Lithuania: The Land and People

Surrounded by lakes, Trakai Castle in southeast Lithuania was a stonghold in the Middle Ages. Today, the castle is a museum. Photo by Antanas Sutkus.

Lithuania borders Belarus, Latvia, Poland, Russia and the Baltic Sea. Forests cover about 37% of the country, and there are over 4,000 lakes and 700 rivers in its hills and plains. For centuries Lithuania's precious harvest of the sea, amber, has washed over the shores of the Curonian lagoon.

With the geographic center of Europe just 15 miles north of Lithuania's capital Vilnius, Lithuania is often referred to as the "Crossroads of Europe". Because of its location, Lithuania is especially rich in history, culture and tradition.

Founded in the 10th century, Vilnius, the capital, is the largest city of Lithuania. Vilnius figures prominently not only in Lithuania, but also in Polish and Jewish culture.

Kaunas was the provisional capital of the independent Republic of Lithuania in the early 20th century. Situated where the Neris and Nemunas rivers meet, Kaunas also was an important fortress against the Teutonic knights in the 14th century.

The third most important Lithuanian city is Klaipeda. Klaipeda's ice-free port naturally makes this city an important center for trade and industry. Red brick rooftops and German-style buildings dominate the architecture ??? Klaipeda was founded in the 13th century by the Teutonic Knights, who called it Memel.

The Lithuanian language belongs in the Indo-European language family. Having arisen in the 5th century, it is one of the oldest languages to have been in continuous use. Today it is closely related only to Latvian. Rich in dialects and regional accents, Lithuanian is spoken by some 4 million people in Lithuanian and other countries.

Lithuaniaҳ population is 3.71 million, of whom 80% are ethnic Lithuanians, 8% Russians, 7% Poles, and 4% other nationalities (Belarussians, Ukrainians, Germans, Latvians, Tatars and Gypsies.)

The majority of Lithuanians are Roman Catholics. There are also communities of Russian Orthodox, Evangelical Lutherans, Baptists, Jews and Muslims.

The county's flag, created in 1918, consists of horizontal bars of yellow, green and red. Yellow symbolizes the sun, light and prosperity, green represents the landscape, hope and joy; red symbolizes life, blood and Lithuania's tenacity and courage in its struggle for freedom.

This program has been sponsored by the Lithuanian Government and the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture.