The Republic of Lithuania (in Lithuanian , Lietuva ) is a republic in Northeastern Europe. One of the three Baltic States along the Baltic Sea , it shares borders with fellow Baltic State Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland to the south, and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia to the southwest.

 

 

Geography

The largest and most populous of the Baltic states , Lithuania is a partly maritime country with about 100 km of sandy coastline, of which only 38 km face the open Baltic Sea . Lithuania's major warm-water port of Klaipeda lies at the narrow mouth of Kuršiu Marios ( Curonian Lagoon ), a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad . The main river Nemunas and some of its tributaries are used for internal shipping.

The Lithuanian landscape is glacially flat, except for morainic hills in the western uplands and eastern highlands no higher than 300 m, with the highest point being the Juozapines at 292 m. The terrain is marked by numerous lakes (e.g. Lake Vištytis ) and swamps, and a mixed forest zone covers 30% of the country. The climate lies between maritime and continental, with wet, moderate winters and summers. According to some geographers, Lithuania's capital, Vilnius , lies a few kilometres south of the geographical centre of Europe .

Economy

In 2003 Lithuania had the highest economic growth ratio among all European Union candidates, reaching 8,8% in third quarter. In 2004, GDP growth rate of 6.6% reflects impressive economic development in Lithuania. Before 1998 Lithuania, the Baltic state that has conducted the most trade with Russia , however the 1998 Russian financial crisis forced country to orient toward the West. Lithuania has gained membership of the World Trade Organization and joined the European Union on 1 May 2004 . Accession to EU reduced previously high unemployment , to 10,6% in 2004. Lithuania has almost finished privatization of the large, state-owned utilities, with one of two power distribution networks and railways left. The litas , the national currency, has been pegged to the euro since 2 February 2002 at a rate of EUR 1.00 = LTL 3.4528 and country is expected to switch to euro one of the first among new accession countries in 2006.

Demographics

Over 80% of the Lithuanian population is ethnically Lithuanian and speaks the Lithuanian language , one of the two remaining living members of the Baltic language group , which is also the only official state language. Several sizable minorities exist, such as Russians (6%), Poles (6%) and Belarusians (1.5%), and each respective language is also spoken in Lithuania.

The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism , but Eastern Orthodoxy , Protestantism (especially Calvinism ) and Judaism also exist as minority religions.