Lithuania
Location And Physical Features
Lithuania is located on the eastern side of Europe. It is connected to the Baltic Sea and borders Poland, Belarus, Latvia, and the small part of Russia separated from the rest of Russia. Lithuania's geographical coordinates are 56 N, 24 E.
Lithuania mainly consists of flatlands with a few low hills. The highest point in Lithuania is on Aukstasis, which reaches a height of 294 meters. 758 rivers flow through Lithuania and the country has over 2,800 lakes. Approximately 30% of the country is covered with forests.
Governement Related Stuff
Type of Government
Lithuania's government is a parliamentary democracy.
EU
Lithuania is not a founder of the EU as it joined the EU in the spring of 2004.
Currency
Flag
The Lithuanian flag was originally on use until 1940, when Russia took control of the country, but was reintroduced back into the country after they regained independence. The flag's colors green, red, and yellow all symbolize certain things. Green symbolizes forests, yellow is for the wheat fields in Lithuania, and red shows patriotic spirit. All the colors also represent freedom from oppression, hope for the future, and the undaunted courage of the Lithuanian people.
Independence
In 1386, Lithuania and Poland formed an alliance for a union to occur between them. This Union lasted until 1795 when the country was partitioned from the countries around it. After the Great War (WWI), the Soviet Union unofficially took control of Lithuania. The United States and many other countries never recognized this action. Lithuania eventually claimed independence in 1990.
Cities And Tourism
Cities
The second largest city in Lithuania is Kaunas with a population of 325,000. Klaipeda is another city in Lithuania. It's population is 160,000. Siauliai, with a population of 110,000, is the fourth largest city in the country. Panevezys is a city with 100,000 people.
Vilnius
The capital is Vilnius with a population of 550,000. It is located on the banks of the Neris and Vilnia Rivers. The architecture in the old part of the city is known as some of the finest in Eastern Europe. The Vilnius university is a renaissance style complex. It was founded in 1579.
Kaunas
Kaunas is another great city for tourism. This is the city where the Russian empire built a 1st class fortress. The forts, batteries, barracks, and redoubts surrounding the city still exist today. There are also many other buildings from the Russian imperial military. The city has some major national museums such as the war museum and the Museum of Devils.
Panevezys
Interesting Facts
The Lithuanian president, unlike the U.S. president, is directly elected to be president for a 5 year term.
The language spoken in Lithuania is being used from a family of Indo-European languages.
Lithuania was first united under mindaugas in 1236. Mindaugas was the first and only king of Lithuania.
Bibliography
"Lithuania." EUROPA. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/member-countries/lithuania/index_en.htm>.
"Lithuania Flag." , Flag of Lithuania. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://www.mapsofworld.com/flags/lithuania-flag.html>.
"True Lithuania Sights, Cities, Culture, History and More." True Lithuania. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://www.truelithuania.com/>.