The colors of the Lithuanian flag are yellow (at the top), for the sun, green (in the middle), for the fields, and red (at the bottom), for the blood of Lithuanians fighting for its independence.
Valdas Adamkus, a former president and US vice-president Dick Cheney in Vilnius
Lithuania has been a member of NATO and the European Union since 2004.
Lithuania is a semi presidential republic, that restored its independence and democracy in 1990. Since then, very important reforms were made and Lithuania is now declared as a democratic state that grants the human rights.
The Constitution that was adopted in 1992 declares that the leader of the country is the President, who must be elected to take office. The elections are held every 5 years. If the President breaks their oath, they can be forced to resign by the Parliament. The President also represents Lithuania abroad and is the commander-in-chief.
The legislative power of Lithuania is called the Seimas, or Parliament. There are 141 members of Seimas who are elected for 4-year-terms. Seimas passes the laws that must be executed by the government, that is formed in Seimas, and it must be accepted by the President. The Prime Minister is set and fired by the President.
The justice is under the power of the courts. The supreme court in Lithuania is the Constitutional Court.
Administrative subdivisions
The counties and municipalities in Lithuania
Lithuania is divided into 10 counties, 60 municipalities and 500 elderates. The counties are:
The county governor rules the county. He or she must be appointed by the central government. Municipalities are governed by the Municipal Councils that are elected for 4 year terms. The head of a municipality is the mayor. The elderates are governed by the elders. The elders are appointed by the municipal councils.
Geography
Physical map of Lithuania
Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe. Its neighbours are Poland in the southwest, Russia (Kaliningrad) in west, Latvia in north and Belarus in the east. Lithuania borders the Baltic Sea and 99 kilometres of its coast belong to Lithuania. The highest hill is Aukštojas (294 metres high), the largest lake is Drūkšiai. 31% of the land is suitable for farms.
Lithuania is divided into 5 cultural regions according to their past and traditions:
Aukštaitija
Dzūkija
Mažoji Lietuva (Lithuania Minor)
Suvalkija
Žemaitija (Samogitia)
Climate
Extreme temperatures in Lithuania (°C)
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Highest Temperatures
+12,6
+16,5
+21,8
+28,8
+34
+35
+37,5
+36
+32
+26
+18
+15,6
Lowest Temperatures
-40,5
-42,9
-37,5
-23,0
-6,8
-2,8
+0,9
-2,9
-6,3
-19,5
-23
-34
Economy
Lithuania has a fast growing economy. It grew up to 7% in the first quarter of 2008.
GDP per capita, based on purchasing power parity is estimated to be $19,730 in 2008. The nominal GDP per capita is estimated to be $14,213 at the same year. According to these numbers, Lithuanian per capita GDP reaches only 61% of EU average. However, it is impressive that only in 8 years, since 2000 it grew up from 30% of EU average.
Emigration still creates a problem, however. This means that the country's own people are leaving their homeland in search for better opportunities like jobs elsewhere. According to the official data, emigration in 2006 was 30% lower than the previous year, with 3,483 people leaving in four months.
Demographics
Kaunas old town
About 80% of people in Lithuania are Lithuanians. The other 20% are minorities which include 234,989 Poles (6.7%), 219,789 Russians (6.3%), 42,866 Belarusians (1.2%), 22,488 Ukrainians (0.7%), and 4,007 ethnic Jews (2001 census data). There are also much smaller populations of Armenians, Azeris, Georgians, Germans, Celts, Finns, Karaims (Karaites), Latvians, Estonians, Moldovans, Greeks, Romanians, Gypsies (Roma), Bashkirs, Tatars, Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Kazakhs in Lithuania.[11]
Lithuanian is spoken by 82% of the people and it is the only official language. Polish is used mostly in Vilnius County where Polish politicians are elected to represent the Polish minority. The documents and street names must be in Lithuanian.
The biggest cities are Vilnius with 542,287 people living in it, Kaunas with 358,107 people living in it, and Klaipėda with 185,899 people living in it.
The nursery schools and the kindergartens are the first-level education forms. However, they are not compulsory. The children start attending the primary school at age 7, where educational programs last for 4 years; then they must start attending secondary school (5th to 10th grades). After finishing 8th or 10th grade, the student can continue learning at the high school or choose courses at the vocational college. The students who finish the high school can join colleges and universities. Higher education is free for the students whose annual median of grades is 8 or higher. The others have to pay ~1300 Euros per semester at least.
The higher education schools are universities and colleges. The main universities are:
Vilnius University (the oldest university in northeastern Europe, founded in 1579);
The University of Technology of Gediminas, in Vilnius;
The Klaipėda University.
Media
The Geographic Centre of Europe is in Lithuania
Radio and television
Lithuanians can choose from many television and radio stations. The first radio station was started in 1926 in Kaunas. The first television station started in 1957. The main radio stations are:
Public broadcaster: LRT Radijas (talk station), LRT Klasika (classical music), LRT Opus (alternative music)
The oldest legal newspaper in Lithuania is the Polish Kurier Wilenski. It was first published in the 18th century and is now only popular with the Polish community. The biggest selling newspapers are:
Lietuvos Rytas (national)
Verslo žinios (business)
Kauno diena (regional)
Vakaro žinios (tabloid)
Vakarų ekspresas (regional)
Internet news portals are very popular in Lithuania. They have the latest information and also let people make comments. The most popular Internet sites with news and information are:
↑Kulikauskienė, Lina (2002). Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija [The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania] (in Lithuanian). Native History, CD. ISBN9986-9216-7-8.
↑Veser, Ernst (23 September 1997). "Semi-Presidentialism-Duverger's Concept—A New Political System Model"(PDF) (in English and Chinese). Department of Education, School of Education, University of Cologne: 39–60. Archived from the original(PDF) on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2017. Duhamel has developed the approach further: He stresses that the French construction does not correspond to either parliamentary or the presidential form of government, and then develops the distinction of 'système politique' and 'régime constitutionnel'. While the former comprises the exercise of power that results from the dominant institutional practice, the latter is the totality of the rules for the dominant institutional practice of the power. In this way, France appears as 'presidentialist system' endowed with a 'semi-presidential regime' (1983: 587). By this standard he recognizes Duverger's pléiade as semi-presidential regimes, as well as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Lithuania (1993: 87).{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
1. Transcontinental country/territory that is part of both Europe and Asia. 2. Territory or with territory geographically part of North America. 3. Partially recognized. 4. Not all dependent territories are listed. 5. Territory has some form of self-rule. 6. Territory or with territory geographically part of Africa.
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