What kind of country is Lithuania? What is it called in Russian? What kind of country is Lithuania (Lithuania) Lithuania territory area

Many Europeans believe that Lithuania is a country whose residents play basketball all the time. In some ways, of course, they are right, given the achievements of the Lithuanian national basketball team. However, Lithuania is interesting to tourists not only for its basketball traditions. This ancient country has a large number of different attractions, including beautiful medieval fortresses and castles. In addition, Lithuania has excellent balneological and beach resorts on the Baltic Sea.

Geography of Lithuania

Lithuania is located in the Baltic States, Northern Europe. Lithuania borders on Latvia in the north, Poland in the south, Belarus in the east and south, and the Kaliningrad region of Russia in the southwest. The total area of ​​this country is 65,200 square meters. km., and the total length of the border is 1,762 km.

33% of Lithuania's territory is covered by forests. The landscape of Lithuania is an alternation of lowlands and hills. The highest point in the country is Aukštojas Hill, whose height is only 294 meters.

There are a lot of lakes in Lithuania, the largest of which is Druksiai, located in the southeast of the country. As for rivers in Lithuania, the largest of them is the Neman.

Capital

The capital of Lithuania is Vilnius, which is now home to about 550 thousand people. Historians believe that the city of Vilnius was founded in the 13th century, although human settlement existed on this site one thousand years ago.

Official language

The official language in Lithuania is Lithuanian, which belongs to the Baltic group of languages.

Religion

About 17% of the Lithuanian population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. Another 4% of Lithuanians are Lutherans (Protestants).

State structure of Lithuania

According to the 1998 constitution, Lithuania is a parliamentary republic, headed by the President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a 5-year term.

The Parliament of Lithuania (Seimas) consists of 141 deputies who are elected for a 4-year term. Executive power in Lithuania belongs to the President, Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers.

Climate and weather

The climate in Lithuania is continental maritime. The Lithuanian climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. On the coast of Lithuania, the average air temperature in January is -2.5C, and in July - +16C. In Vilnius in January the average air temperature is -6C, and in July - +16C.

The average annual precipitation on the coast of Lithuania is 800 mm.

Sea in Lithuania

The length of the Lithuanian coast of the Baltic Sea is 99 kilometers. The temperature of the Baltic Sea near the Lithuanian coast reaches +17C in summer, but in the bays the water warms up better in summer.

Rivers and lakes

There are a lot of lakes in Lithuania (to be more precise, 2,834 lakes, whose area is more than 0.5 hectares), the largest of them is Druksiai, located in the southeast of the country. As for rivers in Lithuania, the largest of them is the Neman. In total, there are 816 rivers in Lithuania with a length of more than 10 kilometers.

History of Lithuania

People appeared on the territory of modern Lithuania approximately 11 thousand years ago. The Baltic tribes were formed in the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. The first written mention of Lithuania is in the German historical chronicle “Annals of Quedlinburg” under the year 1009.

Mindaugas, who was crowned in 1253, is considered the first king of Lithuania. After his death in 1263, pagan Lithuania was subjected to crusades by German crusaders.

By the end of the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania already included part of the territory of Belarus, Russia and Poland. In 1410, the Polish-Lithuanian army, which included several Russian squads, defeated the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Grunwald.

In 1569, the Union of Lublin was concluded between Lithuania and Poland, as a result of which the Polish-Lithuanian state was formed.

In 1655-1661 and 1700-1721, the territory of Lithuania was invaded by Swedish troops.

As a result of the three divisions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Lithuania came under the rule of the Russian Empire. Due to the uprisings of 1831 and 1863, the Russian Empire carried out Russification in Lithuania - Lithuanian newspapers and magazines were banned, and Lithuanian cultural and educational institutions were closed.

Lithuania's independence was declared in February 1918, after the First World War. After some time, Vilnius was captured by Poland for many years, and Klaipeda by Germany.

In June 1940, the Soviet Union sent its troops into Lithuania, and thus Lithuania became part of the USSR. During World War II, Lithuania was occupied by German troops, but in 1944 the USSR managed to liberate it.

In March 1990, Lithuania separated from the USSR and declared its independence. In September 1991, Lithuania was admitted to the UN, and in 2004 to the European Union and NATO.

Culture

At the end of the 20th century, the independence of Lithuania was restored due to the fact that Lithuanians preserved their national identity, their traditions and customs.

The most popular holidays among Lithuanians are New Year, Three Kings' Day, Restoration of Independence Day, Easter, Midsummer's Day, Mindaugas Coronation Day, Sea Festival, All Saints' Day and Christmas.

Every five years, Vilnius hosts a grandiose folk festival of music and dance, which attracts more than 30 thousand Lithuanian dancers and singers from all over the world. The first song festival in Vilnius took place in 1924.

In general, in Lithuania, music and folk dance festivals are held every summer in different cities.

Lithuanian cuisine

Lithuanian cuisine has many similarities with the cuisines of Eastern European countries, including Russia, Belarus and Poland. German culinary traditions also had a great influence on Lithuanian cuisine. However, Lithuanian cuisine is very original. Typical products in Lithuania are meat, potatoes, beets, dairy products, mushrooms, and in coastal areas, fish.

• “šaltibarščiai” - cold beet soup;
• “kugelis” - potato casserole;
• “arba zrazai” - fried beef;
• “koldūnai” - Lithuanian dumplings;
• “pączki” - donuts;
• "vėdarai" - potato sausages.

In Lithuania, the traditional non-alcoholic drink is kvass. As for Lithuanian alcoholic drinks, these are beer, vodka and various liqueurs. By the way, there are now more than 80 large and small breweries in Lithuania. Only in Lithuania can you try such a unique beer snack as garlic bread, smoked cheese and smoked pig ears.

Sights of Lithuania

The history of Lithuania goes back several hundred centuries. During this time, a large number of churches, monasteries, castles and other historical and architectural monuments were built in the country. Now there are more than 50 museums in small Lithuania. We advise tourists to Lithuania to see:

Cities and resorts

The largest Lithuanian cities are Kaunas, Klaipeda, and, of course, Vilnius.

Lithuania has several good beach resorts with sandy beaches on the Baltic Sea. The beach season in Lithuania begins in mid-May and lasts until mid-September. The most popular Lithuanian beach resorts are Neringa, Klaipeda and Palanga.

In recent years, more and more tourists have been coming to Lithuania to relax at local balneological and spa resorts. Most often, guests of Lithuanian balneological resorts are residents of Israel, Russia, Germany and Scandinavian countries.

The most famous Lithuanian balneological and spa resorts are Druskininkai, Birstonas, and, of course, Palanga.

Souvenirs/shopping

The capital of Lithuania is the largest ancient city of Vilnius. This is its modern name. Previously, until 1918, the capital of Lithuania was called Vilna, and from 1919 to 1939 - Vilna. Modern Vilnius is also the administrative center of the Vilnius region. Its area is 401 square kilometers. The population of the capital of Lithuania is 542,900 people (according to other sources - 541,600 people).

Vilnius is located in the southeastern part of Lithuania, thirty kilometers from the state border with Belarus. The geographical location of the capital of Lithuania is also interesting because the city is located near the confluence of the Vilnia River with the Neris (another name for the Neman tributary is Viliya).

It is not yet possible to say exactly when Vilnius arose. However, it is known that the city was first mentioned under the name Vilna in a letter from the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas, who called it “the capital city.” That is, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. By the way, the city remained in this status until 1795.

In 1387, a Roman Catholic diocese appeared in Vilna, and in the same year the city was awarded Magdeburg law. But the city fortifications were completed only in the 16th century.

After 1795, Vilna lost its status as the “capital city” of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, since during this period fateful events occurred, as a result of which the city became part of the Russian Empire, and remained there until 1915. From 1920 to 1922, Vilna was given the status of the capital of Central Lithuania. From 1922 to 1939, Vilna was already part of Poland.

Vilnius was occupied by German troops several times: from 1915 to 1918 and from 1941 to 1944.

On August 3, 1940, Vilnius was given the status of the capital of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. On March 11, 1990, Vilnius becomes the capital of the Republic of Lithuania.

Today, Vilnius is the main financial, trade, economic and transport center of Lithuania, with a highly developed retail trade and services sector.

The main industries of Vilnius: electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, clothing, textile, shoe, leather production, woodworking and furniture, food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, production of building materials. And with such a number of industrial productions, Vilnius can be considered a “green city”, since more than half of its territory is covered with parks and various trees.

Show business stars such as Philip Kirkorov, Alla Pugacheva, Kristina Orbakaite, Ani Lorak, Nikolai Baskov come to Lithuania (Vilnius) as part of the tour.

Vilnius is the financial and economic center of Lithuania. Its gross product currently stands at 25% of Lithuania's gross domestic product.

Tax revenues to the state are 22% of the country's budget. And this despite the fact that the number of capital residents is 15% of the total number of Lithuanians.

Most of the jobs are in the service sector - 72%. 20% of the population is employed in the city's industry, 7.4% in the construction industry, and 0.5% in the agricultural sector and forestry.

One of the most significant sectors of the city economy is the tourism sector. For example, Vilnius is visited annually by 1 to 1.5 million people. Most often, tourists come to the capital of Lithuania from Poland (19.8%), Germany (9.8%) and Russia (9.6%). For a pleasant pastime, foreign citizens are offered not only the historical unique places of Vilnius with its majestic architectural sights, but also ultra-modern shopping and entertainment centers, restaurants, casinos, souvenir shops, boutiques of world-famous brands, etc.

In Vilnius, tourists can use the high-quality services of 59 hotels, 15 hostels, 6 motels, with a total number of beds of 8,355.

Vilnius is in a favorable geographical position at the intersection of trade and passenger flows from Western Europe and Scandinavia (EU countries, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Greece, Italy, Poland, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Switzerland), as well as Belarus , Latvia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Ossetia, Ingushetia (many former USSR countries), Turkey, China, Japan, Ukraine, Australia, Moldova, Singapore, African and Asian countries).

Among the largest and most attractive shopping centers for foreigners in Vilnius are Ozas, Akropolis, Panorama located in the residential areas of the capital and Europa, Gedimino 9, Vilnius Central Department Store located in the city center.

Also in Vilnius there are chains of food supermarkets “Rimi”, “Maxima”, “Iki”, “Norfa”, etc. Lovers of household appliances are invited to visit “ElektroMarkt”, “BMS Megapolis”, “Topo centras”.

Near the Kaunas highway, in the southwest of Vilnius, there is a Gariūnai clothing wholesale and retail market, the total area of ​​which is 32.5 hectares. Approximately 10,000 entrepreneurs offer their goods there.

Publications about Vilnius and its attractions have repeatedly appeared in leading foreign and Russian media: The Guardian, The Financial Times, The New York Times, Forbes, etc.

Today, 50,000 enterprises operate in Vilnius, which is a quarter of all enterprises in Lithuania. The largest of the Vilnius enterprises: “Vilniaus pargale” (production of confectionery products), “Dvarčenu ceramics” (specialization - ceramics), “Vilniaus Vingis” (manufacturing of electrical components), “Audejas” (textile industry), “Lelia” (ready-made clothing) , "Grigiškės" (paper production), "Siccor Biotech" (manufacturing of pharmaceutical products), "Vilniaus Baldai" (furniture production), etc.

The Vilnius Stock Exchange operates in the capital of Lithuania. There are 9 commercial banks in the city: AB bankas Snoras, AB Swedbank, AB SEB bankas, UAB Medicinos bankas, AB DnB Nord bankas, AB Ukio bankas, Siauliu bankas, AB bankas Finasta, AB Citadele. There are also 10 branches of foreign banks and other financial institutions located in Vilnius.

Most Lithuanian traders work through Western or Russian brokers. Now they have access to trading in stocks, options (for gold, silver, coffee, wheat, cotton, gasoline, gas and other goods), SP 500, currency trading on a global and Russian scale with access to the MICEX and RTS. The main world currencies are traded: Russian ruble, US dollar, Australian dollar, Belarusian ruble, British pound, euro, Kazakhstani tenge, Canadian dollar, Chinese yuan, Ukrainian hryvnia, New Zealand dollar, Swiss franc, Japanese yen.

Vilnius car showrooms feature both global auto brands and Russian-made cars, namely VAZ, UAZ, Opel, Renault, Audi, Toyota, Mazda, Kia, BMW, Nissan, Ford, Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Mercedes).

There are also various yacht clubs and yacht shops in Lithuania and Vilnius. It is also possible to order expensive phones, diamonds, and cars.

Vilnius is a city of historical architectural monuments that attract millions of tourists to the city every year. One of the oldest is the Jesuit Academy and University. This scientific institution was founded in 1579, making Vilna the first university city and the largest scientific and educational center of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Later, in the period from 1803 to 1832, the Academy was completely transformed into Vilnius University, which, in turn, became the prototype of modern Vilnius University, the largest scientific and educational center in Lithuania.

Vilnius can rightfully be called not only the largest educational center in the country, where many other universities and art schools are concentrated, but also the cultural center of Lithuania. It houses several theaters, museums, and galleries. Two years ago, together with the Austrian city of Linz, it was the cultural capital of Europe.

Other equally attractive sights of Vilnius include the Gediminas Tower, built in the 15th century, the Church of St. Anne, St. Nicholas Church, the Bernardine Church of the 16th century, as well as buildings erected in the Baroque style.

Vilnius is also the center of a Roman Catholic archbishopric and an Orthodox Lithuanian diocese. It is the capital’s community of Old Believers, which appeared here at the beginning of the century before last, that is one of the largest in the entire Baltic region. On the territory of Vilnius there are dozens of Roman Catholic churches, Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches, and Protestant churches.

Before World War I, Vilnius was also called the “Jerusalem of the North” because at that time it was the largest Jewish religious and cultural center.

Interestingly, Vilnius is the only capital on the European continent that is 100% supplied with drinking water from underground springs.

The city territory is divided into 21 elderships:

Antakalnis

Vilkpede

Viršuliškės

Grigiskes

Zhirmunai

Žvėrynas

Karolinishkes

Lazdinai

Naujamestis

Naujininkai

Naujoji-Vilnia (New Vilnia)

Pašilaičiai

Syanamestis

Fabieniškės

Šnipiškės

Justiniškės

The population of Vilnius is represented by many nationalities. The absolute majority of the capital's residents (57.8%) according to the 2001 census are Lithuanians. Although, for example, according to the 1897 census, Jews, Poles, Russians, Belarusians predominated in Vilnius, and Lithuanians accounted for only 2.1% (National minorities Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Georgians, Tajiks also live in Lithuania ).

In modern Vilnius, the Lithuanian population is followed by the Poles (18.7%), followed by the Russians (13.9%), Belarusians (3.9%), Ukrainians (1.3%), and Jews ( 0.5%). Representatives of other nationalities make up a total of 3.9%.

The city government of Vilnius is represented by the City Self-Government Council, which includes 51 people. Council members are elected for 4 years. During the first two months of the new composition of the Self-Government Council, it needs to appoint the mayor of the city, his deputies, the director of the self-government administration, as well as form committees and a board of the Council.

Currently, the mayor of Vilnius is Arturas Zuokas, who has been elected as mayor for the third time.

(lit. Lietuva), official name - Republic of Lithuania (lit. Lietuvos Respublika) - a state in Europe, on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. In the north it borders with Latvia, in the east with Belarus, in the southwest with Poland and the Kaliningrad region of Russia.

The capital of Lithuania is Vilnius.

Story

The name “Lithuania” (Lituae) was first mentioned in the Quedlinburg Annals in 1009, when the missionary Bruno Boniface was killed on the border of Rus' and Lithuania (Pribuzhskoe Podlasie, area of ​​​​modern Brest).

Ancient Lithuania (Grand Duchy of Lithuania) was a multi-ethnic state with a significant predominance of the Slavic population and Slavic culture. Modern Lithuania is the result of complex political processes of the 20th century and is a state with a dominant Lithuanian culture.

The birth of the state

The origin of the state dates back to the 10th-13th centuries. As the feudal system became established, separate economic territories (appanages) governed by princes were formed. Neighboring lands of ethnically related Lithuanian tribes were united into political and military alliances. Evidence of the existence of such pre-state associations is considered to be the agreement of 1219 between the Galician-Volyn princes and 21 Lithuanian princes. The treaty mentions Mindaugas among the 5 senior princes. Having inherited power in his inheritance from his father, around 1240 he destroyed or expelled his rivals and united part of the Balt lands under his rule.

By the 13th century, the Lithuanian nationality had emerged. At the beginning of the 13th century, the invasion of German crusading knights began in the lands of the pagan Balts from the south and north-west. They conquered Prussia and Livonia. The remaining unconquered lands united under the rule of Mindaugas. Mindovg received Catholic baptism in 1251 and was crowned on July 6, 1253. He was the only Lithuanian king.

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

In the XIII-XIV centuries, the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania grew rapidly and reached the shores of the Black Sea. At the same time, the Lithuanian princes waged a difficult struggle with the Teutonic Order, which was defeated in 1410 at the Battle of Grunwald by the united troops of the Lithuanian lands and Poland.

In 1385, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jogaila (Jogaila) undertook, by the Union of Krevo, to unite Lithuania and Poland in a personal union if he was elected king of Poland. In 1386 he was crowned King of Poland. In 1387, Lithuania was baptized and adopted Western Christianity as its official religion. Since 1392, Lithuania was actually ruled by Grand Duke Vytautas (Vytautas), Jogaila's cousin and formal governor. During his reign (1392–1430), Lithuania reached the height of its power.

Casimir Jagiellon expanded the international influence of the Jagiellon dynasty - he subjugated Prussia to Poland, and placed his son on the Czech and Hungarian thrones. In 1492-1526, there was a political system of Jagiellonian states, covering Poland (with vassals Prussia and the Principality of Moldova), Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

In 1569, a union with Poland was concluded in Lublin (the day before, the Ukrainian lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were annexed to Poland). According to the Act of the Union of Lublin, Lithuania and Poland were ruled by a jointly elected king, and state affairs were decided in the common Sejm. However, legal systems, military and governments remained separate.

In the 16th-18th centuries, gentry democracy dominated in Lithuania, the Polonization of the gentry and its rapprochement with the Polish gentry took place. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was losing its Lithuanian national character, and Polish culture was developing there.

As part of the Russian Empire

In the 18th century, after the Northern War, the Polish-Lithuanian state fell into decline, falling under Russian protectorate. In 1772, 1793 and 1795, the entire territory of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria. Most of the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was annexed to Russia. Attempts to restore statehood caused the transition of the Polish-Lithuanian nobility to Napoleon's side in 1812, as well as the uprisings of 1830-1831 and 1863-1864, which ended in defeat. in 1864, Russia banned Lithuanian printing in Latin letters. The Lithuanian clergy and the entire people began to fight against the Russification of the region, and fought for their language, as well as for their press, as well as their other rights. Publications printed in Russian letters were ignored, and books printed in Latin letters were illegally transported from neighboring Prussia. In the second half of the 19th century, this formed a national movement. In 1904, the ban on the Lithuanian press was lifted. The Bund was created in Vilnius.

XX century

During the First World War, from 1915, the Vilna province was occupied by Germany. On February 16, 1918, in Vilna, the Lithuanian Tariba (Council of Lithuania) proclaimed the restoration of an independent state.

On July 11, 1918, Tariba declared the country the Kingdom of Lithuania. It was decided to invite the German Prince Wilhelm von Urach to the throne. However, already on November 2 of the same year, the decision to create a constitutional monarchy was withdrawn.

Lithuania soon suffered the onslaught of the Bolshevik Red Army,

The Soviet-Polish War and the Polish-Lithuanian War. On February 27, 1919, a joint meeting of the Central Executive Committees of Lithuania and Belarus took place in Vilna. It proclaimed the formation of the Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (Litbela) with its capital in Vilna, and from April 19, 1919 in Minsk. Litbel actually ceased to exist in August 1919, as a result of the counter-offensive of Polish troops during the Soviet-Polish War. On the part of the Lithuanian and Belarusian territories occupied by troops under the command of General L. Zheligowski, a temporary state formation, Central Lithuania (1920-1922), was created, which was included in Poland in 1922.

Lithuania and Poland after the First World War and Zheligowski's campaign against Vilnius

Until September 1939, the Vilna region was part of Poland. In 1923, Memel (Klaipeda) was transferred to Lithuania.

From 1919 to 1939, the temporary capital of Lithuania was Kaunas.

In 1922, a constitution was adopted in Lithuania, which provided for the creation of a parliamentary republic. In December 1926, a military coup took place in Lithuania, led by the leader of the nationalist party Antanas Smetona, who established an authoritarian regime.

On March 22, 1939, Nazi Germany presented Lithuania with an ultimatum demanding the return of the Klaipeda region, which Lithuania was forced to accept.

On October 10, 1939, the “Agreement on the transfer of the city of Vilna and the Vilna region to the Lithuanian Republic and on mutual assistance between the Soviet Union and Lithuania” was signed in Moscow for a period of 15 years, which provided for the deployment of a 20,000-strong contingent of Soviet troops to Lithuania. On November 15, 1939, the official ceremony of the entry of Soviet troops into Lithuania took place, which was of a purely symbolic nature, since Soviet troops had already been in Vilnius (Vilna) since September 20, 1939.

According to the Treaty on the Transfer of the City of Vilno and the Vilna Region to the Republic of Lithuania and on Mutual Assistance between the Soviet Union and Lithuania dated October 10, 1939, a limited number of Soviet ground and air armed forces were stationed in Lithuania.

The presence of Soviet troops on the territory of Lithuania in the period from October 1939 to July 1940 aggravated the internal political situation in the republic. Feeling the moral support of the Red Army, the left movement intensified, to which the official authorities of the Republic of Lithuania responded by “isolating” the locations of the Soviet troops. Provocations began against Red Army soldiers and acts of intimidation of the local population who worked on the territory of military units.

In 1940, the head of the Lithuanian Department of State Security visited Berlin on an official visit, that is, this happened after Hitler, under the threat of war, took Klaipeda from the Lithuanians. And during this visit, on behalf of the leadership of the republic, he invited the Germans to take the rest of Lithuania into the Reich. The Germans responded positively to this proposal, but with one caveat: they were ready to occupy Lithuania no earlier than the end of 1940. Naturally, the invasion of the Red Army broke this scenario, but even after the annexation of the Baltic republics to the USSR, the Germans continued to nurture Lithuanian nationalists: the Lithuanian Information Bureau was created in Berlin, the Abwehr supported the underground Front of Lithuanian activists who were preparing to overthrow the Soviet regime.

On June 14, 1940, Lithuania was presented with an ultimatum demanding that additional Soviet troops be allowed into the country and that the government be dismissed. On June 15, the Republic of Lithuania agreed to the demands of the USSR and allowed an increase in the number of Soviet troops. On July 14-15, elections to the People's Seimas were held, in which only one party list was allowed to participate: the pro-Soviet Bloc of Working People. 1,386,569 people took part in the elections to the People's Seimas of Lithuania, that is, 95.51% of all had the right to vote. 1,375,349 voters voted for the candidates of the “Working People's Bloc” of Lithuania, that is, 99.19% of those who took part in the voting. On July 21, the People's Sejm proclaimed the formation of the Lithuanian SSR and decided to ask the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to accept the Lithuanian SSR into the USSR. On August 3, 1940, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR granted this request.

On June 22, 1941, after the German attack on the USSR, riots followed in major cities of Lithuania. In Kaunas, the Provisional Government of Lithuania was proclaimed, headed by Juozas Ambrazyavičius, which from the very beginning maintained close contacts with the Germans. However, after the arrival of the Nazis, the Provisional Government and its bodies were dissolved, and many leaders were arrested. Lithuania was included in the Reichskommissariat Ostland, within which it was granted some autonomy. The occupation administration (“trust council”) was headed by General Petras Kubilionas. From 1941 to 1944, Lithuania was occupied by Nazi Germany. In 1944, the Red Army defeated German troops, liberating the territory of the Lithuanian SSR.

After the restoration of Soviet power, over 300,000 residents of the Lithuanian SSR were subjected to both repression (exile and imprisonment in camps), and were convicted of war crimes and total genocide of the Jewish population, committed by them during the years of occupation as part of Lithuanian security battalions and special SS detachments. Armed resistance to the Soviet authorities continued until 1952, while in 1944-1952, 20,101 [source not specified 81 days] Lithuanian partisans were destroyed. During the same period, 9,267 civilians died at their hands. According to other estimates, between 1949, when the centralized Movement for the Freedom of Lithuania ("Lietuvos laisvės kovos sąjūdis") was created, and 1953, when mass armed resistance was broken, several thousand civilians were killed by partisans (more than 1000 children and 200 teachers), 615 state security workers, armed Soviet activists, fighters of extermination squads; Partisan losses amounted to 3,070 people. Isolated skirmishes occurred until 1957.

Under Soviet rule, the industrialization of the Lithuanian SSR was carried out, as well as the development and improvement of infrastructure, the strengthening of the material and technical base of agriculture (accompanied by the liquidation of farmsteads and “unpromising villages”), the development of culture and the education system. After the restoration of independence, the Soviet government blocked Lithuania's economic ties with the Soviet Republics, including the possibility of delivering energy, and most of the industrial enterprises created during the USSR found themselves in a very difficult economic situation, having lost production ties, and many of them were closed (as and in all Baltic countries).

On March 11, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania proclaimed the Act of Restoring the Independence of Lithuania. In February 1991, the restored independence of the Republic of Lithuania was recognized by Iceland, and in August 1991 by Russia and the international community.

In 2001, it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In 2003, an agreement was signed on Lithuania's accession to the European Union, which was confirmed by Lithuanian citizens in a referendum. On May 1, 2004, Lithuania joined the European Union.

Political system

Parliament

The Parliament of Lithuania is the unicameral Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (141 seats). The first parliamentary elections after the restoration of independence took place in 1992.

71 deputies are elected by a majoritarian system in single-member constituencies, 70 by a proportional list system with a 5 percent national barrier.

The term of parliamentary office is 4 years.

On the eve of the parliamentary elections, in the presence of President Adamkus, the leaders of the leading Lithuanian parties signed an agreement on the unchanged foreign policy of Lithuania in 2004-2008. The main points of the program: strengthening ties with the European Union and the United States, supporting democratic processes in the CIS countries and the Caucasus, striving for the chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010-2011, as well as membership in the UN Security Council in 2014-2015. According to the election results, the Labor Party (leader - Viktor Uspasskikh) received 39 seats, the Coalition of the Social Democratic Party (leader - Algirdas Brazauskas) and the Social Liberal Party "New Union" (leader - Arturas Paulauskas) - 31 seats (20 and 11, respectively) , Union of Fatherland (leader - Andrius Kubilius) - 25 seats, Liberal Centrist Union (leader - Arturas Zuokas) - 18 seats, Union of Peasants and New Democracy (leader - Kazimiera Prunskienė) - 10 seats, Bloc of representatives of the movement of supporters of ex-president Rolandas Paksas “For Order and Justice” - 11 seats, Electoral Action of Lithuanian Poles - 2 seats, independent candidates - 5 seats.

Lithuania's four-party coalition distributed government portfolios: the ruling coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the New Union received the post of prime minister and seven of 13 portfolios, as well as the post of speaker of the Seimas, the Labor Party (TP) and the Union of Peasants and New Democracy (SKND) ) — 6 briefcases. Representatives of the SDP headed the ministries of defense, communications, finance, environmental protection and education, and the New Union headed the ministries of foreign affairs and social security. The TP was in charge of the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, Health and Culture, and the SKND was in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Seimas approved the candidacy of Algirdas Brazauskas for the post of Prime Minister.

In 2005, Lithuania's Minister of Economy, Viktor Uspaskich, resigned and was fired by the Prime Minister after the Commission on Official Ethics found that the minister had violated the law on the reconciliation of public and private interests in the public service.

In 2006, parliament removed Paulauskas from the post of Chairman of the Seimas. Viktoras Muntianas was elected as the new chairman. The Social Liberals left the four-party coalition, which caused a reshuffle in the government.

The president

The President is the head of state and is elected by citizens of the Republic of Lithuania by secret ballot for a period of 5 years on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage. According to the Constitution, the President, together with the Government, implements foreign policy; with the approval of the Seimas, appoints and dismisses the Prime Minister, approves the composition of the Government; appoints judges; in the procedures and cases established by law, makes decisions on the introduction of martial law or a state of emergency, as well as on mobilization; bestows state awards; decides on pardoning convicts; signs and promulgates laws adopted by the Seimas or returns them to the Seimas in the manner prescribed by Article 71 of the Constitution.

The President of the Republic of Lithuania may be removed from office early by the Seimas in the event of a gross violation of the Constitution or oath, as well as in the event that a crime is revealed.

On May 17, 2009, presidential elections were held in Lithuania for the fifth time since the declaration of independence. For the first time in the history of the country, a woman won them - Dalia Grybauskaite, for whom 68.90% of voters voted.

Foreign policy

In June 2008, the Lithuanian parliament passed a law equalizing Nazi and Soviet symbols and prohibiting their public use at meetings: they “may be perceived as propaganda of the Nazi and communist occupation regimes.” The performance of the modern Russian anthem and the Victory Banner are also subject to Lithuanian law. It is prohibited to “display flags and coats of arms, signs and uniforms of Nazi Germany, the USSR, the Lithuanian SSR, as well as flags, banners, coats of arms, signs, uniforms, the components of which are the flags, coats of arms of Nazi Germany, the USSR and the Lithuanian SSR.” The use of “the Nazi swastika, the Soviet hammer and sickle, the Soviet five-pointed red star, as well as the playing of the anthems of Nazi Germany, the USSR and the Lithuanian SSR” is prohibited.

Administrative division

The territory of Lithuania is divided into 10 counties (lit. apskritis). The counties form the territories of self-governments (lit. savivaldybė) of 9 cities and 43 districts, as well as 8 newly formed self-governments. Local governments are divided into elders (often incorrectly called elders) (lit. seniūnija).

Counties of Lithuania

Alytus County
Vilnius County
Kaunas County
Klaipeda County
Marijampole County
Panevezys County
Taurage County
Telšiai County
Utena district
Siauliai County

Geographical data

The surface is flat with traces of ancient glaciation. The climate is transitional from marine to continental. The average temperature in winter is 4.9 ° C, in summer - 17 ° C. Precipitation is 748 mm per year. Fields and meadows occupy 57% of the territory, forests and shrubs - 30%, swamps - 3%, inland waters - 4%. The largest rivers are the Neman (Nemunas, lit. Nemunas) and Neris (lit. Neris). More than 3 thousand lakes (1.5% of the territory): the largest lake is Drukšiai (lit. Drūkšiai, Belarusian Drysvyaty) on the border of Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus (area 44.8 km²), the deepest is Tauragnas (lit. Tauragnas, 61 m), the longest is Asveja (lit. Asveja, length 30 km) near the town of Dubingiai. The highest point is Aukštojo kalnas hill in the south-eastern part of the country, 23.5 km from Vilnius (293.84 m above sea level). Minerals - peat, mineral materials.

Population of Lithuania

According to the 2001 census, Lithuanians make up 83.45% of the country's population, Poles - 6.74%, Russians - 6.31%, Belarusians - 1.23%. Religiously, 79% of the population are Catholics, 4.07% are Orthodox, 14.86% are non-believers. According to the Department of Statistics, in June 2005 the population of Lithuania was 3.414 million.

Jews in Lithuania

Jews have settled in Lithuania since the 14th century. In 1573, the Great Synagogue was built in Vilna, uniting all Jewish communities in Lithuania. The 18th century passed under the influence of the Vilna Gaon, when Vilna became the center of the spiritual and intellectual life of the Jews of Europe. By the beginning of the 20th century, Jews made up 40% of the population of Vilnius. The 1920s-1930s became the heyday of Jewish culture in Vilnius, then rightfully called “Northern Jerusalem” or “Lithuanian Jerusalem” - at this time the Jewish Academic Institute was opened (1925), 6 daily newspapers were published in Hebrew and Yiddish (1938 ).

However, the tragedy of the Holocaust claimed the lives of 95% of the pre-war Jewish population (200 thousand people, according to other sources 215-220 thousand) of Lithuania. By 1944, only 600 Jews remained in Vilnius. According to the 2001 census, there are 4,007 Jews in Lithuania, of which 2,769 are in Vilnius and 427 in Kaunas.

Language situation

The main national language of Lithuania is Lithuanian, one of the Baltic languages, native to 80% of the Lithuanian population (about 2.9 million people). Since May 1, 2004, Lithuanian has been declared one of the official languages ​​of the European Union. Most of the Slavic (Russians, Belarusians and Poles) and other non-Lithuanian populations (especially people under 60) speak Lithuanian to varying degrees. The second most common native language is Russian.

Speakers of the Old Russian language have long lived and numerically dominated the Slavic lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Subsequently, Russian-speaking residents appeared in some numbers on ethnically Lithuanian lands as a result of the emigration of Old Believers, then after the inclusion of Lithuania into the Russian Empire (1795).

Earlier, in the 16th-17th centuries, the Polish language as the language of the Catholic Church and the social elite took a dominant position and became widespread in cities, towns, and noble estates. In addition, significant groups of Poles settled in Lithuania, especially in the vicinity of Vilnius, assimilating part of the local population. At this time, the Polish language became dominant in Eastern Europe and Lithuania, then in the 19th century and to the present day it gives way to Russian.

In the 19th century, Russian tsarism pursued an assimilationist policy towards the Lithuanians. In 1864, it was prohibited to use the Latin alphabet in print, but book publishing in the Latin alphabet continued to be carried out by Lithuanians in neighboring Prussia.

During Soviet times, the Polish language finally lost its functions of interethnic communication, although it continued to exist as the main language of a fairly large Polish community (7% of the country's population). The Russian language became widespread as a means of interethnic communication, especially in large cities, but unlike other republics of the USSR (for example, Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan), the position of the Lithuanian language in society remained quite strong and without knowledge of it it was difficult to move up the career ladder. Russian was the native language of 10% of the country's population; it was also used by immigrants from other republics of the USSR.

After a significant decline in interest in the Russian language, it is again becoming popular in modern Lithuania. Interest in the Polish language in Lithuania, on the contrary, jumped in the early 1990s, but then subsided somewhat and remains at a stable level, supported by the proximity of Poland and the membership of both countries in the European Union.

In Lithuania, unlike other Baltic countries, there is a fairly democratic attitude towards the Polish and Russian languages. In the country, especially in places where these minorities live densely, there is a network of schools teaching in Russian and Polish, a school teaching in Belarusian, as well as classes teaching in Russian and Polish in Lithuanian and mixed (Lithuanian-Russian, Lithuanian- Polish, Russian-Polish, Lithuanian-Russian-Polish) schools. According to data at the beginning of the 2000/2001 academic year, 40,978 students studied in Russian (7.1% of the total number of students in the country), 2002/2003 - 33,827 (6.0%), 2003/2004 - 30,606 (5 ,5 %); in Polish, respectively, 21,940 (3.8%), 21,314 (3.7%), 20,549 (3.7%), in Belarusian - 207, 175 and 159 people.. In the 2004/2005 academic year, 54 22,880 people studied in schools teaching in Russian, in 2007/2008 - in 41 Russian-language schools - 15,978 students; in 64 schools with Polish as the language of instruction in the 2004/2005 academic year, the number of students was 13,231 people; in 2007/2008, 11,338 students studied in 62 Polish-language schools; in the only Belarusian-language school, 138 and 134 people, respectively.

The number of students in Polish-language schools decreased after the Second World War and by 1988 reached its lowest level of 9,995 students (2.0% of the total number of students in the republic), then grew rapidly, annually by 700-1000 people (1990 - 11,407; 2.3%; 1991 - 12,611; 1992 - 13,881; 2.8%) and in 2000 it was 22,303 people (3.8%). The decrease in students in Polish schools in subsequent years (2001 - 21,710; 2002 - 21,232) is explained by the general demographic decline in the country.

Despite a significant decline in enrollment in Russian schools, Russian remains the most popular foreign language in Lithuanian and Polish schools. According to 2006 data, 73% of students in this category chose to study Russian, but only as a second foreign language. After a strong decline in the early 1990s, the number of Russian students has risen and stabilized at a fairly high level.

Polish is somewhat widespread in Vilnius County (about 27% of the county's population considers it their native language).

Economy of Lithuania

Advantages: successfully transitioned to a stable market economy. Low inflation (1.2%). The national currency litas is pegged to the euro.

Weaknesses: agriculture went bankrupt after the dissolution of collective farms. Poor raw material base. Growing balance of services deficit.