Lithuania, map of Lithuania

Brief information about the country

Оfficial name:  Republic of Lithuania

Location: is a country in northern Europe. Situated along the south-eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of the Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest.

Total area: 65,200 sq km

Population:  3,575,439 (July 2007 est.). Ethnic groups: Lithuanian 83.4%, Polish 6.7%, Russian 6.3%.

Capital: Vilnius
 
Principal cities: Kaunas, Klaipėda

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

Official language: Lithuanian

The political structure: parliamentary democracy. President elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 13 and 27 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009).

International organization participation: UN, UNESCO, WTO. Lithuania has been a member state of the European Union since 1 May 2004.

How to get there: By plain: Most airlines arrive at main Vilnius international airport and smaller seaside Palanga airport, while no-frills carriers (Ryanair and Wizzair) land in Kaunas airport.

By train: There are train connections to Vilnius from Warsaw, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Minsk, Riga and Kaliningrad.

Time zone: one hour behind Moscow time.

Currency: litas (LTL); 1 EUR = 3.46 LTL, 10 LTL = 2.89 EUR

Religion:  Roman Catholic 79%, Russian Orthodox 4.1%, Protestant 1.9%.

Holidays: Independence Day, 16 February (1918)

The reference web-site “Wikipedia”