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- #CARD:Lithuania:Geography
- #IMAGE 49 66 TWPCX \maps\Lithuani.PCX
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK Click Here for MAP
- Lithuania
- Geography
-
-
- Location:
- Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Sweden and Russia
- Map references:
- Asia, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World
- Area:
- total area:
- 65,200 km2
- land area:
- 65,200 km2
- comparative area:
- slightly larger than West Virginia
- Land boundaries:
- total 1,273 km, Belarus 502 km, Latvia 453 km, Poland 91 km, Russia
- (Kaliningrad) 227 km
- Coastline:
- 108 km
- Maritime claims:
- territorial sea:
- 12 nm
- International disputes:
- dispute with Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) over the position of the Neman
- River border presently located on the Lithuanian bank and not in midriver as
- by international standards
- Climate:
- maritime; wet, moderate winters
- Terrain:
- lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil
- Natural resources:
- peat
- Land use:
- arable land:
- 49.1%
- permanent crops:
- 0%
- meadows and pastures:
- 22.2%
- forest and woodland:
- 16.3%
- other:
- 12.4%
- Irrigated land:
- 430 km2 (1990)
- Environment:
- risk of accidents from the two Chernobyl-type reactors at the Ignalina
- Nuclear Power Plant; contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum
- products and chemicals at military bases
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Lithuania:People
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Lithuania
- People
-
-
- Population:
- 3,819,638 (July 1993 est.)
- Population growth rate:
- 0.76% (1993 est.)
- Birth rate:
- 14.95 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Death rate:
- 10.94 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Net migration rate:
- 3.62 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
- Infant mortality rate:
- 16.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
- Life expectancy at birth:
- total population:
- 71.12 years
- male:
- 66.39 years
- female:
- 76.08 years (1993 est.)
- Total fertility rate:
- 2.03 children born/woman (1993 est.)
- Nationality:
- noun:
- Lithuanian(s)
- adjective:
- Lithuanian
- Ethnic divisions:
- Lithuanian 80.1%, Russian 8.6%, Polish 7.7%, Belarusian 1.5%, other 2.1%
- Religions:
- Roman Catholic, Lutheran, other
- Languages:
- Lithuanian (official), Polish, Russian
- Literacy:
- age 9-49 can read and write (1970)
- total population:
- 100%
- male:
- 100%
- female:
- 100%
- Labor force:
- 1.836 million
- by occupation:
- industry and construction 42%, agriculture and forestry 18%, other 40%
- (1990)
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Lithuania:Government
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Lithuania
- Government
-
-
- Names:
- conventional long form:
- Republic of Lithuania
- conventional short form:
- Lithuania
- local long form:
- Lietuvos Respublika
- local short form:
- Lietuva
- former:
- Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
- Digraph:
- LH
- Type:
- republic
- Capital:
- Vilnius
- Administrative divisions:
- NA districts
- Independence:
- 6 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)
- Constitution:
- adopted 25 October 1992
- Legal system:
- based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts
- National holiday:
- Independence Day, 16 February
- Political parties and leaders:
- Christian Democratic Party, Egidijus KLUMBYS, chairman; Democratic Labor
- Party of Lithuania, Algirdas Mykolas BRAZAUSKAS, chairman; Lithuanian
- Democratic Party, Sauluis PECELIUNAS, chairman; Lithuanian Green Party,
- Irena IGNATAVICIENE, chairwoman; Lithuanian Humanism Party, Vytautas
- KAZLAUSKAS, chairman; Lithuanian Independence Party, Virgilijus CEPAITIS,
- chairman; Lithuanian Liberty League, Antanas TERLECKAS; Lithuanian Liberal
- Union, Vytautus RADZVILAS, chairman; Lithuanian Nationalist Union, Rimantas
- SMETONA, chairman; Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, Aloizas SAKALAS,
- chairman; Union of the Motherland, Vytavtas LANDSBERGIS, chairman
- Other political or pressure groups:
- Sajudis; Lithuanian Future Forum; Farmers Union
- Suffrage:
- 18 years of age; universal
- Elections:
- President:
- last held 14 February 1993 (next to be held NA); results - Algirdas
- BRAZAUSKAS was elected
- Seimas (parliament):
- last held 26 October and 25 November 1992 (next to be held NA); results -
- Democratic Labor Party 51%; seats - (141 total) Democratic Labor Party 73
- Executive branch:
- president, prime minister, cabinet
- Legislative branch:
- unicameral Seimas (parliament)
- Judicial branch:
- Supreme Court, Court of Appeals
- Leaders:
- Chief of State:
- Seimas Chairman and Acting President Algirdas Mykolas BRAZAUSKAS (since 15
- November 1992); Deputy Seimas Chairmen Aloyzas SAKALAS (since NA December
- 1992) and Egidius BICKAUSKAS (since NA December 1992)
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Lithuania:Government
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Lithuania
- Government
- Head of Government:
- Premier Adolfas SLEZEVICIUS (since NA)
- Member of:
- CBSS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, ITU, NACC, UN,
- UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO
- Diplomatic representation in US:
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Stasys LOZORAITIS, Jr.
- chancery:
- 2622 16th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009
- telephone:
- (202) 234-5860, 2639
- FAX:
- (202) 328-0466
- consulate general:
- New York
- US diplomatic representation:
- chief of mission:
- Ambassador Darryl N. JOHNSON
- embassy:
- Akmenu 6, Vilnius 232600
- mailing address:
- APO AE 09723
- telephone:
- 011 [7] (012-2) 222-031
- FAX:
- 011 [7] (012-2) 222-779
- Flag:
- three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), green, and red
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Lithuania:Economy
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Lithuania
- Economy
-
-
- Overview:
- Lithuania is striving to become an independent privatized economy. Although
- it was substantially above average in living standards and technology in the
- old USSR, Lithuania historically lagged behind Latvia and Estonia in
- economic development. The country has no important natural resources aside
- from its arable land and strategic location. Industry depends entirely on
- imported materials that have come from the republics of the former USSR.
- Lithuania benefits from its ice-free port at Klaipeda on the Baltic Sea and
- its rail and highway hub at Vilnius, which provides land communication
- between Eastern Europe and Russia, Latvia, Estonia, and Belarus. Industry
- produces a small assortment of high-quality products, ranging from complex
- machine tools to sophisticated consumer electronics. Because of nuclear
- power, Lithuania is presently self-sufficient in electricity, exporting its
- surplus to Latvia and Belarus; the nuclear facilities inherited from the
- USSR, however, have come under world scrutiny as seriously deficient in
- safety standards. Agriculture is efficient compared with most of the former
- Soviet Union. Lithuania held first place in per capita consumption of meat,
- second place for eggs and potatoes, and fourth place for milk and dairy
- products. Grain must be imported to support the meat and dairy industries.
- Lithuania is pressing ahead with plans to privatize at least 60% of
- state-owned property (industry, agriculture, and housing), having already
- sold almost all housing and many small enterprises using a voucher system.
- Other government priorities include encouraging foreign investment by
- protecting the property rights of foreign firms and redirecting foreign
- trade away from Eastern markets to the more competitive Western markets. For
- the moment, Lithuania will remain highly dependent on Russia for energy, raw
- materials, grains, and markets for its products. In 1992, output plummeted
- by 30% because of cumulative problems with inputs and with markets, problems
- that were accentuated by the phasing out of the Russian ruble as the medium
- of exchange.
- National product:
- GDP $NA
- National product real growth rate:
- -30% (1992 est.)
- National product per capita:
- $NA
- Inflation rate (consumer prices):
- 10%-20% per month (first quarter 1993)
- Unemployment rate:
- 1% (February 1993); but large numbers of underemployed workers
- Budget:
- revenues $258.5 million; expenditures $270.2 million, including capital
- expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)
- Exports:
- $NA
- commodities:
- electronics 18%, petroleum products 5%, food 10%, chemicals 6% (1989)
- partners:
- Russia 40%, Ukraine 16%, other former Soviet republics 32%, West 12%
- Imports:
- $NA
- commodities:
- oil 24%, machinery 14%, chemicals 8%, grain NA% (1989)
- partners:
- Russia 62%, Belarus 18%, former Soviet republics 10%, West 10%
- External debt:
- $650 million (1991 est.)
- Industrial production:
- growth rate -50% (1992 est.)
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Lithuania:Economy
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Lithuania
- Economy
- Electricity:
- 5,925,000 kW capacity; 25,000 million kWh produced, 6,600 kWh per capita
- (1992)
- Industries:
- employs 25% of the labor force; shares in the total production of the former
- USSR are: metal-cutting machine tools 6.6%; electric motors 4.6%; television
- sets 6.2%; refrigerators and freezers 5.4%; other branches: petroleum
- refining, shipbuilding (small ships), furniture making, textiles, food
- processing, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, optical equipment,
- electronic components, computers, and amber
- Agriculture:
- employs around 20% of labor force; sugar, grain, potatoes, sugarbeets,
- vegetables, meat, milk, dairy products, eggs, fish; most developed are the
- livestock and dairy branches, which depend on imported grain; net exporter
- of meat, milk, and eggs
- Illicit drugs:
- transshipment point for illicit drugs from Central and Southwest Asia to
- Western Europe; limited producer of illicit opium; mostly for domestic
- consumption
- Economic aid:
- US commitments, including Ex-Im (1992), $10 million; Western (non-US)
- countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-86), $NA million;
- Communist countries (1971-86), $NA million
- Currency:
- using talonas as temporary currency (March 1993), but planning introduction
- of convertible litas (late 1993)
- Exchange rates:
- NA
- Fiscal year:
- calendar year
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Lithuania:Communications
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Lithuania
- Communications
-
-
- Railroads:
- 2,100 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
- Highways:
- 44,200 km total 35,500 km hard surfaced, 8,700 km earth (1990)
- Inland waterways:
- 600 km perennially navigable
- Pipelines:
- crude oil 105 km, natural gas 760 km (1992)
- Ports:
- coastal - Klaipeda; inland - Kaunas
- Merchant marine:
- 46 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 282,633 GRT/332,447 DWT; includes 31
- cargo, 3 railcar carrier, 1 roll-on/roll-off, 11 combination bulk
- Airports:
- total:
- 96
- useable:
- 19
- with permanent-surface runways:
- 12
- with runways over 3,659 m:
- 0
- with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
- 5
- with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
- 11
- Telecommunications:
- better developed than in most other former USSR republics; operational
- NMT-450 analog cellular network in Vilnius; fiber optic cable installed
- beween Vilnius and Kaunas; 224 telephones per 1000 persons; broadcast
- stations - 13 AM, 26 FM, 1 SW, 1 LW, 3 TV; landlines or microwave to former
- USSR republics; leased connection to the Moscow international switch for
- traffic with other countries; satellite earth stations - (8 channels to
- Norway); new international digital telephone exchange in Kaunas for direct
- access to 13 countries via satellite link out of Copenhagen, Denmark
-
- #ENDCARD
- #CARD:Lithuania:Defense Forces
- THE WORLD FACTBOOK
- Lithuania
- Defense Forces
-
-
- Branches:
- Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Security Forces (internal and border
- troops), National Guard (Skat)
- Manpower availability:
- males age 15-49 933,245; fit for military service 739,400; reach military
- age (18) annually 27,056 (1993 est.)
- Defense expenditures:
- exchange rate conversion - $NA, 5.5% of GDP (1993 est.)
-
- #ENDCARD
-