Lithuania

Lithuania is one of the three Baltic states, on the Baltic Sea between Latvia, Belarus, Poland and Russia's Kaliningrad region. Vilnius is the capital and largest city, with Kaunas and Klaipėda next. Lithuanian, a Baltic language, is the official language and keeps many very old Indo-European features.

The country's name first appears in writing in 1009. Mindaugas united the Lithuanian lands in the 1230s and founded a kingdom on 6 July 1253, and Grand Duke Gediminas later made Vilnius his capital. By the 14th century the Grand Duchy stretched over vast East Slavic lands, and the country accepted Christianity in 1387. A personal union with Poland from 1386 became the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth through the Union of Lublin in 1569. Partitions between 1772 and 1795 gave most of Lithuania to Russia, and book carriers kept Lithuanian printing alive when the Russian authorities banned the Lithuanian press.

Lithuania declared independence in 1918 and gained the Klaipėda Region in 1923. The Soviet Union occupied it in 1940, Nazi Germany in 1941 and the Soviets again in 1944. On 11 March 1990 it became the first Soviet republic to restore its independence, and in January 1991 Soviet forces failed to overturn it. The constitution adopted in 1992 gives the directly elected president charge of foreign affairs and defense, while laws are passed by the 141-member Seimas.

Lithuania joined NATO and the European Union in 2004 and adopted the euro on 1 January 2015. Its 65,300 km² (25,200 sq mi) have a sandy coast of about 99 km (62 mi), including part of the Curonian Spit. Klaipėda is the only commercial cargo port and has had an LNG terminal since 2014, and lasers and biotechnology lead high technology. Vilnius Old Town, with its many Baroque churches, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and basketball is the national sport, with European titles in 1937, 1939 and 2003.