CCFL

Lithuania

Geographical Location:

Lithuania is located in North - Eastern Europe. It shares 588 km of borders with Latvia to the north, 273 km with the Russian Federation in the West (Kaliningrad region), 103 km with Poland and 660 km south and east of the country with Belarus. Lithuania is bordered on the west by 99 km of coastline giving access to the Baltic Sea.

Size and territory:

Lithuania is the largest of the three Baltic States in terms of population, territory and economy.
Its territory of 65.300 square km is larger than Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands or Switzerland.
70% of the lowland plains and uplands are cultivated and 28% are forested.
In Lithuania, the 722 rivers, more than 2.800 lakes and 99 km of coastline of the Baltic Sea are devoted to relaxation and nature preservation

Climate and temperatures:

The climate is both maritime and continental with cold winters and pleasant summers. The average winter temperature is around - 5 ˚ C and summer about +21˚C.

Area:

65 300 km2.

Population and composition:

Lithuania has the highest population of the three Baltic States 3 425 000 (2005); 83.5% are Lithuanian, 6.7% are Polish, 6.3% are Russians and 3.5% are of another nationality.

Religion:

Catholics (88%), Orthodox (10%), Jewish (0.3%) and Protestants.

Languages:

The Lithuanian is the official language (belonging to the Baltic branch of Indo-European languages). However, Russian, Polish, English and German are generally understood by the populations of major cities.

Reliefs:

Sandy plains, hills covered with pine forests, numerous lakes and rivers.

Capital:

Vilnius (542 000 inhabitants)

Major cities:

Vilnius (542 000 inhabitants)
Kaunas (373 700 inhabitants),
Klaïpeda (201 800 inhabitants),
Šiauliai (133 900 inhabitants),
Panevėžys (119 000 inhabitants),
Alytus (71 600 inhabitants),
Marijampolė (52 100 inhabitants).

Division of the territory:

10 administrative regions and 60 districts

Geographic Area:

Aukštaitija (Central and Northeast), Dzūkija (South East) Suvalkija (South West), Žemaitija (Northwestern).

Timezone:

Lithuania is located in the Central European Time Zone: GMT + 2 hours (3 hours in summer). When it’s 9 am in Vilnius, it is 11.00 to Stockholm and Frankfurt, 10:00 am in London and 5:00 am to New York.

Currency:

The Litas (LTL or Lt), which is fixed to the euro at a rate of 3.4528 LTL / EUR.
100 cents = 1 LTL.
Lithuania plans to begin the process of admission to the eurozone in 2010.

State and domestic politics:

The Republic of Lithuania is a parliamentary democracy. The political, economic and legal is determined by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, adopted on 25 October 1992. The Parliament (Seimas) is the main institution of the law of the State, consisting of 141 elected members. The Head of State is the President of the Republic, elected by universal suffrage. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and approved by Parliament. The Government is composed of 13 ministers.

Symbols of the State:

The flag is composed of three horizontal stripes - yellow, green and red. The coat of arms are depicted by a white knight on a red background.