Lithuania

The Republic of Lithuania is a North European country situated between Latvia in the North, Belarus in the East, Poland and the Russian enclave Kaliningrad in the South and the Baltic Sea in the West. It is the biggest and most Southern of the three Baltic States.

The history of Lithuania started to develop along the same path as of Estonia and Latvia quite recently in a historic perspective. Different form the two other Baltic countries, Lithuania was in the past a powerful state stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. The twentieth century passed for the bigger part under the Russian and Soviet repression. Lithuania was the first Baltic country that on March 11, 1990 regained its independence. On May 1, 2004 the country joined the European Union.

Lithuania has circa 3,5 million inhabitants and is about 1,5 times as big as The Netherlands. Like The Netherlands, it is quite flat. The Eastern part lies higher than the Western part. The highest point (Juozapinės Kalnas) lies at the level of circa 300 meters.

Capital Vilnius, situated in the Southern part, is the economic and cultural centre of the country. It is the biggest Lithuanian city with circa 600.000 inhabitants. Kaunas has a more central position, at the junction of the rivers of Neris and Nemunas. The third city is Klaipėda, the harbour in the West of the country.
The Eastern part of Lithuania has a continental climate and the changes of temperature can be rapid. The average temperature fluctuates between -4,9°C in January and 17°C in July. In winter, the temperature can drop to -30°C, while, in summer, the temperature can rise to 30°C. In the Western part of the country, the temperature is cooler because of the sea.

A geographical peculiarity of Lithuania is the fact that the centre of Europe lies within the territory of Lithuania.