The document provides information on the geography, religion, and political system of Lithuania. It describes Lithuania as a parliamentary republic located in Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea between Poland and Latvia. The majority religion is Roman Catholicism, though some Lithuanian pagan traditions remain. The political system has three branches of government - an executive branch led by the President and Prime Minister, a unicameral legislative branch called the Seimas, and an independent judicial branch. It also profiles the current President Dalia Grybauskaitė and Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius, as well as some of Lithuania's major political parties.

1. POLITICS OF LITHUANIA
Benedict (Viktor) Gombocz

2. GEOGRAPHY OF LITHUANIA
 Location: Northern Europe, bordering
the Baltic Sea, between Poland and
Latvia
 Official name: Republic of Lithuania
 Area:
 Total: 65,300 sq km
 Country comparison to the world: 123
 Land: 62,680 sq km
 Water: 2,620 sq km
 Area: Slightly larger than West Virginia
 Land boundaries:
 Total: 1,574 km
 Border countries: Belarus 680 km,
Latvia 576 km, Poland 91 km,
Russia (Kaliningrad) 227 km
 Coastline: 90 km

3. PHYSICAL MAP OF LITHUANIA

4. RELIGION IN LITHUANIA
 The major religion in Lithuania is Christianity; the
dominant confession is Roman Catholicism.
 2001 census:
 Lithuania was the last pagan nation in Europe,  Roman Catholic: 79%
with the Roman Catholic Church gaining
recognition only late in the 14th century.  Russian Orthodox: 4.1%
 Almost 80% of the population was Roman  Protestant (including
Catholic early in the 21st century; there are also
smaller groups of Evangelical Lutherans and Lutheran and Evangelical
other Protestants, as well as people of other
smaller faiths.
Christian Baptist): 1.9%
 Some characteristics of the earliest Lithuanian  Other/unspecified: 5.5%
pagan religion survive in the countryside,
blended with Christianity.  None: 9.5%
 Statistics of the 2005 Eurobarometer, concerning
the inquiry of religious or spiritual views, revealed
that a plurality (49%) of Lithuanian citizens
claimed that “they believe there is a God”; 36%
indicated that “they believe there is some sort of
spirit or life-force” and 12% responded that “they
do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or
life-force”.

5. ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH & RUSSIAN ORTHODOX
CHURCH, VILNIUS

6. LITHUANIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: OVERVIEW
 The Politics of Lithuania functions in a structure of a parliamentary
representative democratic republic, whereby the PM of Lithuania
presides over the government and a system of multiple parties.
 The government, which is led by the PM, exercises executive power.
 Legislative power is vested in both the government and the unicameral
Seimas (Parliament of Lithuania).
 Judicial power is vested in judges nominated by the President of
Lithuania; it is independent of both executive and legislature power.
 The judiciary is made up of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court,
and the Court of Appeal, along with the separate administrative courts.
 Upon the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania’s approval on October
25, 1992, these powers were set up.

7. LITHUANIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: GOVERNMENT
 In Lithuania, government consists of three branches initially visualized by
enlightenment philosopher Baron de Montesquieu: executive, legislative, and
judicial.
 All three branches are separate; they are set up so every one branch can
execute checks and balances on the other two branches.

8. LITHUANIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: EXECUTIVE BRANCH
 The Lithuanian government’s executive branch is composed of a
President, a PM, and the President’s Council of Ministers; it is
accountable to managing the government.

9. LITHUANIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: PRIME MINISTER
 The PM of Lithuania, who is nominated by the President and approved by the
Seimas, is the country’s head of government.
 Within 15 days of her/his nomination, the PM is liable for selecting Ministers for the
President to approve to all 13 Ministries.
 On the whole, the PM is responsible for the nation’s concerns, upholds homeland
security, conducts laws and declarations of the Seimas and the President’s
verdicts, upholds diplomatic relations with foreign countries and international
organizations, and carries out other responsibilities, as defined in the Constitution.

10. LITHUANIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
 The Council of Ministers, much like the cabinet of other countries, is
grouped of 13 Ministers selected by the PM and named by the President.
 Every Minister is liable for her/his Ministry of Lithuania’s government and
needs to present accounts on her/his Ministry when directed to.
 When the PM resigns or dies in office, the post is to be filled as soon as
possible and the new PM will name a new government.

11. LITHUANIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: CURRENT OFFICE HOLDERS
Office: President Office: Prime Minister
 Name: Dalia Grybauskaitė  Name: Algirdas Butkevičius
 Party: None  Party: Social Democratic Party
 Since: 12 July 2009 of Lithuania
 Since: 13 December 2012

12. LITHUANIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: GOVERNMENT
 Capital (and largest city): Vilnius
 Official languages: Lithuanian
 Demonym: Lithuanian
 Government: Parliamentary
republic
 President: Dalia Grybauskaitė
 Prime Minister: Algirdas
Butkevičius
 Seimas Speaker: Vydas Gedvilas
 Legislature: Seimas

13. LITHUANIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
 The parliament (Seimas) has 141
affiliates, elected to a 4-year term.
 Almost half of the affiliates are
elected in single-member districts
(71), and the other smaller half (70)
are elected in the nationwide vote
with proportional representation
through party lists.
 A party needs to obtain 5% of the
national vote to gain representation in
the Seimas.

14. LITHUANIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: MAJOR PARTIES
 Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian
Democrats (Tėvynės sąjunga - Lietuvos
krikščionys demokratai, TS-LKD)
 Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (Lietuvos
Socialdemokratų Partija, LSDP)
 Order and Justice (Tvarka ir teisingumas, TT)
 Liberal and Centre Union (Liberalų ir Centro
Sąjunga, LiCS)
 Liberal Movement (Liberalų Sąjūdis, LS)
 Labour Party (Darbo Partija, DP)
 Christian Party (Krikščionių Partija, KP)
 Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (Lietuvos
Lenkų Rinkimų Akcija, AWPL)
 Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union (Lietuvos
Valstiečių Liaudininkų Sąjunga, LVLS)

15. LITHUANIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: JUDICIAL BRANCH
 The judges of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos
Respublikos Konstitucinis Teismas) for one nine-year term are named by the
Seimas from the nominees presented by the President (three judges), the Speaker
of the Seimas (three judges), and the chairman of the Supreme Court (three
judges).

16. LITHUANIA’S POLITICAL SYSTEM: ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS
 Since 1994, with changes in 2000, Lithuania is
subdivided into 10 counties (Lithuanian: plural -
apskritys, singular – apskritis), all of them named
for their main city.
 Counties are further subdivided into 60
municipalities (Lithuanian: plural – savivaldybės,
singular – savivaldybė).
 Municipalities are further subdivided into more than
500 elderships (Lithuanian: plural - seniūnijos,
singular - seniūnija).
 Countries are governed by apskrities viršininkas
(literally translated as “governor”) who is named by
Vilnius’ central government.
 Their chief liability is to make certain that each
municipality obeys the laws and Lithuania’s
constitution; they do not have significant powers
vested in them.
 Municipality governments are elected in democratic
elections of municipality councils, which take place
every 4 years.
 Municipality councils elect municipality mayors;
they also name elders to be accountable to an
eldership.

17. DALIA GRYBAUSKAITĖ
 Born 1 March 1956 in Vilnius.
 Current President of Lithuania; was sworn in on 12 July 2009.
 Was Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance and European Commissioner for
Financial Programming and the Budget from 2004-2009.
 Frequently known as the “Iron Lady” or the “Steel Magnolia”, she is Lithuania’s first female
president.
 Was born to a working-class family; her mother, Vitalija Korsakaitė (1922-1989), was born in
the Biržai region where she was a saleswoman and her father, Polikarpas Grybauskas (1928-
2008) worked as an electrician and a driver.
 Attended Salomėja Nėris High School; has depicted herself as not among the best of
students, receiving mainly fours in a system where five was the best grade.
 Her favourite subjects were History, Geography, and Physics.
 Began taking part in sports when she was eleven; became a fervent basketball player.
 Worked for a year at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society as a staff examiner, when
she was nineteen.
 Subsequently enrolled in Saint Petersburg State University (known as Zhdanov University at
the time) as a student of political economy; started working in a local factory at the same time.
 Graduated with a citation in 1983 and returned to Vilnius, where she took a secretarial post at
the Academy of Sciences.
 However, work at the Academy was limited, and she moved to the Vilnius Party High School,
lecturing in political economy and global finance.
 Was an affiliate of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1983-1989, and an affiliate of
the Communist Party of Lithuania when the CPL left the CPSU in December 1989 until June
1990.
 Defended her PhD thesis at Moscow’s Academy of Social Sciences of the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (now the Russian Academy of State Service).
 After Lithuania re-established its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, she continued
her studies at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., in
the Special Pogramme for senior managers.

18. ALGIRDAS BUTKEVIČIUS
 Born 19 November 1958 at Paežeriai in the Radviliškis district
municipality.
 12th and current PM of Lithuania since 13 December 2012.
 Was previously Minister of Finance from 2004-2005 and
Minister of Transport and Communications from 2006-2008.
 Has been the leader of the Social Democratic Party of
Lithuania since 2009; has been an affiliate of the SDPL since
1992.
 Was Chairman of Vilkaviškis Department of the SDPL from
1995-1997, Deputy Chairman of the SDPL from 1999-2005
(was re-elected in 2001), and Chairman of the SDPL since
2009.
 Was elected to the Seimas in 1996 and 2000.
 Was the SDPL nominee in the 2009 presidential election,
coming in second with 11.83% of the votes.
 Was among the minority of runners who were elected in the
first round of the popular vote in the 2012 presidential election.
 Was elected by the Seimas to be PM-designate on 22
November 2012; was nominated as PM by presidential decree
on 7 December 2012 and his cabinet assumed office on 13
December, which was preceded by the governmental program
by Parliament.
 In addition to his native Lithuanian, he speaks Russian and
English.
 His wife is Janina, with whom he has a daughter, Indrė.

19. HOMELAND UNION – LITHUANIAN CHRISTIAN
DEMOCRATS
 Centre-right political party in Lithuania.
 Biggest party in Lithuania; has 18,000
affiliates and 46/141 seats in the Seimas.
 Major centre-right party, with a mainly
liberal conservative and Christian
democratic, although also nationally
leaning and economically liberal, ideology.
 Currently led by Andrius Kubilius.
 Affiliate of the European People’s Party
(EPP), its European affiliation and EP
group, and the International Democrat
Union (IDU), its international affiliation.
 Holds 4/12 seats in the EP and 249/1,526
seats in the Municipal Councils.

20. SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF LITHUANIA
 Centre-left, social democratic party in
Lithuania.
 Founded in 1896; is the longest existing
party in Lithuania.
 Algirdas Butkevičius, the current PM of
Lithuania, is its leader since 2009.
 Led a minority government in the
unicameral Seimas between 2004 and
2008.
 Affiliate of both Party of European
Socialists (European affiliation) and
Socialist International (International
affiliation).
 Holds 38/141 seats in the Seimas and
3/12 seats in the EP; also holds
328/1,526 Municipal council seats.

21. VILNIUS

22. THE END (PABAIGA)