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Republic of Lithuania Lietuvos Respublika (Lithuanian) | |
|---|---|
| Anthem: Tautiška giesmė "National Hymn" | |
![Location of Lithuania (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) – [Legend]](https://img-server.japedia.wiki/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/EU-Lithuania.svg/500px-EU-Lithuania.svg.png) Location of Lithuania (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) | |
| Capital and largest city | Vilnius 54°41′N 25°19′E / 54.683°N 25.317°E / 54.683; 25.317 |
| Official languages | Lithuanian[1] |
| Ethnic groups (2024[2]) |
|
| Religion (2021[3]) |
|
| Demonym(s) | Lithuanian |
| Government | Unitary semi-presidential republic[4][5][6][7] |
| Gitanas Nausėda | |
| Ingrida Šimonytė | |
| Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen | |
| Legislature | Seimas |
| Formation | |
| 9 March 1009 | |
| 1236 | |
• Coronation of Mindaugas | 6 July 1253 |
| 2 February 1386 | |
• Commonwealth created | 1 July 1569 |
| 24 October 1795 | |
| 16 February 1918 | |
| 11 March 1990 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi) (121st) |
• Water (%) | 1.98 (2015)[8] |
| Population | |
• 2024 estimate |  2,885,891[9] (135th) |
• Density | 44/km2 (114.0/sq mi) (138th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
• Total |  $144.585 billion[10] (88th) |
• Per capita | $50,600[10] (39th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
• Total | $81.170 billion[10] (78th) |
• Per capita | $28,407[10] (40th) |
| Gini (2022) |  36.2[11]medium inequality |
| HDI (2022) | 0.879[12] very high (37th) |
| Currency | Euro (€) (EUR) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Calling code | +370 |
| ISO 3166 code | LT |
| Internet TLD | .lt |
Lithuania (/ˌlɪθjuˈeɪniə/ LITH-ew-AY-nee-ə;[13] Lithuanian: Lietuva [lʲiətʊˈvɐ]), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika [lʲiətʊˈvoːs rʲɛsˈpʊblʲɪkɐ]), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe.[a] It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest, with a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Lithuania covers an area of 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi), with a population of 2.88 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities are Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys. Lithuanians belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Lithuanian.
For millennia, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, Lithuanian lands were united for the first time by Mindaugas, who formed the Kingdom of Lithuania on 6 July 1253. Subsequent expansion and consolidation resulted in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which by the 14th century was the largest country in Europe.[22] In 1386, the Grand Duchy entered into a de facto personal union with the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. The two realms were united into the bi-confederal Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, forming one of the largest and most prosperous states in Europe. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries gradually dismantled it between 1772 and 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory. Towards the end of World War I, Lithuania declared Independence in 1918, founding the modern Republic of Lithuania. In World War II, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union, then by Nazi Germany, before being reoccupied by the Soviets in 1944. Lithuanian armed resistance to the Soviet occupation lasted until the early 1950s. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to break away when it proclaimed the restoration of its independence.[23]
Lithuania is a developed country with a high income, advanced economy, ranking 37th in the Human Development Index (HDI) and 19th in the World Happiness Report.[24] Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the eurozone, the Nordic Investment Bank, the Schengen Agreement, NATO, and OECD. It also participates in the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) regional co-operation format.
Etymology
The first known record of the name of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuva) is in a 9 March 1009 story of Saint Bruno in the Quedlinburg Chronicle.[25] The Chronicle recorded a Latinized form of the name Lietuva: Litua[26] (pronounced [litua]). Due to lack of reliable evidence, the true meaning of the name is unknown and scholars still debate it. There are a few plausible versions.[27]
Since Lietuva has a suffix (-uva), there should be a corresponding original word with no suffix.[27] A likely candidate is Lietā. Because many Baltic ethnonyms originated from hydronyms, linguists have searched for its origin among local hydronyms. Usually, such names evolved through the following process: hydronym → toponym → ethnonym.[28]