Lithuania (lĭthūā'nēə) , Lithuanian Lietuva, officially Republic of Lithuania, republic (2005 est. pop. 3,597,000), 25,174 sq mi (65,201 sq km), N central Europe. Lithuania borders on the Baltic Sea in the west, Latvia in the north, Belarus in the east and southeast, Poland in the south, and the Kaliningrad oblast (a Russian exclave; formerly East Prussia) in the southwest. Vilnius is the capital, largest city, and an important rail and highway center.

Land and People

Lithuania is a flatland, drained by the Nemen River. In addition to the capital, other important cities are Kaunas, Klaipeda (Memel), and Siauliai. About 80% of the population is Lithuanian; there are Russian, Polish, Belarusian, Latvian, and Jewish minorities. The major religion is Roman Catholicism and there are small communities of Lutherans and Russian Orthodox. The Lithuanians speak a Baltic language (see Balts), which is the official language; Polish and Russian are also widely spoken. The republic's educational and cultural institutions include universities at Vilnius and Kaunas and the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.

Economy and Government

In the 1990s, Lithuania benefited from its adherence to strict fiscal and monetary policies, as it followed a program of privatization and increased foreign investment. Dairy farming and stock raising are carried on extensively, and grains, flax, sugar beets, potatoes, and vegetables are grown. Primarily agricultural before 1940, Lithuania has since developed considerable industry, including food processing, shipbuilding, and the manufacture of machinery and machine tools, metal products, major appliances, electronic components, motors, textiles, and electrical equipment. Lithuania is a member of the European Union; Russia, Germany, Latvia, and Poland are the main trading partners.
Lithuania has a 141-member unicameral parliament (the Seimas), whose members are elected to four-year terms. Under a constitution adopted in 1992, the president, who is the head of state, is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and, with parliamentary approval, appoints a prime minister. A cabinet is appointed by the president on the nomination of the premier. The country is divided into 44 regions and 11 municipalities.

History

Early History to the Nineteenth Century
The pagan Liths, or Lithuanians, may have settled along the Nemen as early as 1500 B.C. In the 13th cent. the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the Teutonic Knights conquered the region now comprising Estonia, Latvia, and parts of Lithuania. To protect themselves against the Knights, who pressed them from the north and the south, the Lithuanians formed (13th cent.) a strong unified state.
The grand dukes Gedimin (1316–41) and Olgerd (1345–77) expanded their territories at the expense of the neighboring Russian principalities, which were weakened by the Mongol invasion. Lithuania became one of the largest states of medieval Europe, including all of what is now Belarus, a large part of Ukraine, and sections of European Russia; at its furthest extent it touched the Black Sea. Olgerd's son, Jagiello, became king of Poland in 1386 as Ladislaus II by his marriage with Jadwiga, daughter of Louis I of Poland and Hungary. He accepted and introduced Christianity.
The union between Lithuania and Poland had at first the character of an alliance between independent nations. Witowt, a cousin of Ladislaus II, ruled Lithuania independently (1392–1430) and brought it to the height of its power and expansion. In 1410 the Polish-Lithuanian forces severely defeated the Teutonic Knights at Tannenberg and Novgorod.
After Witowt's death, decline set in. The Belarusians, who had retained their Greek Orthodox faith, inclined toward the rising grand duchy of Moscow. In 1569, hard pressed by the Russians under Ivan IV, Lithuania was joined with Poland by the Union of Lublin to form a commonwealth. The Lithuanian aristocracy and burghers became thoroughly Polonized. By the three successive partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795) Lithuania disappeared as a national unit and passed to Russia.