|
|
LITHUANIA
The Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian - Lietuva,
Polish - Litwa, German - Litauen, French - Lituanie, Spanish - Lituania,
Estonian - Leedu) 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.
Capital city - Vilnius (from 1323 till 1919 and from 1940 till now). From
1919 till 1940 Kaunas was capital city of Lithuania.
History
First mentioned in 1009, Lithuania grew to be a significant nation in the
Middle Ages. Lithuania became an independent Grand Duchy that eventually
stretched across much of Eastern Europe. In the 16th century, it joined with
Poland in a personal union under one monarch as the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth. This union remained until the partitions of Poland in 1795
when Lithuania was itself annexed by Imperial Russia.
Under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, a smaller Lithuania established its
independence in February 1918 as a part of German planned Mitteleuropa, in
the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, and then as a republic in November,
after Germany's defeat in World War I. The republic intended to consolidate
territories where Lithuanians lived and turned down the idea to re-establish
union with Poland. It subsequently was plagued by territorial disputes with
Poland (over Central Lithuania and Suwalki) and Germany (over Klaipeda), and
it became a dictatorship in 1926. It was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940
during World War II.
Communist rule ended after the advent of glasnost and Lithuania proclaimed
its renewed independence on 11 March 1990, the first Soviet republic to do
so, though Soviet forces unsuccessfully tried to suppress this until
September 1991.
On February 4, 1991 Iceland became the first country to recognise Lithuanian
independence. Moldova did the same thing on May 31, 1991. These countries
were followed by Russian Federation on July 29, 1991 (but not all USSR
recognised Lithuanian independence) and Croatia on August 03, 1991.
Lithuania was admitted into the United Nations on September 17, 1991.
Lithuania has since sought closer ties with the West and so became a member
of NATO on 29 March 2004 and of the European Union on 1 May 2004.
Politics
The Lithuanian head of state is the president, elected directly for a five-year
term, who also functions as commander in chief overseeing foreign and
security policy. The president, on the approval of the parliament, also
appoints the prime minister and on the latter's nomination the rest of the
cabinet, as well as a number of other top civil servants and the judges for
all courts, including the Constitutional Court (Konstitucinis Teismas).
The unicameral Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has 141 members that are
elected for a four-year term. About half of the members of this legislative
body are elected in single constituencies (71), and the other half (70) are
elected in the nationwide vote by proportional representation. A party must
receive at least 5% of the national vote to be represented in the Seimas.
Counties
Lithuania consists of 10 counties (apskritys, singular - apskritis), each
named after their principal city. The counties are subdivided into 56
municipalities, both cities and districts (see: List of municipalities in
Lithuania). This administrative division was created in 1994.
Alytus County (Alytaus apskritis)
Kaunas County (Kauno apskritis)
Klaipeda County (Klaipedos apskritis)
Marijampole County (Marijampoles apskritis)
Panevežys County (Panevežio apskritis)
Šiauliai County (Šiauliu apskritis)
Taurage County (Taurages apskritis)
Telšiai County (Telšiu apskritis)
Utena County (Utenos apskritis)
Vilnius County (Vilniaus apskritis)
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.
Lithuania consists of historical and cultural regions:
Aukštaitija (literally the Highlands).
Samogitia, (also known as Žemaitija, or literally the Lowlands).
Lithuania Minor (Mažoji Lietuva) also known as Prussian Lithuania (Prusu
Lietuva).
Dzukija (Dzukija or Dainava).
Sudovia (Suduva or Suvalkija).
Economy
In 2003 Lithuania had the highest economic growth ratio among all European
Union candidates, reaching 8,8% in third quarter. In the first quarter of
2004, GDP growth rate of 7.7% 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 7.0% in 2004.
Lithuania almost finish Privatisation 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 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 (8%), Poles (7%) 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.
|
|
