Location: Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia

Geographic coordinates: 56 00 N, 24 00 E

Map references: Europe

Area:
total: 65,200 sq km
land: 65,200 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries:
total: 1,273 km
border countries: Belarus 502 km, Latvia 453 km, Poland 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 227 km

Coastline: 99 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm

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: Juozapine Kalnas 292 m

Natural resources: peat

Land use:
arable land: 35%
permanent crops : 12%
permanent pastures: 7%
forests and woodland: 31%
other: 15% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 430 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products and chemicals at military bases

Environment - international agreements:
party to : Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Population: 3,601,138 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 18.2% (male 333,966; female 319,992)
15-64 years:68% (male 1,184,969; female 1,265,711)
65 years and over :13.8% (male 167,789; female 328,711) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.25% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 10.22 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 12.87 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years : 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.51 male(s)/female
total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate:14.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.42 years
male: 63.54 years
female : 75.6 years (2002 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Lithuanian(s)
adjective: Lithuanian

Ethnic groups:Lithuanian 80.6%, Russian 8.7%, Polish 7%, Belarusian 1.6%, other 2.1%

Religions: primarily Roman Catholic, others include Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, Protestant, evangelical Christian Baptist, Islam, Judaism

Languages: Lithuanian (official), Polish, Russian

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98%
male: 99%
female: 98% (1989 est.)

Country name:
conventional long form : Republic of Lithuania
conventional short form: Lithuania
local long form: Lietuvos Respublika
local short form: Lietuva
former: Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic

Data code: LT

Government type: independent, democratic republic

National capital: Vilnius

Administrative divisions:10 counties (apskritys, singular - apskritis); Alytaus, Kauno, Klaipedos, Marijampoles, Panevezio, Siauliu, Taurages, Telsiu, Utenos, Vilniaus

Independence: 11 March 1990 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday: Independence Day, 16 February (1918)

Constitution: adopted 25 October 1992

Legal system: based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Valdas ADAMKUS (since 26 February 1998)
head of government : Premier Algirdas Mykolas BRAZAUSKAS (since 3 July 2001)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination of the premier
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 21 December 1997 and 4 January 1998 (next to be held in late 2002); premier appointed by the president on the approval of the Parliament
election results: Valdas ADAMKUS elected president; percent of vote - Valdas ADAMKUS 50.4%, Arturas PAULAUSKAS 49.6%

Legislative branch:unicameral Parliament or Seimas (141 seats, 71 members are directly elected by popular vote, 70 are elected by proportional representation; members serve four-year terms)
elections:last held 8 October 2000 (next to be held NA October 2004)
election results:percent of vote by party - Social Democratic Coalition 31.1%, New Union-Social Liberals 19.6%, Liberal Union 17.2%, TS 8.6%, remaining parties all less than 5%; seats by party - Social Democratic Coalition 52, Liberal Union 34, New Union-Social Liberals 29, TS 9, Farmer's Party 4, Center Union 2, Poles' Electoral Action 2, Modern Christian Democratic Union 1, independents 3, others 5

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges appointed by the Parliament; Court of Appeal, judges appointed by the Parliament

Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Party or LKDP [Kazys BOBELIS, chairman]; Electoral Action of Lithuanian Poles [Valdemar TOMASZEVSKI, chairman]; Homeland Union/Conservative Party or TS [Vytautas LANDSBERGIS, chairman]; Lithuanian Center Union or LCS [Kestutis GLAVECKAS, chairman]; Lithuanian Farmer's Party or LUP [Ramunas KARBAUSKIS, chairman]; Lithuanian Green Party [Rimantas BRAZIULIS]; Lithuanian Liberal Union [Eugenijus GENTVILAS, chairman]; Lithuanian Liberal Youth [Neringa MOROZAITE]; Lithuanian National Democratic Party [Vygintas GONTIS]; Lithuanian Social Democratic Coalition [Algirdas BRAZAUSKAS, chairman] consists of the Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party or LDDP, the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party or LSPD, and New Democracy; Moderate Conservative Union [Gediminas VAGNORIUS]; Modern Christian Democratic Union [Vytautas BOGUSIS, chairman]; New Democracy and Farmer's Union [Kazimiera PRUNSKIENE, chairman]; New Union-Social Liberals [Arturas PAULAUSKAS, chairman]; Young Lithuania [Arnoldas PLATELIS]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Lithuanian Future Forum

International organization participation: BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, NACC, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WEU (associate partner), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Vygaudas USACKAS
chancery: 2622 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 234-5860
FAX : [1] (202) 328-0466
consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador John F. TEFFT
embassy: Akmenu 6, Vilnius 2600
mailing address: PSC 78, Box V, APO AE 09723
telephone : [370] 670-6083
FAX: [370] 670-6084

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), green, and red

Economy - overview: Lithuania, the Baltic state that has conducted the most trade with Russia, has been slowly rebounding from the 1998 Russian financial crisis. High unemployment, at 12.5% in 2001, and weak consumption have held back recovery. Trade has been increasingly oriented toward the West. Lithuania has gained membership in the World Trade Organization and has moved ahead with plans to join the EU. Privatization of the large, state-owned utilities, particularly in the energy sector, is underway

GDP: purchasing power parity - $27.4 billion (2001 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4.8% (2001 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $7,600 (2001 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 9%
industry: 32%
services: 59% (2000 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 1.3% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
total : 1.5 million (2001 est.)
by occupation:industry 30%, agriculture 20%, services 50% (1997 est.)

Unemployment rate: 12.5% (2001 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.59 billion
expenditures: $1.77 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 15% (2001 est.)

Electricity - capacity: 5.46 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production: 10.966 billion kWh (2000)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 6.898 billion kWh (2000)

Agriculture - products: grain, potatoes, sugar beets, vegetables; meat, milk, eggs; fish; flax fiber

Exports:
total value: $4.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
commodities : textiles 15%, agriculture and food 14%, chemicals 12%, fuels 12%, machinery 11% (1995)
partners: Latvia 15%, Germany 14%, UK 8%, Russia 7%, Ukraine 5% (2000)

Imports:
total value: $5.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)
commodities: oil 25%, machinery 17%, textiles 10%, chemicals 9% (1995)
partners: Russia 28%, Germany 15%, Poland 5%, France 4%, UK 4% (2000)

Debt - external:$3.6 billion (2001 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: $228.5 million (1995)

Currency: 1 Lithuanian litas(LTL) = 100 centas

Exchange rates: litai per US dollar - 4.000 (fixed rate since 1 May 1994); note - litai is the plural of litas; effective 2 February 2002 the litas are pegged to the euro

Fiscal year: calendar year

Telephones: 1.142 million (2001)

Telephone system: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: landline connections to Latvia and Poland; major international connections to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway by submarine cable for further transmission by satellite

Radio broadcast stations: AM 29, FM 142, shortwave 1 (2001)

Radios: 1.9 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations: 27
note: Lithuania has approximately 27 broadcasting stations, but may have as many as 100 transmitters, including repeater stations (2001)

Televisions: 1.7 million (1997)

Railways:
total: 1,998 km
broad gauge: 1,807 km 1.524-m gauge (122 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 169 km 0.750-m gauge (2001)
standard gauge: 22 km 1.435-m gauge

Highways:
total : 44,000 km
paved:35,500 km
unpaved: 8,500 km (2001)

Waterways: 600 km perennially navigable

Pipelines: crude oil, 105 km; natural gas 760 km (1992)

Ports and harbors: Kaunas, Klaipeda

Merchant marine:
total : 47 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 279,743 GRT/304,156 DWT
ships by type: cargo 25, combination bulk 8, petroleum tanker 2, railcar carrier 1, refrigerated cargo 6, roll on/roll off 2, short-sea passenger 3

Airports: 72 (2001)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 9
over 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m : 2
under 914 m: 3 (2001)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total:63
1,524 to 2,437 m : 3
914 to 1,523 m:5
under 914 m: 5

Military branches: Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Force, Security Forces (internal and border troops), National Guard (Skat)

Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age

Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 933,638 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - fit for military service:
males: 733,415 (2002 est.)

Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 28,506 (2002 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $230.8 million (FY01)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.9% (FY01)

Disputes - international: dispute with Russia over the position of the riparian and maritimthe Russian Duma has not ratified 1997 boundary treaty; the Latvian Parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania, primarily due to concerns over oil exploration rights

Illicit drugs: transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Southwest Asia and Latin America to Western Europe and Scandinavia