Lithuania is situated in the north-west of Europe. The total length of its borders is 1273 km. It borders upon Latvia in the north (453 km), Belarus in the south and east (502 km), and Poland (91 km) and Kaliningrad’s region of Russia (227 km) in the south-west. The Baltic Sea is to the west of Lithuania. The length of the coastline is 99km.
Territory and population
 The territory of Lithuania is 65 300 km2 with a population of about 3.5 million people and population density of 55 people per 1 km2. Lithuanians comprise 80% of the population, Russians – 8.6%, Poles – 7.7%, Byelorussians – 1.5%, Ukrainians – 1.2%. Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania (597 thousand people). Other large cities are: Kaunas – 434 thousand people, Klaipeda – 208 thousand, Siauliai – 150 thousand, and Panevezys – 120 thousand.
Languages
The official language is Lithuanian. It belongs to the Baltic group of Indo-European family of languages. Many people speak Russian and Polish languages, understand and can communicate in English and, some, in Deutsch.
Religion
Roman Catholics make up the main part of the population. There are also Lutherans, especially in the region of Klaipeda and Kedainiai, as well as members of the Orthodox Church.
National symbols
 Flag consists of three horizontal stripes – yellow, green, and red. The yellow stripe symbolizes generosity and honor; green – life, hope and freedom; red – love, courage, and blood spilled for the Motherland.
A white knight (Vytis) with his sword above his head is pictured on the Lithuanian State Emblem. This emblem is believed to be one of the oldest in Europe.
State Hymn was written by Vincas Kudirka. Initially he wrote it as his poem called “The National Song”. In 1919 the hymn was accepted officially. Its name was changed to the first line of the song – “Lietuva, tevyne musu”, which means “Lithuania, our Motherland.
Quite often, Lithuanian sing another song written be a famous Lithuanian poet Maironis - "Lietuva brangi, mano tevyne" ("Lithuania precious, my Motherland"). Is became the second national hymn of Lithuania.
Political system
Lithuania is a parliamentary republic. It announced its independence on March 11, 1990. USSR recognized independent Lithuanian Republic on September 6, 1991. The head of the State is the President. Premier-minister is the head of the government. One-chamber parliament, called Seimas, is the legislative authority and consists of 141 deputies, who are elected with a term of four years. The constitution was passed in 1992.
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Latvia
