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Background:
Independent between the two World Wars, Lithuania was annexed by the USSR in 1940. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first of the Soviet republics to declare its independence, but Moscow did not recognize this proclamation until September of 1991 (following the abortive coup in Moscow). The last Russian troops withdrew in 1993. Lithuania subsequently restructured its economy for integration into Western European institutions; it joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.
Location:
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia
Area:
total: 65,200 sq km
land: NA sq km
water: NA sq km
Land boundaries:
total: 1,273 km
border countries: Belarus 502 km, Latvia 453 km, Poland 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 227 km
Coastline:
99 km
Population:
3,607,899 (July 2004 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 16.7% (male 309,736; female 294,129)
15-64 years: 68.4% (male 1,202,603; female 1,262,784)
65 years and over: 14.9% (male 184,145; female 354,502) (2004 est.)
Ethnic groups:
Lithuanian 80.6%, Russian 8.7%, Polish 7%, Belarusian 1.6%, other 2.1%
Religions
Roman Catholic (primarily), Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, Protestant, Evangelical Christian Baptist, Muslim, Jewish
Languages:
Lithuanian (official), Polish, Russian
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Lithuania
conventional short form: Lithuania
local long form: Lietuvos Respublika
local short form: Lietuva
former: Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
Government type:
parliamentary democracy
Capital:
Vilnius
Independence:
11 March 1990 (independence declared from Soviet Union); 6 September 1991 (Soviet Union recognizes Lithuania's independence)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 16 February (1918); note - 16 February 1918 is the date Lithuania declared its independence from Soviet Russia and established its statehood; 11 March 1990 is the date it declared its independence from the Soviet Union
Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), green, and red
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