![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Lithuania-in-Europe-300x252.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas<\/a> and the Kingdom of Lithuania<\/a> was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. With the Lublin Union of 1569<\/a>, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state personal union, the Polish\u2013Lithuanian Commonwealth<\/a>. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795<\/a>, with the Russian Empire<\/a> annexing most of Lithuania’s territory.<\/p>\n As World War I<\/a> neared its end, Lithuania’s Act of Independence<\/a> was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. During the Second World War<\/a>, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union<\/a> and then by Nazi Germany<\/a>. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania<\/a>. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to proclaim its independence<\/a>, resulting in the restoration of the independent State of Lithuania.<\/p>\n Lithuania is a developed country with an advanced, high-income economy, a very high Human Development Index, a very high standard of living and performs favorably in measurements of civil liberties, press freedom, internet freedom, democratic governance and peacefulness. Lithuania is a member of the European Union<\/a>, the Council of Europe<\/a>, eurozone<\/a>, Schengen Agreement, NATO<\/a> and OECD. It is also a member of the Nordic Investment Bank<\/a>, part of Nordic-Baltic cooperation<\/a> of Northern European countries, and is classified as a Northern European country by the United Nations<\/a>.<\/p>\n The first people settled in the territory of Lithuania after the last glacial period in the 10th millennium BC: Kunda<\/a>, Neman<\/a> and Narva cultures. They were traveling hunters and did not form stable settlements. In the 8th millennium BC, the climate became much warmer, and forests developed. The inhabitants of what is now Lithuania then travelled less and engaged in local hunting, gathering and fresh-water fishing. Agriculture did not emerge until the 3rd millennium BC due to a harsh climate and terrain and a lack of suitable tools to cultivate the land. Crafts and trade also started to form at this time. Over a millennium, the Indo-Europeans, who arrived in the 3rd \u2013 2nd millennium BC, mixed with the local population and formed various Baltic tribes.<\/p>\n The Baltic tribes did not maintain close cultural or political contacts with the Roman Empire<\/a>, but they did maintain trade contacts. Tacitus<\/a>, in his study Germania<\/a>, described the Aesti<\/a> people, inhabitants of the south-eastern Baltic Sea shores who were probably Balts, around the year 97 AD. The Western Balts differentiated and became known to outside chroniclers first. Ptolemy<\/a> in the 2nd century AD knew of the Galindians<\/a> and Yotvingians<\/a>, and early medieval chroniclers mentioned Old Prussians<\/a>, Curonians<\/a> and Semigallians<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Lithuanian language is considered to be very conservative for its close connection to Indo-European roots. It is believed to have differentiated from the Latvian language, the most closely related existing language, around the 7th century. Traditional Lithuanian pagan customs and mythology<\/a>, with many archaic elements, were long preserved. Rulers’ bodies were cremated up until the conversion to Christianity: the descriptions of the cremation ceremonies of the grand dukes Algirdas<\/a> and K\u0119stutis<\/a> have survived.<\/p>\n From the 9th to the 11th centuries, coastal Balts were subjected to raids by the Vikings<\/a>, and the kings of Denmark collected tribute at times. During the 10\u201311th centuries, Lithuanian territories were among the lands paying tribute to Kievan Rus’<\/a>, and Yaroslav the Wise<\/a> was among the Ruthenian<\/a> rulers who invaded Lithuania (from 1040). From the mid-12th century, it was the Lithuanians who were invading Ruthenian territories. In 1183, Polotsk<\/a> and Pskov<\/a> were ravaged, and even the distant and powerful Novgorod Republic<\/a> was repeatedly threatened by the excursions from the emerging Lithuanian war machine toward the end of the 12th century.<\/p>\n Initially inhabited by fragmented Baltic tribes, in the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, who was crowned as King of Lithuania<\/a> on 6 July 1253. After his assassination in 1263, pagan Lithuania was a target of the Christian crusades<\/a> of the Teutonic Knights<\/a> and the Livonian Order<\/a>. Siege of Pil\u0117nai<\/a> is noted for the Lithuanians’ defense against the intruders. Despite the devastating century-long struggle with the Orders, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded rapidly, overtaking former Ruthenian principalities of Kievan Rus’.<\/p>\n On 22 September 1236, the Battle of Saul\u0117<\/a> between Samogitians<\/a> and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword<\/a> took place close to \u0160iauliai<\/a>. The Livonian Brothers were defeated during it and their further conquest of the Balts lands were stopped. The battle inspired rebellions among the Curonians, Semigallians, Selonians, Oeselians<\/a>, tribes previously conquered by the Sword-Brothers. Some thirty years’ worth of conquests on the left bank of Daugava<\/a> were lost. In 2000, the Lithuanian and Latvian parliaments declared 22 September to be the Day of Baltic Unity.<\/p>\n By the end of the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and included present-day Belarus, Ukraine<\/a>, and parts of Poland and Russia. The geopolitical situation between the west and the east determined the multicultural and multi-confessional character of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The ruling elite practiced religious tolerance and Chancery Slavonic language<\/a> was used as an auxiliary language to the Latin for official documents.<\/p>\n In 1385, the Grand Duke Jogaila<\/a> accepted Poland’s offer to become its king. Jogaila embarked on gradual Christianization of Lithuania<\/a> and established a personal union between Poland and Lithuania. Lithuania was one of the last pagan areas of Europe to adopt Christianity.<\/p>\n After two civil wars, Vytautas the Great<\/a> became the Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1392. During his reign, Lithuania reached the peak of its territorial expansion, centralization of the state began, and the Lithuanian nobility became increasingly prominent in state politics. In the great Battle of the Vorskla River<\/a> in 1399, the combined forces of Tokhtamysh<\/a> and Vytautas were defeated by the Mongols<\/a>. Thanks to close cooperation, the armies of Lithuania and Poland achieved a victory over the Teutonic Knights in 1410 at the Battle of Grunwald<\/a>, one of the largest battles of medieval Europe.<\/p>\n In January 1429, at the Congress of Lutsk<\/a> Vytautas received the title of King of Lithuania with the backing of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor<\/a>, but the envoys who were transporting the crown were stopped by Polish magnates in autumn of 1430. Another crown was sent, but Vytautas died in the Trakai Island Castle<\/a> several days before it reached Lithuania. He was buried in the Cathedral of Vilnius.<\/a><\/p>\n After the deaths of Jogaila and Vytautas, the Lithuanian nobility attempted to break the union between Poland and Lithuania, independently selecting Grand Dukes from the Jagiellon dynasty<\/a>. But, at the end of the 15th century, Lithuania was forced to seek a closer alliance with Poland when the growing power of the Grand Duchy of Moscow threatened Lithuania’s Russian principalities and sparked the Muscovite\u2013Lithuanian Wars<\/a> and the Livonian War<\/a>.<\/p>\n On 8 September 1514, Battle of Orsha<\/a> between Lithuanians, commanded by the Grand Hetman<\/a> Konstanty Ostrogski<\/a>, and Muscovites was fought. According to Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii<\/a> by Sigismund von Herberstein<\/a>, the primary source for information on the battle, the much smaller army of Poland\u2013Lithuania (under 30,000 men) defeated a force of 80,000 Muscovite soldiers, capturing their camp and commander. The battle destroyed a military alliance against Lithuania and Poland. Thousands of Muscovites were captured as prisoners and used as laborers in the Lithuanian manors, while Konstanty Ostrogski delivered the captured Muscovite flags to the Cathedral of Vilnius.<\/p>\n The Livonian War was ceased for ten years with a Truce of Yam-Zapolsky<\/a> signed on 15 January 1582 according to which the already Polish\u2013Lithuanian Commonwealth recovered Livonia<\/a>, Polotsk and Velizh<\/a>, but transferred Velikiye Luki<\/a> to the Tsardom of Russia<\/a>. The truce was extended for twenty years in 1600, when a diplomatic mission to Moscow led by Lew Sapieha<\/a> concluded negotiations with Tsar Boris Godunov<\/a>. The truce was broken when the Poles invaded Muscovy<\/a> in 1605.<\/p>\n The Polish\u2013Lithuanian Commonwealth<\/a> was created in 1569 by the Union of Lublin. As a member of the Commonwealth, Lithuania retained its institutions, including a separate army, currency, and statutory laws \u2013 the Statute of Lithuania<\/a>. Eventually Polonization affected all aspects of Lithuanian life: politics, language, culture, and national identity. From the mid-16th to the mid-17th centuries, culture, arts, and education flourished, fueled by the Renaissance<\/a> and the Protestant Reformation<\/a>. From 1573, the Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania were elected by the nobility, who were granted ever increasing Golden Liberties<\/a>. These liberties, especially the liberum veto<\/a>, led to anarchy and the eventual dissolution of the state.<\/p>\n The Commonwealth reached its Golden Age<\/a> in the early 17th century. Its powerful parliament was dominated by nobles who were reluctant to get involved in the Thirty Years’ War<\/a>; this neutrality spared the country from the ravages of a political-religious conflict that devastated most of contemporary Europe. The Commonwealth held its own against Sweden, the Tsardom of Russia, and vassals of the Ottoman Empire, and even launched successful expansionist offensives against its neighbors. In several invasions during the Time of Troubles<\/a>, Commonwealth troops entered Russia and managed to take Moscow and hold it from 27 September 1610 to 4 November 1612, when they were driven out after a siege<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 1655, after the extinguishing battle, for the first time in history the Lithuanian capital Vilnius was taken by a foreign army<\/a>. The Russian army looted the city, splendid churches, and manors. Between 8,000 and 10,000 citizens were killed; the city burned for 17 days. Those who returned after the catastrophe could not recognize the city. The Russian occupation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lasted up to 1661. Many artefacts and cultural heritage were either lost or looted, significant parts of the state archive \u2013 Lithuanian Metrica<\/a>, collected since the 13th century, were lost and the rest was moved out of the country. During the Northern Wars<\/a> (1655\u20131661), the Lithuanian territory and economy were devastated by the Swedish army. Almost all territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was occupied by Swedish and Russian armies. This period is known as Tvanas (The Deluge)<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before it could fully recover, Lithuania was ravaged during the Great Northern War (1700\u20131721)<\/a>. The war, a plague, and a famine caused the deaths of approximately 40% of the country’s population. Foreign powers, especially Russia, became dominant in the domestic politics of the Commonwealth. Numerous fractions among the nobility used the Golden Liberties to prevent any reforms.<\/p>\n Eventually, the Commonwealth was partitioned in 1772, 1792, and 1795<\/a> by the Russian Empire, Prussia<\/a>, and the Habsburg Monarchy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The largest area of Lithuanian territory became part of the Russian Empire. After the unsuccessful uprisings in 1831 <\/a>and 1863<\/a>, the Tsarist authorities implemented a number of Russification policies. In 1840 the Third Statute of Lithuania<\/a> was abolished. They banned the Lithuanian press, closed cultural and educational institutions and made Lithuania part of a new administrative region called Northwestern Krai<\/a>. The Russification failed owing to an extensive network of Lithuanian book smugglers and secret Lithuanian home schooling.<\/p>\n After the Russo-Turkish War (1877\u20131878)<\/a>, when German diplomats assigned what were seen as Russian spoils of war to Turkey, the relationship between Russia and the German Empire became complicated. The Russian Empire resumed the construction of fortresses at its western borders for defense against a potential invasion from Germany in the West. On 7 July 1879 the Russian Emperor Alexander II<\/a> approved a proposal from the Russian military leadership to build the largest “first-class” defensive structure in the entire state \u2013 the 65 km2 (25 sq mi) Kaunas Fortress<\/a>. Large numbers of Lithuanians went to the United States in 1867\u20131868 after a famine.<\/p>\n As a result of the Great Retreat<\/a> during World War I, Germany occupied the entire territory of Lithuania and Courland<\/a> by the end of 1915. A new administrative entity, Ober Ost<\/a>, was established. Lithuanians lost all political rights they had gained: personal freedom was restricted, and at the beginning, the Lithuanian press was banned. However, the Lithuanian intelligentsia tried to take advantage of the existing geopolitical situation and began to look for opportunities to restore Lithuania’s independence. On 18\u201322 September 1917, the Vilnius Conference<\/a> elected the 20-member Council of Lithuania<\/a>. The council adopted the Act of Independence of Lithuania on 16 February 1918 which proclaimed the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania governed by democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital. The state of Lithuania which had been built within the framework of the Act lasted from 1918 until 1940.<\/p>\n Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918, the first Provisional Constitution of Lithuania was adopted and the first government of Prime Minister Augustinas Voldemaras<\/a> was organized. At the same time, the army and other state institutions began to be organized. Lithuania fought three wars of independence<\/a>: against the Bolsheviks<\/a> who proclaimed the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic<\/a>, against the Bermontians<\/a>, and against Poland<\/a>. As a result of the staged \u017beligowski’s Mutiny<\/a> in October 1920, Poland took control of Vilnius Region and annexed it as Wilno Voivodeship in 1922<\/a>. Lithuania continued to claim Vilnius as its de jure capital (the de facto, provisional capital being Kaunas) and relations with Poland remained particularly tense and hostile for the entire interwar period. In January 1923, Lithuania staged the Klaip\u0117da Revolt<\/a> and captured Klaip\u0117da Region<\/a> (Memel territory) which was detached from East Prussia<\/a> by the Treaty of Versailles<\/a>. The region became an autonomous region of Lithuania.<\/p>\n On 15 May 1920, the first meeting of the democratically elected constituent assembly took place. The documents it adopted, i. e. the temporary (1920) and permanent (1922) constitutions of Lithuania, strove to regulate the life of the new state. Land, finance, and educational reforms started to be implemented. The currency of Lithuania, the Lithuanian litas, was introduced. The University of Lithuania<\/a> was opened. All major public institutions had been established. As Lithuania began to gain stability, foreign countries started to recognize it. In 1921 Lithuania was admitted to the League of Nations<\/a>.<\/p>\n On 17 December 1926, a military coup d’\u00e9tat<\/a> took place, resulting in the replacement of the democratically elected government with a conservative authoritarian government led by Antanas Smetona. Augustinas Voldemaras was appointed to form a government. The so-called authoritarian phase had begun strengthening the influence of one party, the Lithuanian Nationalist Union, in the country. In 1927, the Seimas was dissolved. A new constitution was adopted in 1928, which consolidated presidential powers. Gradually, opposition parties were banned, censorship was tightened, and the rights of national minorities were narrowed.<\/p>\n On 20 March 1939, after years of rising tensions, Lithuania was handed an ultimatum by Nazi Germany demanding it relinquish the Klaip\u0117da Region. Two days later, the Lithuanian government accepted the ultimatum. When Nazi Germany and Soviet Union concluded the Molotov\u2013Ribbentrop Pact<\/a>, Lithuania was initially assigned to the German sphere of influence but was later transferred to the Soviet sphere. At the outbreak of World War II, Lithuania declared neutrality.<\/p>\n In October 1939, Lithuania was forced to sign the Soviet\u2013Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty<\/a>: five Soviet military bases with 20,000 troops were established in Lithuania in exchange for Vilnius, which the Soviets had captured from Poland. Delayed by the Winter War<\/a> with Finland, the Soviets issued an ultimatum<\/a> to Lithuania on 14 June 1940. They demanded the replacement of the Lithuanian government and that the Red Army be allowed into the country. The government decided that, with Soviet bases already in Lithuania, armed resistance was impossible and accepted the ultimatum. President Smetona left the country, hoping to form a government in exile, while more than 200,000 Soviet Red Army soldiers crossed the Belarus\u2013Lithuania border<\/a>. The next day, identical ultimatums were presented to Latvia and Estonia. The Baltic states were occupied. The Soviets followed semi-constitutional procedures for transforming the independent countries into soviet republics and incorporating them into the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, Lithuanians began the anti-Soviet June Uprising<\/a>, organized by the Lithuanian Activist Front<\/a>. Lithuanians proclaimed independence and organized the Provisional Government of Lithuania<\/a>. This government quickly self-disbanded. Lithuania became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland<\/a>, German civil administration.<\/p>\n By 1 December 1941, over 120,000 Lithuanian Jews, or 91\u201395% of Lithuania’s pre-war Jewish community, had been killed. Nearly 100,000 Jews, Poles, Russians and Lithuanians were murdered at Paneriai<\/a>. However, thousands of Lithuanian families risking their lives also protected Jews from the Holocaust. Israel has recognized 893 Lithuanians (as of 1 January 2018) as Righteous Among the Nations<\/a> for risking their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.<\/p>\n After the retreat of the German armed forces, the Soviets reestablished their control of Lithuania in July\u2013October 1944. The massive deportations to Siberia were resumed and lasted until the death of Stalin in 1953. Antanas Snie\u010dkus<\/a>, the leader of the Communist Party of Lithuania from 1940 to 1974, supervised the arrests and deportations. All Lithuanian national symbols were banned. Under the pretext of Lithuania’s economic recovery, the Moscow authorities encouraged the migration of workers and other specialists to Lithuania with the intention to further integrate Lithuania into the Soviet Union and to develop the country’s industry. At the same time, Lithuanians were lured to work in the USSR by promising them all the privileges of settling in a new place.<\/p>\n The second Soviet occupation was accompanied by the guerrilla warfare of the Lithuanian population, which took place in 1944\u20131953. It sought to restore an independent state of Lithuania, to consolidate democracy by destroying communism in the country, returning national values and the freedom of religion. About 50,000 Lithuanians took to the forests and fought Soviet occupants with a gun in their hands. In the later stages of the partisan war, Lithuanians formed the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters<\/a> and its leader Jonas \u017demaitis<\/a> (codename Vytautas) was posthumously recognized as the president of Lithuania. Despite the fact that the guerrilla warfare did not achieve its goal of liberating Lithuania and that it resulted in more than 20,000 deaths, the armed resistance de facto demonstrated that Lithuania did not voluntarily join the USSR and it also legitimized the will of the people of Lithuania to be independent. Lithuanian courts and the ECHR<\/a> both treat the Soviets’ annihilation of the Lithuanian partisans as a genocide.<\/p>\n The Helsinki Group<\/a>, which was founded in Lithuania after the international conference in Helsinki (Finland), where the post-WWII borders were acknowledged, announced a declaration for Lithuania’s independence on foreign radio station. The Helsinki Group informed the Western world about the situation in the Soviet Lithuania and violations of human rights. With the beginning of the increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities (glasnost) in the Soviet Union, on 3 June 1988, the S\u0105j\u016bdis<\/a> was established in Lithuania. Very soon it began to seek country’s independence. Vytautas Landsbergis<\/a> became movement’s leader.<\/p>\n The supporters of S\u0105j\u016bdis joined movement’s groups all over Lithuania. On 23 August 1988 a big rally took place at the Vingis Park<\/a> in Vilnius. It was attended by approx. 250,000 people. A year later, on 23 August 1989 commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and aiming to draw the attention of the whole world to the occupation of the Baltic states, a political demonstration, the Baltic Way<\/a>, was organized. The event, led by S\u0105j\u016bdis, was a human chain spanning 600 kilometres (370 mi) across Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, indicating the desire of the people of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to break away from the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council announced the restoration of Lithuania’s independence. Lithuania became the first Soviet occupied state to announce restitution of independence. On 20 April 1990, the Soviets imposed an economic blockade by ceasing to deliver supplies of raw materials (primarily oil) to Lithuania. Not only the domestic industry, but also the population started feeling the lack of fuel, essential goods, and even hot water. Although the blockade lasted for 74 days, Lithuania did not renounce the declaration of independence.<\/p>\n Gradually, economic relations had been restored. However, tensions had peaked again in January 1991. At that time, attempts were made to carry out a coup using the Soviet Armed Forces, the Internal Army of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the USSR Committee for State Security (KGB). Because of the poor economic situation in Lithuania, the forces in Moscow thought the coup d’\u00e9tat would receive strong public support.<\/p>\n People from all over Lithuania flooded to Vilnius to defend their legitimately elected Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania and independence. The coup ended with a few casualties of peaceful civilians and caused huge material loss. Not a single person who defended Lithuanian Parliament or other state institutions used a weapon, but the Soviet Army did. Soviet soldiers killed 14 people and injured hundreds.<\/p>\n A large part of the Lithuanian population participated in the January Events<\/a>. Shortly after, on 11 February 1991, the Icelandic parliament voted to confirm that Iceland’s 1922 recognition of Lithuanian independence was still in full effect, as it never formally recognized the Soviet Union’s control over Lithuania, and that full diplomatic relations should be established as soon as possible.<\/p>\n On 31 July 1991, Soviet paramilitaries killed seven Lithuanian border guards on the Belarusian border in what became known as the Medininkai Massacre<\/a>. On 17 September 1991, Lithuania was admitted to the United Nations.<\/p>\n On 25 October 1992 the citizens of Lithuania voted in a referendum to adopt the current constitution. On 14 February 1993, during the direct general elections, Algirdas Brazauskas<\/a> became the first president after the restoration of independence of Lithuania. On 31 August 1993 the last units of the Soviet Army left the territory of Lithuania. Since 29 March 2004, Lithuania has been part of the NATO. On 1 May 2004, it became a fully-fledged member of the European Union, and a member of the Schengen Agreement on 21 December 2007.<\/p>\n Lithuania is located in the Baltic region of Europe and covers an area of 65,200 km2 (25,200 sq mi). It has around 99 kilometres (61.5 mi) of sandy coastline, only about 38 kilometres (24 mi) of which face the open Baltic Sea<\/a>, less than the other two Baltic Sea countries<\/a>. The rest of the coast is sheltered by the Curonian sand peninsula. Lithuania’s major warm-water port, Klaip\u0117da, lies at the narrow mouth of the Curonian Lagoon<\/a>, a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad<\/a>. The country’s main and largest river, the Nemunas River<\/a>, and some of its tributaries carry international shipping.<\/p>\n Lithuania lies at the edge of the North European Plain<\/a>. Its landscape was smoothed by the glaciers of the last ice age, and is a combination of moderate lowlands and highlands. Its highest point is Auk\u0161tojas Hill<\/a> at 294 metres (965 ft) in the eastern part of the country. The terrain features numerous lakes (Lake Vi\u0161tytis<\/a>, for example) and wetlands, and a mixed forest zone covers over 33% of the country. Dr\u016bk\u0161iai<\/a> is the largest, Tauragnas<\/a> is the deepest and Asveja<\/a> is the longest lake in Lithuania.<\/p>\n Lithuania has open and mixed economy that is classified as high-income economy by the World Bank. According to data from 2016, the three largest sectors in Lithuanian economy are \u2013 services (68.3% of GDP), industry (28.5%) and agriculture (3.3%). World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report ranks Lithuania 41st (of 137 ranked countries).<\/p>\n Lithuania joined NATO in 2004, EU in 2004, Schengen<\/a> in 2007 and OECD<\/a> in 2018.<\/p>\n On 1 January 2015, euro became the national currency replacing litas<\/a> at the rate of EUR 1.00 = LTL 3.45280.<\/p>\n Lithuanian GDP experienced very high real growth rates for decade up to 2009, peaking at 11.1% in 2007. As a result, the country was often termed as a Baltic Tiger<\/a>. However, in 2009 due to a global financial crisis marked experienced a drastic decline \u2013 GDP contracted by 14.9% and unemployment rate reached 17.8% in 2010. After the decline of 2009, Lithuanian annual economic growth has been much slower compared to pre-2009 years.<\/p>\n In the period between 2004 and 2016, one out of five Lithuanians left the country, mostly because of insufficient income situation or seeking the new experience and studies abroad. Long term emigration and economy growth has resulted in noticeable shortages on the labor market and growth in salaries being larger than growth in labor efficiency.<\/p>\n As of 2019, Lithuanian mean wealth per adult is $50,254, while total national wealth is $115 billion. As of 2020, the average gross (pre-tax) monthly salary in Lithuania is 1,399 euros translating to 889 euros net (after tax), while average pension is around 400 euros per month.<\/p>\n Lithuanian Railways’<\/a> main network 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.<\/p>\n This railway network is incompatible with European standard gauge and requires train switching. However, Lithuanian railway network also has 115 km (71 mi) of standard gauge lines. More than half of all inland freight transported in Lithuania is carried by rail. The Trans-European standard gauge Rail Baltica<\/a> railway, linking Helsinki<\/a>\u2013Tallinn<\/a>\u2013Riga<\/a>\u2013Kaunas<\/a>\u2013Warsaw and continuing on to Berlin is under construction.<\/p>\n Lithuania has an extensive network of motorways.<\/p>\n The Port of Klaip\u0117da<\/a> is the only commercial cargo port in Lithuania. In 2011 45.5 million tons of cargo were handled (including B\u016bting\u0117 oil terminal figures<\/a>).<\/p>\n Vilnius International Airport<\/a> is the largest airport in Lithuania, 91st busiest airport in Europe (EU’s 100 largest airports).<\/p>\n It served 3.8 million passengers in 2016. Other international airports include Kaunas International Airport<\/a>, Palanga International Airport<\/a> and \u0160iauliai International Airport<\/a>. Kaunas International Airport is also a small commercial cargo airport which started regular commercial cargo traffic in 2011.<\/p>\n The flag of Lithuania consists of a horizontal tricolor of yellow, green, and red.<\/p>\n It was adopted on 25 April 1918 during Lithuania’s first period of independence (in the 20th century) from 1918 to 1940, which ceased with the occupation first by Soviet Russia and Lithuania’s annexation into the Soviet Union, and then by Germany (1941\u20131944). During the post-World War II Soviet occupation, from 1945 until 1989, the Soviet Lithuanian flag consisted first of a generic red Soviet flag with the name of the republic, then changed to the red flag with white and green bands at the bottom.<\/p>\n The flag was then re-adopted on 20 March 1989, almost a year before the re-establishment of Lithuania’s independence and almost three years before the collapse of the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n The birth of the yellow, green, and red tricolor occurred during a drive by other European republics to change their flags. One example that gave life to the idea of the tricolor was the French blue, white, and red flag adopted after the French Revolution. The only tricolor that existed for Lithuania before the yellow, green, and red flag was a green, white, and red flag used to represent Lithuania Minor.<\/a><\/p>\n It is not known who originally suggested the yellow, green, and red colors, but the idea is usually attributed to Lithuanian exiles living elsewhere in Europe or in the United States during the 19th century. These three colors were frequently used in folk weavings and traditional dress. At the Great Seimas of Vilnius of 1905<\/a>, this flag was favored over the Vytis banner as the flag of the Lithuanian nation.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Partitions-of-Poland-Lithuania-300x247.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Early History:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Baltic-Tribal-Groups-272x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Baltic-Amber-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Grand Duchy of Lithuania:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Yaroslav-the-Wise-142x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Growth-of-the-Lithuanian-State-215x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Vytautas-the-Great-158x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Trakai-Island-Castle-300x168.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Polish\u2013Lithuanian Commonwealth:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Palace-of-the-Grand-Dukes-of-Lithuania-in-1600-300x198.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/King-of-Poland-and-Grand-Duke-of-Lithuania-\u2013-Sigismund-II-Augustus-and-Queen-of-Poland-Grand-Duchess-consort-of-Lithuania-250x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Great-Northern-War-244x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Russian Empire:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Bishop-Motiejus-Valancius-resisted-Russification-224x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>20th and 21st Centuries:<\/h3>\n
1918\u20131939:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Council-of-Lithuania-300x208.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/University-of-Lithuania-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>1939\u20131944:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Monument-in-Naujoji-Vilnia-in-memory-of-the-Soviet-deportations-from-Lithuania-300x169.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/A-Massacre-in-Progress-at-Ponary-300x175.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>1944\u20131990:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Antanas-Snieckus-300x198.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Jonas-Zemaitis-224x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Vytautas-Landsbergis-200x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Baltic-Way-213x300.jpeg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>1990\u2013Present:<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Soviet-Forces-Fire-Live-Rounds-at-Independence-Supporters-300x193.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Physical-Map-of-Lithuania-300x210.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Lithuanian-Litas-207x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Treemap-of-Lithuanias-Exports-300x131.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Rail-Map-of-Lithuania-300x259.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Road-Map-of-Lithuania-300x231.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/12\/Vilnius-International-Airport-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Lithuania:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Flag-of-Lithuania-300x180.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Flag-of-the-Lithuanian-SSR-1940-1941-1944\u20131953-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Flag-of-the-Lithuanian-SSR-1953\u20131988-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/11\/Vytis-Flag-of-Lithuania-300x180.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>