Location
Lithuania lies in the Eastern Europe, on the coast of the Baltic Sea and covers 65.300 sq m. The length of coastline is 99 km..

Lithuania has borders with:
Latvia 546 km
Byelorussia 650 km
Poland 110 km
Kaliningrad region (Russia) 303 km

Distances from Vilnius to European Capitals
Berlin: 820 km 
Briussels: 1470 km 
Helsinki: 580 km 
Copenhagen: 810 km 
London: 1750 km 
Moscow: 790 km 
Oslo: 1030 km 
Paris: 1700 km 
Prague: 910 km 
Riga: 310 km 
Stockholm: 680 km 
Tallinn: 500 km 
Warsaw: 420 km
Capital of Lithuania is a city at the crossroads of East and West, North and South. Compact Vilnius International airport is just 5 km of the city center. It’s giving to everyone a warm welcome to Lithuanian capital. Direct flights from 24 European cities are easy access for businessmen, wondering travelers, sightseers, groups and individuals, young and elder tourists.
Also Vilnius can be reached by train, by bus and by car without any problems

Population
The population of Lithuania totaled 3.5 million in 2004.
Of this 81.3 % are Lithuanians,
8.4 % Russians,
7 % Poles,
1.5 % Byelorussians,
1 % Ukrainians,
0.1 % Jews and 0.7 % Germans, Latvians, Tatars, Gypsies and others.

Official language
Lithuanian (one of the oldest Indo-European languages, close to Latvian)

Religion 
Absolute majority – Roman Catholic, but there are Russian Orthodox, Protestant and other religious organizations.

National flag - tri-color flag

Form of government - Parliamentary Republic

Membership in international organizations
European Union (from 2004)
NATO (from 2004)

Currency
Lithuanian Litas (Lt)
From the Litas' introduction in 1993, the Central Bank has succeeded in stabilising its exchange rate. The litas was pegged to the US dollar but has now been set to the euro since February 2002 at 1Euro = 3.45 Lt.

Climate
Climate in Lithuania is continental and marine.
Average annual temperature 6.1 C
Average winter temperature –4.9 C
Average summer temperature 17 C
Annual precipitation 748 mm

In Lithuania there are
816 rivers longer than 10 km
2834 lakes larger than 0.5 ha

Main river
Nemunas (937 km, of which 475 km in the territory of Lithuania).
The biggest lake
Drūkšiai (42.26 sq km).

The highest place
Juozapinė hill (~293 m).

National bird – stork
We could call Lithuania a land of storks. Every year there are around 15,000 pairs of white storks raising their young, in an area of 65,000 square kilometers. If we were to count all of them, the number would come to about 50,000. Since the country’s human population is three and a half million, encounters with storks are common.
Lithuanians have also kept up the quaint tradition of saying that storks bring babies. It is a long-forgotten myth in many European countries, but Lithuanians are not surprised if a child claims that his brother or sister was brought by a stork

National holidays
January 1 (New Year’s Day)
February 16 (Lithuanian Independence Day of the year 1918)
March 11 (Lithuanian Independence Day of the year 1990)
April 16-17 (2006) (Easter)
May 1 (International Labor Day)
May 2, 2005 (Mother’s Day)
June 24 (St. John’s Day)
July 6 (Coronation Day of Mindaugas, the first king of Lithuania)
August 15 (Žolinės or The Virgin Mary’s assent into heaven)
November 1 (Vėlinės or All Saints’ Day)
December 25-26 (Christmas)

Main events in Lithuanian history
Formation of Lithuania's nationhood is considered to have been in the 13th century A.D.
Lithuania was the last European nation to convert to Christianity.
Lithuania's Day of Nationhood, July 6, commemorates Lithuania's ruler Mindaugas' coronation in 1253.
In the Middle Ages, Lithuania was one of the biggest countries in Europe but from 1569 joined in union with Poland.
Lithuania was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1795, regained its independence in 1918 but was reoccupied by the Soviet Union in 1940 and by Germany from 1941-1944.
Lithuania was later the first Soviet republic to declare its independence again as an independent nation on March 11, 1990.

Traditional food
The average Lithuanian, if asked about the national dishes, without blinking an eye would offer cepelinai (potato and meat dish), vėdarai (intestines stuffed with potatoes) or potato pancakes.
And even though the potato only reached Lithuania in the 17th century, from the 19th century on, potato dishes became the second daily bread. You can get potato dishes in almost every café. It’s a food that’s hard to digest, for traditionally it is garnished with sour cream and cracklings. Better not eat potato dishes before bedtime. One of the most popular dishes – cepelinai. This is an oval shaped grated potato dumpling filled with ground meat. It’s interesting that this dish got its name from the zeppelin or dirigible, which was manufactured by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. The aircraft was named after the inventor, while the form resembled Lithuanian cepelinai.
Also try the cold borscht. It’s a soup made from cold beets, cucumbers and greens, eaten with hot potatoes.
Don’t think that Lithuanians eat only potatoes. Any given café or restaurant will offer you an abundance of meat, fish or pancake dishes.
What other food can Lithuanians brag about? Why bread in all its glory. Almost every store will offer you not less than ten types of bread – with cumin, grain, nuts or even with fruit. You should also try natural yogurt and sweet cottage cheese.

Beer
In Lithuania beer is a popular and inexpensive beverage. Connoisseurs say that it is good. Lithuanian brewers have won more than one international prize. Last year in Lithuania beer made up almost half of the alcohol sold, primarily Lithuanian. Each Lithuanian last year would have drunk 82 liters of beer.
The stores carry beer of various flavors and strengths, but I think you’ll agree that unpasturized beer is tastier.

Largest cities in Lithuania
Kaunas (376.570 residents),
Klaipėda (192,500 residents),
Šiauliai (133.530 residents),
Panevėžys (119,420 residents).