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Lithuania is one of three Baltic republics, it is located between Latvia in the north, Belarus in the east and Poland in the south. On the west side are the Baltic sea and the Curonian Lagoon. Between Poland and Lithuania is also the Russian exclave, Kaliningrad.
In the Middle Ages Lithuania was one of the powerful nations, its area stretching from the Baltic sea in the north all the way to the Black sea in the south. Lithuania was among the first countries to declare independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. The Soviets tried to stop the tide from turning: during an attack of the Red Army on the Lithuanian television tower in january 1991. Fourteen people died in this conflict. Shortly after, Iceland was the first nation to acknowledge Lithuanian independence. Since then Lithuania has become a full member of EU and NATO in 2004 and is now also part of the Schengen-zone.
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Area
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65.300 km²
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Official language
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Lithuanian
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Capital
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Vilnius
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Form of government
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Republic |
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Number of inhabitants |
3,555,179 |
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Religion (predominantly) |
Roman-Catholic |
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Currency |
Litas (LTL) |
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Time-zone |
Eastern European time / UTC +2 |
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Summer time - Winter time |
End of March - End of October |
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Climate |
Moderate continental climate |
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Temperature summer |
Maximum approx. 35ºC / average 17ºC |
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Temperature winter |
Minimum as low as -40ºC / average -5ºC |
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