Lithuania

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For millennia, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, Lithuanian lands were united for the first time by Mindaugas, who formed the Kingdom of Lithuania on 6 July 1253. Subsequent expansion and consolidation resulted in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which by the 14th century was the largest country in Europe. In 1386, the grand duchy entered into a de facto personal union with the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.

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Etymology

The spelling of Lithuania was a later addition to the original Latinate Lituania since 1800 as a form of hyperforeignism influenced by Greek loanwords with the theta; it is ultimately from Lithuanian: Lietuva. The first known record of Lietuva is in a 1009 story of Saint Bruno in the Annals of Quedlinburg. The chronicle records Latinized form of the name Lietuva: Litua. The true meaning of the name is unknown, and scholars still debate it. There are a few plausible versions.

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History

The history of Lithuania dates back to settlements founded about 10,000 years ago. The first people settled in the territory of Lithuania after the Last Glacial Period in the 10th millennium BC: Kunda, Neman and Narva cultures. They were traveling hunters. In the 8th millennium BC the climate became warmer and forests developed. The inhabitants of what is now Lithuania travelled less and engaged in local hunting, gathering and fresh-water fishing. The Indo-Europeans, who arrived in the 3rd – 2nd millennium BC, mixed with the local population and formed various Baltic tribes.

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Geography

Lithuania is located in the Baltic region of Europe and covers an area of 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi). It lies between latitudes 53° and 57° N, and mostly between longitudes 21° and 27° E (part of the Curonian Spit lies west of 21°). It has around 99 kilometres (61.5 mi) of sandy coastline, with around 38 kilometres (24 mi) facing the open Baltic Sea. The rest of the coast is sheltered by the Curonian sand peninsula. The warm-water port at Klaipėda lies at the narrow mouth of the Curonian Lagoon (Lithuanian: Kuršių marios), a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad.

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Government and politics

Since Lithuania declared the restoration of its independence on 11 March 1990, it has maintained strong democratic traditions. It held its first independent general elections on 25 October 1992, in which 56.75% of voters supported the new constitution. There were intense debates concerning the constitution, particularly the role of the president. A separate referendum was held on 23 May 1992 to gauge public opinion on the matter, and 41% of voters supported the restoration of the President of Lithuania. Through compromise, a semi-presidential system was agreed on.

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Economy

Lithuania has an open and mixed economy that is classified as a high-income economy by the World Bank. As of 2017 the three largest sectors were services (63% of GDP), industry (24%) and agriculture (3%). On 1 January 2015, the euro became the national currency, replacing litas, which had been in circulation since 1993.

Mineral products comprised the largest share of exports (14%) in 2024; other major sectors include machinery and appliances, electrical equipment (14%), chemical products (11%), food, beverages and tobacco products (9%). The largest markets for exports were Latvia (12%), Poland (10%), and Germany (9%). Exports equaled 88% of GDP in 2022.

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Communication

Lithuania has a well developed communications infrastructure. The country has 2.8 million citizens and 5 million SIM cards. The largest LTE (4G) mobile network covers 97% of Lithuania's territory. Usage of fixed phone lines has been rapidly decreasing due to rapid expansion of mobile-cellular services. In 2017, Lithuania was top 30 in the world by average mobile broadband speeds and top 20 by average fixed broadband speeds.

Lithuania was also top 7 in 2017 in the List of countries by 4G LTE penetration. In 2016, Lithuania was ranked 17th in United Nations' e-participation index. There are four TIER III datacenters in Lithuania.

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Infrastructure

Rail transport consists of 1,762 km (1,095 mi) of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11.8 in) Russian gauge railway, of which 122 km (76 mi) are electrified, and 115 km (71 mi) of European standard gauge lines starting at the Lithuania–Poland border. Lithuania received its first railway connection in the middle of the 19th century, when the Saint Petersburg–Warsaw railway was constructed. It included a stretch from Daugavpils via Vilnius and Kaunas to Virbalis. The first and only still operating Kaunas tunnel was completed in 1860. The Rail Baltica railway will link Kaunas to Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and Germany.

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Demographics

Since the Neolithic period, the demographics of Lithuania have stayed fairly homogeneous. There is a high probability that the inhabitants of present-day Lithuania have similar genetic compositions to their ancestors, although without being actually isolated from them. The population has little apparent genetic differences among ethnic subgroups. A 2004 analysis of MtDNA revealed that Lithuanians are genetically close to the Slavic and Finno-Ugric speaking populations of northern and eastern Europe. Y-chromosome SNP haplogroup analysis showed Lithuanians to be genetically closest to Latvians and Estonians.

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