many unsatisfied telephone subscriber applications
international: country code - 370; landline connections to Latvia and Poland; major international connections to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway by submarine cable for further transmission by satellite

AM 29, FM 142, shortwave 1 (2001)

27
note: Lithuania has approximately 27 broadcasting stations, but may have as many as 100 transmitters, including repeater stations (2001)

.lt

136,346 (2005)

968,000 (2005)

95 (2005)

total: 33
over 3,047 m: 4
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 19 (2005)

total: 62
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 56 (2005)

gas 1,696 km; oil 331 km; refined products 109 km (2004)

total: 1,998 km
broad gauge: 1,807 km 1.524-m gauge (122 km electrified)
standard gauge: 22 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge: 169 km 0.750-m gauge (2004)

total: 78,893 km
paved: 21,617 km (including 417 km of expressways)
unpaved: 57,276 km (2003)

600 km (2005)

total: 48 ships (1000 GRT or over) 338,565 GRT/339,238 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 8, cargo 18, chemical tanker 1, container 1, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 12, roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 11 (Denmark 11)
registered in other countries: 18 (Antigua and Barbuda 1, North Korea 1, Norway 1, Panama 6, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 5, unknown 4) (2005)

Klaipeda

Ground Forces, Naval Force, Lithuanian Military Air Forces, National Defense Volunteer Forces (2005)

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 member state that forms part of the EU's external border, 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

transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Southwest Asia, Latin America, and Western Europe to Western Europe and Scandinavia; limited production of methamphetamine and ecstasy; susceptible to money laundering despite changes to banking legislation