Lithuania and Vilnius
Flag of Lithuania
Lithuania
is the southernmost of the three Baltic states – and the largest and most populous of them. Lithuania (national name: Lietuvos Respublika) was the first occupied Soviet republic to break free from the Soviet Union and restore its sovereignty via the declaration of independence on 11 March 1990.
The name Lithuania
It is believed that Lithuania got its name from the River Lietava (Lietauka), a tributary of the River Neris. It flows about 25 km from the town of Kernave, an important political centre in ancient Lithuania in the eastern part of the country. Lithuania was first mentioned in the Annales Quedlinburgeness, a Latin chronicle, in 1009. In the year 2009 Lithuania celebrated the 1,000th anniversary of its first mention in documents.
The landscape of Lithuania
The Lithuanian landscape is predominantly flat, with a few low hills in the western uplands and eastern highlands. The highest point is Aukštasis at 294 metres above sea level. Lithuania has 6,000 rivers, more than 14,000 lakes and 99 km of the Baltic Sea coastline, which are mostly devoted to recreation and nature preservation, including spectacular sand dunes that reach 60 meters in height . Forests cover just over 30% of the country. The main river is the Nemunas, which is 937 km long. Its lenght through Lithuania is 475 km.
The population of Lithuania
Some 84% of the population are ethnic Lithuanians. The two largest minorities are Poles, who account for just over 6% of the population, and Russians, who make up just over 5%. The Lithuanian language belongs to the family of Indo-European languages.
The capital, Vilnius, is a picturesque city on the banks of the rivers Neris and Vilnia, and the architecture within the old part of the city is some of Eastern Europe’s finest. Vilnius university, founded in 1579, is a renaissance style complex with countless inner courtyards, forming a city within the city.
The Lithuanian president is elected directly for a five-year term and is active principally in foreign and security policy. The unicameral Lithuanian Parliament, the Seimas, has 141 members. Both the seimas and the presidential palace are situated in Vilnius.
Lithuania’s most famous culinary export is perhaps cold beet soup. Potatoes also make a regular appearance on menus, popular dishes being potato pancakes and Cepelinai – potato dumplings stuffed with meat, curd cheese or mushrooms.
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[...] romį (or pólska romį in the Vilnius region) could be deemed a historical ethnic minority of Lithuania living in the place considering that the 15th century. The Polish romologist Lech Mróz has [...]