[Hill of Crosses]

Ethnicity/race: Lithuanian 84.1%, Polish 6.6%, Russian 5.8%, Belarusian 1.2%, other 1.1%, unspecified 1.2% (2011 est.)

Religions: Roman Catholic 77.2%, Russian Orthodox 4.1%, Old Believer 0.8%, Evangelical Lutheran 0.6%, Evangelical Reformist 0.2%, other (including Su nni Muslim, Jewish, Greek Catholic, and Karaite) 0.8%, none 6.1%, unspecified 10.1% (2011 est.)

Major Cities: Alytus,Kaumas,Klapedia,Lentvarus and Vilnius

While you are here…

There is so much to see and do in Lithuania! Come see our major landmarks such as The Presidential Palace, Slushko Palace, St. Anne’s Church, The Vilnius Cathedral, All Saints Church and The Lithuanian National Drama Theatre. Tourists also love to see places such as the Vilnius University, The Hill of Crosses, and The Soviet Sculpture Park. The Jewish Genocide Cemetery and Daivana (a Partisian

Bobbi Jo GlowackiHealth Care Science Cultural CompentencyHCS 320

Lithuania

Lietuvas Respublika

Lithuania Found on the European continent, Lithuania is situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It boarders Latvia in the north, Belarus on the east and south, Poland and the Kaliningrad region of Russia on the southwest. Important rivers are the Neman (Nemunas), Neris and the Venta.

Lithuania was smoothed by the glacial retreat of the last Ice Age. The country’s geography is mostly flat lowlands in the west with some low hills. Whereas the east and southeast there are bogs, small

Lithuania has a population of 3,505,738 people

History The Liths, or Lithuanians, united in the 12th century under the rule of Mindaugas, who became king in 1251. Through marriage, one of the later Lithuanian rulers became the king of Poland (Ladislaus II) in 1386, uniting the countries. In 1410, the Poles and Lithuanians defeated the powerful Teutonic Knights at Tannenberg. From the 14th to the 16th century, Poland and Lithuania made up one of medieval Europe's largest empires, stretching from the Black Sea almost to Moscow. The two countries formed a confederation for almost 200 years, and in 1569 they formally united. Russia, Prussia, and Austria partitioned Poland in 1772, 1792, and 1795. As a consequence, Lithuania came under Russian rule after the last partition. Russia attempted to immerse Lithuania in Russian culture and language, but anti-Russian sentiment continued to grow. Following World War I and the collapse of Russia, Lithuania declared independence (1918), under German protection.

[National Flag]

The Lithuanian independence movement reemerged in 1988. In 1990, Vytautas Landsbergis, the non-Communist head of the largest Lithuanian popular movement (Sajudis), was elected president. On the same day, the Supreme Council rejected Soviet rule and declared the restoration of Lithuania's independence, the first Baltic republic to take this action. Confrontation with the Soviet Union ensued along with economic sanctions, but they were lifted after both sides agreed to a face-saving compromise. Government: Parliament Democracy. The President: Dalia Grybauskaite. The Prime Minister: Algrias Butkevicius.

Languages: Lithuanian