Lithuania

Lithuania

AREA	65,301 sq km (25,213 sq miles).
POPULATION	3,701,253 (1999).
POPULATION DENSITY	56.7 per sq km.
CAPITAL	Vilnius.
CAPITAL POPULATION	578,412 (1999).
GEOGRAPHY	Lithuania is situated on the eastern Baltic coast and borders Latvia in the north, the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation and Poland in the southwest and Belarus in the southwest and east. The geometrical centre of Europe lies in eastern Lithuania near the village of Bernotai, 25km (16 miles) north of Vilnius. The landscape alternates between lowland plains and hilly uplands and has a dense, intricate network of rivers, including the Nemunas and the Neris. 1.5% of the country's territory is made up of lakes, of which there are over 2800. The majority of these lie in the east of the country and include Lake Druksiai and Lake Tauragnas.
GOVERNMENT	Republic. Declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1989. Head of State: President Valdas Adamkus since 1996. Head of Government: Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius since 1999.
LANGUAGE	Lithuanian is the official language. Lithuanian has a large number of dialects for such a small territory, including High Lithuanian (Aukstaiciai) and Low Lithuanian (Zemaiciai).
RELIGION	Predominantly Roman Catholic with Evangelical Lutheran, Evangelical Reformist, Russian Orthodox, Baptist, Muslim and Jewish minorities.
STANDARD TIME	GMT + 2.
ELECTRICITY	220 volts AC, 50Hz. European 2-pin plugs are in use.

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