Lithuania

Lithuania Background

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.

Lithuania Information

• Population: 3,607,899 (July 2004 est.)
• Nationality: noun: Lithuanian(s) adjective: Lithuanian
• Location:: Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia
• Religions:: Roman Catholic (primarily), Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, Protestant, Evangelical Christian Baptist, Muslim, Jewish
• Ethnic Groups:: Lithuanian 80.6%, Russian 8.7%, Polish 7%, Belarusian 1.6%, other 2.1%
• Land Boundaries:: total: 1,273 km border countries: Belarus 502 km, Latvia 453 km, Poland 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 227 km
• Area: total: 65,200 sq km water: NA sq km land: NA sq km
• Coast Line: 99 km
• Climate: transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers
• Terrain: lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil
• Maritime Claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
• Land Use: arable land: 45.22% permanent crops: 0.91% other: 53.87% (2001)
• Environmental Issues: contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products and chemicals at military bases
• Natural Resources: peat, arable land
• Highways: total: 75,243 km paved: 68,697 km (including 417 km of expressways) unpaved: 6,546 km (2000)
• Railways: 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 (all service suspended) (2003)
• Ports & Harbours: Butinge, Kaunas, Klaipeda
• Airports: 102 (2003 est.)