Lithuania

Lithuania is a country in Europe. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland to the south and Russia to the southwest. It is one of the Baltic states. The country's area is 65,300 km2 and there are about 2.8 million people who live in Lithuania. The national language is the Lithuanian language, which is spoken by around 3 million people. Vilnius is the capital and largest city. Lithuania is a member of the European Union, NATO, and several other organizations.
The colors of the Lithuanian flag are yellow (at the top), for the sun, green (in the middle), for the fields, and red (at the bottom), for the blood of Lithuanians fighting for its independence.
History
Lithuania began to turn into a country in the 7th-9th centuries from Baltic nations group. The Balts, the ancestors of Lithuanians and Latvians, came to the area between Nemunas, Daugava rivers and the Baltic Sea, from a supposed original homeland of the Proto-Indo-European languages. Many scientists think they came there sometime in the 3rd millennium BC.
The traditional date of the beginning of the country is 1236 when the Lithuanians won the Battle of Siauliai (Battle of Sun).
Lithuania (at that time - The Grand Duchy of Lithuania) made a Treaty with Poland in 1569. The country was taken over by the Russian Empire in 1795, ending the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It got back its independence on February 16, 1918.
In 1940 the country became a Soviet republic and joined to the Soviet Union.
On June 22, 1941, after German invasion, the republic was occupied. It continued until 1944.
Lithuania re-declared its independence on March 11, 1990. Currently, Lithuania is an independent, semi-presidential, democratic republic.
Politics
Lithuania has been a member of NATO and the European Union since 2004.
Lithuania is a semi presidential republic, that restored its independence and democracy in 1990. Since then, very important reforms were made and Lithuania is now declared as a democratic state that grants the human rights.
The Constitution that was adopted in 1992 declares that the leader of the country is the President, who must be elected to take office. The elections are held every 5 years. If the President breaks their oath, they can be forced to resign by the Parliament. The President also represents Lithuania abroad and is the commander-in-chief.
The legislative power of Lithuania is called the Seimas, or Parliament. There are 141 members of Seimas who are elected for 4-year-terms. Seimas passes the laws that must be executed by the government, that is formed in Seimas, and it must be accepted by the President. The Prime Minister is set and fired by the President.
The justice is under the power of the courts. The supreme court in Lithuania is the Constitutional Court.
Administrative subdivisions
Lithuania is divided into 10 counties, 60 municipalities and 500 elderates. The counties are:
Alytus County
Kaunas County
Klaipeda County
Marijampole County
Panevezys County
Siauliai County
Taurage County
Telsiai County
Utena County
Vilnius County
The county governor rules the county. He or she must be appointed by the central government. Municipalities are governed by the Municipal Councils that are elected for 4 year terms. The head of a municipality is the mayor. The elderates are governed by the elders. The elders are appointed by the municipal councils.
Geography
Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe. Its neighbours are Poland in the southwest, Russia (Kaliningrad) in west, Latvia in north and Belarus in the east. Lithuania borders the Baltic Sea and 99 kilometres of its coast belong to Lithuania. The highest hill is Aukstojas (294 metres high), the largest lake is Druksiai. 31% of the land is suitable for farms.
Lithuania is divided into 5 cultural regions according to their past and traditions:
Aukstaitija
Dzukija
Mazoji Lietuva (Lithuania Minor)
Suvalkija
Zemaitija (Samogitia)
Climate
Economy
Lithuania has a fast growing economy. It grew up to 7% in the first quarter of 2008.
GDP per capita, based on purchasing power parity is estimated to be $19,730 in 2008. The nominal GDP per capita is estimated to be $14,213 at the same year. According to these numbers, Lithuanian per capita GDP reaches only 61% of EU average. However, it is impressive that only in 8 years, since 2000 it grew up from 30% of EU average.
Emigration still creates a problem. According to the official data, emigration in 2006 was 30% lower than the previous year, with 3,483 people leaving in four months.
Demographics
About 80% of people in Lithuania are Lithuanians. There are large national minorities:
The Poles, (6.3%), mainly live in Vilnius County, which was taken over by Poland in 1920.
The Russians, (5.1%), mainly live in Vilnius County and Utena County, as workers at the Ignalina nuclear plant.
The Belorussians, (1.1%), most of them live in Vilnius County.
Lithuanian is spoken by 82% of the people and it is the only official language. Polish is used mostly in Vilnius County where Polish politicians are elected to represent the Polish minority. The documents and street names must be in Lithuanian.
The biggest cities are Vilnius, 542,287 people, Kaunas, 358,107 people, and Klaipeda, 185,899 people.
Largest cities
Education
The nursery schools and the kindergartens are the first-level education forms. However, they are not compulsory. The children start attending the primary school at age 7, where educational programs last for 4 years; then they must start attending secondary school (5th to 10th grades). After finishing 8th or 10th grade, the student can continue learning at the high school or choose courses at the vocational college. The students who finish the high school can join colleges and universities. Higher education is free for the students whose annual median of grades is 8 or higher. The others have to pay ~1300 Euros per semester at least.
The higher education schools are universities and colleges. The main universities are:
Vilnius University (the oldest university in northeastern Europe, founded in 1579);
University of Vytautas the Great, in Kaunas;
The University of Technology of Gediminas, in Vilnius;
The Klaipeda University.