1. [HillofCrosses]
Ethnicity/race: Lithuanian84.1%,
Polish 6.6%,Russian 5.8%,Belarusian
1.2%,other1.1%,unspecified1.2%
(2011est.)
Religions: RomanCatholic77.2%,
Russian Orthodox4.1%,OldBeliever
0.8%,Evangelical Lutheran 0.6%,
Evangelical Reformist 0.2%,other
(including SunniMuslim, Jewish,
Greek Catholic, and Karaite) 0.8%,
none6.1%,unspecified 10.1%(2011
est.)
MajorCities:
Alytus,Kaumas,Klapedia,Lentvarus
andVilnius
Whileyouarehere…
Thereissomuchtoseeanddoin
Lithuania!
Comeseeourmajorlandmarks
suchasThePresidentialPalace,
SlushkoPalace,St.Anne’s
Church,TheVilniusCathedral,
AllSaintsChurchandThe
LithuanianNationalDrama
Theatre.
Touristsalsolovetoseeplaces
suchastheVilniusUniversity,
TheHillofCrosses, andThe
SovietSculpturePark.The
JewishGenocideCemeteryand
Daivana(aPartisian
headquartersbunker)aretwo
mustseeplacesduringyourstay!
Bobbi Jo Glowacki
Health Care Science Cultural
Compentency
HCS 320
Lithuan
ia
Lietuvas
Respublika

2. Lithuania
FoundontheEuropean continent,
Lithuania is situatedon theeastern
shore oftheBaltic Sea.Itboarders
Latvia in thenorth,Belarus onthe east
andsouth,Polandandthe Kaliningrad
region ofRussia onthesouthwest.
Importantrivers are theNeman
(Nemunas), Neris andtheVenta.
Lithuania wassmoothedbythe glacial
retreat ofthelast Ice Age.The
country’s geographyis mostlyflat
lowlands inthe westwithsome low
Lithuania has apopulationof
3,505,738people
History
TheLiths,or Lithuanians, unitedin the
12thcentury undertherule of
Mindaugas, whobecame kingin 1251.
Throughmarriage, one ofthelater
Lithuanian rulers became the kingof
Poland(Ladislaus II) in1386,uniting
thecountries. In1410,the Polesand
Lithuanians defeated thepowerful
Teutonic KnightsatTannenberg.
From the14thtothe16thcentury,
Polandand Lithuania madeupone of
medieval Europe'slargest empires,
stretching fromtheBlack Seaalmost to
Moscow.The twocountriesformed a
confederation foralmost 200 years,
andin 1569they formally united.
Russia, Prussia, and Austria
partitioned Polandin1772,1792, and
1795.Asa consequence, Lithuania
came under Russian rule after thelast
partition.Russia attemptedto
immerse Lithuania in Russian culture
andlanguage, butanti-Russian
sentiment continuedtogrow.
[National Flag]
TheLithuanian independence
movement reemerged in 1988.In 1990,
VytautasLandsbergis,the non-
Communist head ofthelargest
Lithuanian popularmovement
(Sajudis),was elected president.Onthe
same day,theSupreme Council
rejected Sovietrule and declared the
restoration ofLithuania's
independence, thefirst Baltic republic
totakethis action.Confrontation with
theSoviet Unionensued alongwith
economic sanctions, buttheywere
lifted after bothsidesagreed toaface-
saving compromise.
Government:ParliamentDemocracy.
The President:DaliaGrybauskaite.
The PrimeMinister:Algrias
Butkevicius.