"The Nemunas flows in strong repose
And waters our native soil.
Birute's song in our brother's tongue
Can lighten the ploughman's toil.
As our rivers cross the eternal strand,
So shall our songs resound in every land."
Lithuania by Maironis (a famous Lithuanian poet, 1862 – 1932)

Area: 65,200 sq km (slightly larger than West Virginia)
Land boundaries: total: 1,613 km
Coastline: 90 km
Climate: transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers
Terrain: lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m, highest point: Juozapines Kalnas 293.6 m
Natural resources: peat, arable land, amber
Land use: arable land: 44.81%, permanent crops: 0.9%, other: 54.29% (2005). Irrigated land: 70 sq km (2003)
Environment - current issues: contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products and chemicals at military bases
Population: 3,575,439 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 14.9% (male 273,573/female 259,570); 15-64 years: 69.3% (male 1,213,011/female 1,264,996); 65 years and over: 15.8% (male 194,500/female 369,789) (2007 est.). Median age: total: 38.6 years; male: 36.1 years, female: 41.2 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate: -0.289% (2007 est.)
Birth rate: 8.87 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate: 11.05 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.). Infant mortality rate: total: 6.68 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate: -0.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio: 0.887 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 74.44 years, male: 69.46 years, female: 79.69 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.21 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS: 0.1% (2001 est.) or 1,300 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)
Ethnic groups: Lithuanian 83.4%, Polish 6.7%, Russian 6.3%, other or unspecified 3.6% (2001 census)
Religions: Roman Catholic 79%, Russian Orthodox 4.1%, Protestant (including Lutheran and Evangelical Christian Baptist) 1.9%, other or unspecified 5.5%, none 9.5% (2001 census)
Languages: Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)
Literacy: 99.6%, male: 99.6%, female: 99.6% (2001 census)
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Vilnius
Time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Independence: 11 March 1990 (declared); 6 September 1991 (recognized by Soviet Union)
Constitution: adopted 25 October 1992
Legal system: based on civil law system; legislative acts can be appealed to the constitutional court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Economy overview: Lithuania, the Baltic state that has conducted the most trade with Russia, has grown rapidly since rebounding from the 1998 Russian financial crisis. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in 2006, while wages grew 17.6%, contributing to rising inflation. Exports and imports continue to grow strongly, and the current account deficit rose to nearly 10% of GDP in 2006. Trade has been increasingly oriented toward the West. Lithuania has gained membership in the World Trade Organization and joined the EU in May 2004. Privatization of the large, state-owned utilities is nearly complete. Foreign government and business support have helped in the transition from the old command economy to a market economy, but foreign direct investment declined in 2006.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $54.9 billion (2006 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): $30.2 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 7.5% (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 5.5%, industry: 35%, services: 59.6% (2006 est.)
Labor force: 1.588 million (2006 est.)
Unemployment rate: 3.7%, based on survey data, official registered unemployment of 5.7% (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line: 4% (2003)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.8% (2006 est.)
Budget: revenues: $10.05 billion, expenditures: $10.12 billion (2006 est.)
Public debt: 18.2% of GDP (2006 est.)
Agriculture - products: grain, potatoes, sugar beets, flax, vegetables; beef, milk, eggs; fish
Industries: metal-cutting machine tools, electric motors, television sets, refrigerators and freezers, petroleum refining, shipbuilding (small ships), furniture making, textiles, food processing, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, optical equipment, electronic components, computers, amber jewelry
Industrial production growth rate: 7% (2006 est.)
Current account balance: $-3.244 billion (2006 est.)
Exports: $14.12 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Exports - commodities: mineral products 23%, textiles and clothing 16%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 6%, wood and wood products 5%, foodstuffs 5% (2001)
Exports - partners: Russia 12.8%, Latvia 11.1%, Germany 8.6%, Estonia 6.5%, Poland 6.1%, Netherlands 4.8%, Sweden 4.5%, UK 4.4%, US 4.3%, Denmark 4.2%, France 4.2% (2006)
Imports: $18.29 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Imports - commodities: mineral products, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, chemicals, textiles and clothing, metals
Imports - partners: Russia 24.3%, Germany 14.9%, Poland 9.5%, Latvia 4.8% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient: $249.7 million (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $5.773 billion (2006 est.)
Debt - external: $16.2 billion (2006 est.)
Currency Exchange rates: litai (LTL) per US dollar ($) - 2.7498 (2006)
Telephone system: general assessment: inadequate, but is being modernized to provide an improved international capability and better residential access. Domestic: a national, fiber-optic cable, interurban, trunk system is nearing completion; rural exchanges are being improved and expanded; mobile cellular systems are being installed; access to the Internet is available; still many unsatisfied telephone subscriber applications. International: country code - 370; landline connections to Latvia and Poland; major international connections to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway by submarine cable for further transmission by satellite.
Internet country code: .lt
Internet hosts: 1.301 million (2007)
Internet users: 1.083 million (2006)
Transportation
Airports: 87 (2007). Airports - with paved runways: 30. Airports - with unpaved runways: 57
Railways: total: 1,771 km. Broad gauge: 1,749 km 1.524-m gauge (122 km electrified), standard gauge: 22 km 1.435-m gauge (2006)
Roadways: total: 79,497 km, paved: 70,549 km (includes 417 km of expressways), unpaved: 8,948 km (2005)
Waterways: 425 km (2005). Merchant marine:
total: 50 ships (1000 GRT or over) 363,795 GRT/366,624 DWT, by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 22, chemical tanker 1, container 1, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 16. Ports and terminals: Klaipeda
Military branches: Ground Forces, Naval Force, Lithuanian Military Air Forces, National Defense Volunteer Forces (2005)
Military service age and obligation: 19-45 years of age for compulsory military service; 18 years of age for volunteers; 12-month conscript service obligation (2006)
Manpower available for military service: males age 19-49: 830,368, females age 19-49: 830,524 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.2% (2006; 1.23% 2007 est.)
Disputes - international: Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still conforming, as a EU member state having an external border with a non-EU member, to strict Schengen border rules; the Latvian parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania, primarily due to concerns over potential hydrocarbons; as of January 2007, ground demarcation of the boundary with Belarus was complete and mapped with final ratification documents in preparation.
Illicit drugs: transshipment and destination point for cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, and opiates from Southwest Asia, Latin America, Western Europe, and neighboring Baltic countries; growing production of high-quality amphetamines, but limited production of cannabis, methamphetamines; susceptible to money laundering despite changes to banking legislation.

Information source: CIA: The World Fact Book. For more detailed and up-to-date information visit https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/lh.html