LITHUANIA PREFACE What a tiny drop of amber is my country, a transparent golden crystal by the sea. -S. Neris Lithuania, a small and beautiful country on the coast of the Baltic Sea, has often inspired artists. From poets to amber jewelers, painters to musicians, and composers to basketball champions — Lithuania has them all. Ancient legends and modern ideas coexist in this green and vibrant land. Lithuania is strategically located as the eastern boundary of the European Union with the Commonwealth of Independent States. It sits astride both sea and land routes connecting North to South and East to West. The uniqueness of its location is revealed in the variety of architecture, history, art, folk tales, local crafts, and even the restaurants of the capital city, Vilnius. Lithuania was the last European country to embrace Roman Catholicism and has one of the oldest living languages on earth. Foreign and local investment is modernizing the face of the country, but the diverse cultural life still includes folk song festivals, outdoor markets, and mid- summer celebrations as well as opera, ballet and drama. This blend of traditional with a strong desire to become part of the new community of nations in Europe makes Lithuania a truly vibrant and exciting place to live. Occasionally contradictory, Lithuania is always interesting. You will sense the history around you and see history in the making as you enjoy a stay in this unique and unforgettable country. AREA, GEOGRAPHY, AND CLIMATE Lithuania, covering an area of 26,173 square miles, is the largest of the three Baltic States, slightly larger than West Virginia. The country lies on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea at approximately the same latitude as Denmark and Scotland. Lithuania's neighbors are Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, and Poland and the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation to the south and southwest. After a re-estimation of the boundaries of the continent of Europe in 1989, the Institut Géographique National (French National Geographic Institute) determined that the Geographic Centre of Europe is located at 54°54 ′N25°19 ′E. Institute have discovered that the geographical centre of Europe is situated just 25 kilometres north of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania more info at http://www.balticservers.com/lithuania-centre-of-Europe A country known for its agrarian and wooded beauty, Lithuania is characterized by flat plains and rolling hills. The highest hill, Juozapine, is only 964 feet above sea level . Roughly one-fourth of the territory is covered by woodlands, consisting mainly of pine, spruce, and birch. One of the oldest oak trees in Europe, found in eastern Lithuania, is said to be about 1,500 years old. The forests are home to a variety of animals including elk, foxes, and wild boar; hunting is a popular pastime. Lithuanians especially enjoy mushroom collecting and berry picking. More than 700 rivers and creeks crisscross Lithuania. The largest river, the Nemunas, was once a strategically important shipping route through Lithuania. Its banks are dotted with castles and fortresses. There are numerous lakes, especially in eastern Lithuania, where the Aukstatija National Park is located. Three other National parks are located in Dzukija, Zemaitija and Suvalkija . Lithuania's climate is moderate. Summer brings average temperatures of 65°F and plentiful rain. July is the warmest month. Summer days are long, with only a few hours of darkness. Winters tend to be cold, damp, and overcast. Temperatures average about 30°F, and days are short. Average annual precipitation amounts to about 26 inches. POPULATION The Republic of Lithuania is home to 3,200,000 people. Approximately 83.7% are ethnically Lithuanian; 6.6 % Polish; 5.3% Russian or Russian-speaking; 1.3% Belarusian; and the remaining are Ukrainians, Latvians, Germans, Jews and other nationalities. The capital, Vilnius, with 541,000 inhabitants, has an international flavor: 63,2% are Lithuanians, 16,5% are Poles, and 12% are Russians. It isbelieved that the name of Vilniusoriginated from the River Vilnel÷, which had an original name Vilnia. Other major cities are Kaunas, the interwar capital (362,000 inhabitants), the port city of Klaipeda (193,000), Siauliai (129,000), and Panevezys (116,000). Sixty-eight percent of the population lives in cities and towns. PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS On the leading edge of the processes that led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Lithuania today faces great challenges as it builds a democratic state and struggles to rid itself of the legacy of 50 years of Soviet domination. The United States never recognized Lithuania's forced incorporation into the USSR and maintained continuous ties with representatives of the interwar government in exile. The United States resumed diplomatic relations with an in- country government in September 1991. In the late 1980s, Gorbachev's policy of “perestroika” allowed the deeply hidden aspirations of the Lithuanian nation to surface. “Sajudis,” a movement that began in support of perestroika, quickly snowballed into a full-fledged drive for independence. Despite warnings and threats from the Kremlin, Lithuanians, led by a distinguished musicologist, Vytautas Landsbergis, reclaimed their independence when the new, democratically elected Supreme Council voted on March 11, 1990, to reestablish the Lithuanian Republic. The country persevered in its independence movement despite an economic blockade imposed by Moscow and Soviet Army operations that left 23 dead in 1991. The collapse of the Moscow coup in August 1991 led to international, including Russian, recognition of Lithuania's independence. Lithuania's struggle to transform itself into a free-market democracy has been difficult but successful. As in other central and Eastern European countries, the society was buffeted by economic dislocation, weak markets, a crumbling infrastructure, a bloated public sector, and a shallow understanding of working democracy. Accession to NATO and the European Union in 2004 cemented Lithuania's commitment to democracy and market economics, two values it now works to export to other former Soviet states. HISTORY (15 TH CENTURY – 1990) Lithuanians have a long historical memory. They recall the glorious medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which reached its zenith under the rule of Grand Duke Vytautas the Great. It was he and Jagiello (Jogaila in Lithuanian), King of Poland, who led the joint Polish-Lithuanian troops to victory against the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Tannenberg/Gruenwald (Zalgiris, in Lithuanian) in 1410 and stopped the medieval German drive eastward. Under Vytautas, the territory of the Grand Duchy extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea. After Vytautas's death, the political importance of the Grand Duchy slowly declined. In 1569, to counter the growing strength of the Russian state, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy were formally united in a Commonwealth. The head of that union was elected King by the nobility. Following a series of partitions in the 18th century, this Commonwealth was wiped off the European map in 1795 as Russia, Austria, and Prussia partitioned its lands. Most of Lithuania fell under Russian rule, while a smaller portion near the Baltic coast was appropriated by Prussia. For the next 123 years, Lithuania experienced intense repression and Russification. Vilnius University was closed (1832), and the Latin alphabet was banned (1864). But as repression increased, so did the determination of a growing Lithuanian intelligentsia to retain Lithuanian culture, language, and traditions. Taking advantage of the political turmoil in Russia near the end of the First World War, Lithuania declared independence on February 16, 1918. Wars to affirm this independence were fought against the Red Army, the Polish Army, and combined German-Russian mercenary forces, which plundered broad areas in the Baltic States. Polish occupation of the Vilnius region in 1920 was a breach of the Treaty of Suwalki with Poland, which confirmed Lithuanian rights to Vilnius. This step hopelessly strained Polish-Lithuanian relations between the wars. It rendered cooperation in the face of greater menaces in 1939 impossible. During the interwar years of independence, Kaunas became the provisional capital. Lithuania reached a living standard equal to that of Denmark and had one of the most stable currencies in the world. Lithuanian independence was to be short-lived. The secret Molotov-Von Ribbentrop protocols between Germany and the USSR. led to Soviet occupation in June 1940. During this first occupation, large-scale repression took place, and about 40,000 people were exiled to Siberia. When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the Lithuanians attempted to reestablish an independent republic by revolting against the Soviets. In the face of the German Occupation, this effort failed. Under Nazi control, more than 200,000 Jews were murdered (95% of the Jewish population of Lithuania), the highest proportion in Europe. This genocide wiped out a major center of Jewish culture and learning that had thrived in Vilnius (once known as the “Jerusalem of the North”) since the Middle Ages. Tens of thousands of Lithuanians were deported to the Reich for manual labor. Soviet troops and terror returned in 1944. Another 250,000 Lithuanians were deported to the Siberian Gulag. Over 100,000 lives were lost in a guerrilla war against the Soviets that lasted until 1953. Virtually no family was left untouched by the horrors of the Second World War and the Soviet Occupation. Lithuania spent the next 45 years as a Soviet Republic. The Soviets restored lands occupied by Poland and Germany in the interwar and wartime years. Lithuanian exiles in the West, especially the United States, kept the flame of an independent nation alive, along with Lithuania's culture and traditions. The Lithuanian diplomatic service continued to function in countries (including the United States) that refused to recognize Lithuania's incorporation into the USSR.