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Lithuania
Relevant information about Lithuania.Lithuania is located in Northern Europe and is the southernmost of the three Baltic States – Estonia and Latvia. Vilnius is the capital and largest city and its neighboring countries are Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland to the southwest. It has approximately 99 kilometers of sandy coastline and the Neman River is its main river. Lithuania is separated into 10 counties: Vilnius, Kaunas, Alytus, Utena, Panevezys, Siauliai, Telsiai, Klaipeda, Taurage and Marijampole; which are subdivided into 60 municipalities. As a consequence of the World War I, Lithuania became independent on February 16 1918. However, in 1940, during World War II, it was invaded firstly by the Soviet Union, and secondly by the Nazis, who 4 years later retreated and the Soviet Union returned. Almost 50 years later, on March 1990, Lithuania was the first Soviet Republic to become independent, and since then, democracy has been a firm tradition.
Lithuania has a population of 3,349,900 inhabitants. The largest ethnic group is Lithuanians, who are the 84% of the population. The most important minorities are Poles (primarily established in southeast of Lithuania), Russians and Belorussians, who represent 6,1%, 4.9% and 1.1% of the population respectively. Approximately, 3000 Roma dwell in Lithuania, particularly in the town of Visaginas. The largest cities are Vilnius, the capital city, where 546,733 citizens live in; Kaunas (352,279), KlaipÄ—da (183,433) and Å iauliai (126,215) come after. The official language is Lithuanian: 84% of the population speaks it as their native language; 8.2% speak Russian and 5.8% Polish. In schools, students learn English as their first foreign language, and some of them teach also German, French or Russian. More than 60% of the country’s population is fluent in Russian. The life expectancy is on men 69.98 years and in women 80.1 years, estimated in 2009. The total fertility rate is 1.23 children born per woman, whereas the infant mortality rate is 6.47 deaths per 1,000 births. Lithuania has the second highest suicide rate in the world and leads the homicide rate in the EU. Regarding religion, 79% of the country’s population are Roman Catholic, 41% Russian orthodox and 1.9% Protestant, including Lutheran and Evangelical Christian Baptist, according to the 2001 census. In the same year, it was estimated that 1,272 Jews lived in Lithuania. The Lithuanian Art Museum, founded in the year 1933, is the largest museum of art preservation in the country. The Palanga Amber Museum is its affiliate. Between the both of them, 28,000 pieces of amber are displayed, and approximately 15,000 contain inclusions of insects, spiders or plants. The Vilnius Guggenheim Hermitage Museum will open in 2011, and will exhibit new media art, and Fluxus Art, as well as the New York anthology film archive. Regarding education, the Vilnius University is the oldest university, founded in the year 1579. In regards to sport, the most popular are basketballs, football, athletics and cycling. About 80 Olympic and non-Olympic sports federations exist. The Lithuanian Academy of Physical Education train professional sportsmen and trainers. In the area of cuisine, the main products and ingredients that are used are barley, potatoes, rye, beets, green, berries and mushrooms. Lithuanian gastronomy has been influenced by Poland, Ukraine, Germany, Roma and Georgia. The Lithuanian specialty is cold beet soup, and, among the many delicious dishes that are served, you can choose from DeÅ¡ra (sausages are cooked in many different ways: they can be smoked or fresh, and include pork, beef or potatoes) and Kastinys (sour cream “butter”) to Skilandis (pig stomach stuffed with meat and garlic) and Kibinai (pastry with mutton and onions). A vast number of cultural events and festivals take place in Lithuania every year. Lithuanians look forward to festivals like the Vilnius Festival, the St. Christopher’s Festival and the Pažaislis Festival, which are very popular, as well as the International Jazz Festival in the cities of KlaipÄ—da, Kaunas, Nida and Vilnius. Lithuania’s heritage includes folk music. The internationally-known Lithuanian Song and Dance Festival celebrate folk music every four years and it has been included in the UNESCO list of heritage masterpieces.
When Lithuania separated from the Soviet Union, it became an independent capitalist economy with the help and support of foreign government and business, and it implemented liberal reforms. As a member of the European Union (joined in May 2004), the World Trade Organization, NATO, and the Council of Europe, Lithuania is the biggest economy of the three Baltic countries and part of the group of high human development countries. The main industries include metal-cutting machine tools, television sets, electric motors, electric equipment such as refrigerators and freezers, petroleum refining, shipbuilding, furniture wood processing and paper industry, computers, fertilizers, agricultural machinery and textiles. Grain, potatoes, sugar beets, flax, vegetables, beef, milk, eggs and fish are the main agricultural products. Lithuania has superior telecommunication infrastructure and efficient work-force, which are the key in order to provide high quality services and worldwide manufactured products. The unemployment rate is 14.6%, estimated in 2009; and the population below the poverty line is 4%, calculated in the year 2003. The inflation rate is of 4.2%. Lithuania had the fastest growing economy in the European Union before the global crisis of 2008-2009.
As the owner of picturesque ecological countryside and a splendid coastal area (almost 100 km), Lithuania attracts more than 2.2 million visitors every year. The majority are from bordering countries: Russia, Latvia, Poland and Belarus. However, it is also visited by tourists that come from Germany, Finland, Italy and the United Kingdom. Lithuania is owner of an extremely long list of museums and galleries: among them, you can find the Lithuanian Fine Arts Museum, Vilnius Picture gallery, the Arts and Crafts Museum, the KlaipÄ—da Clock Museum, the Lithuanian National Museum, and the Mykolas Žilinskas Art Gallery. The old towns of Kaunas, KÄ—dainiai, KlaipÄ—da and Vilnius were declared cultural heritage objects. Lithuania is the home of beautiful flora and fauna (forests, wild animals and rare birds), which you can appreciate in the different national parks, such as the AukÅ¡taitija National Park and the Trakai Historical National Park. Approximately 12% of the country’s territory is represented by protected areas, natural and cultural reserves, and national parks. The city of Vilnius was nominated to become European Capital of Culture 2009, along with the Austrian city of Linz, in November of 2005. The majority of Lithuanian castles, due to being built in the 11th and 12th century, didn’t survive. However, many castles remain, mostly from the 13th century which have been built with stone and brick, such as the Medininkai Castle, the Trakai Island Castle and the Trakai Peninsula Castle. The most popular seaside resorts are Palanga (with sandy beaches), Nida, which is a world heritage and natural site, and Juodkrante.
Lithuania is considered as one of the best medical tourism destinations, due to the low prices and costs and quality of the services. Visitors from western countries arrive to the Lithuanian country to have treatments or beauty procedures. Lithuania has a long list of different places for health recovery to offer. One of the reasons why is one of the best medical tourism destinations is its easy access and geographical location: three international airports, small country located in the center of the European continent. It offers stem cell treatment, stem cell transplantation to help cancer patients, cosmetic surgeries and varied treatments.
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