Transcript Document

LITHUANIA
The Republic of
Lithuania is the
country in Central
Europe, by the
Baltic Sea.
Lithuania borders
with Latvia,
Belarus, Poland
and Russia.
Lithuania




Area - 65.2 thousand km ²
Population - 3,555,179
Capital – Vilnius.
Language - Lithuanian - 82%,
8% - Russian, 5.6% - Polish,
4.4% - other languages.
The Largest Cities of Lithuania

Vilnius,

Kaunas,

Klaipėda,

Šiauliai.
The President of Lithuania –
Dalia Grybauskaitė
Our country is
democratic country
with the president
and parlament. Our
president Ms Dalia
Grybauskaite is the
first woman to
have this post in all
history of
Lithuania.
These two facts are very
important for our country
Lithuania became the
member of NATO on the 29th
of March,2004
 We started the membership
in EU on the 1st of May, 2004

Here you can see some historical facts. As you can see
we celebrated one thousand years anniversary
when Lithuania was first mentioned. Just take a
look at some more events.





The first written record of the name of our
country was in 1009. Lithuanians were later
conquered by the neighboring lands.
The Kingdom of Lithuania was established in the
13th century. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania
remained independent and dominating country in
Europe. It was also one of the last European
countries to adopt Christianity.
In the 15th century Lithuania became the largest
state in Europe, merging with Poland and forming
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In 1795, however, Lithuania was erased from the
political map after the Partition with Poland.
Lithuania was included by force into the Soviet
Union after the World War II and regained the
independence only in 1991.
This is the logo of the anniversary.
You can see Vilnius – our capital city. It is
very beautiful you should visit it one day.
Vilnius is the
largest city of
Lithuania. Vilnius
population is about
850 000. It is the
political,
economical,
scientific and
cultural centre of
the country.
As our country is on the
crossroads of the East and the
West, in the course of history,
we suffered invasions of different
armies such as Polish, Russian
and German.
Our Way to Independence
The Baltic Way - 650 km
long human chain (people
holding each others’
hands through three
neighbouring countries –
Lithuania, Latvia and
Estonia) August 23,1989.
Our way to independence
was very difficult and
unusual because we fought
without any weapons. This
act symbolised friendship
among countries and the
wish to be free from the
Soviet Union.
Some photos from this time. In 1991 people stood in
front of Russian tanks without guns. We are happy to be
independent now and be here with you, travel where we
want and talk what we wish.
We want to present you the beauty
of our country nature.
We don‘t have mountains but we are
proud of our hills, plains and waters.
Lithuania has about 3000 rivers and
lakes. The largest river is the
Nemunas.
You can see our seaside, the
dunes and the beach.
Lithuania is well known for its amber.
We make a lot of nice jewellery from
it.
Here are some of historical sites. Grand
Duke Gediminas founded Vilnius in the13th
century
Trakai castle
Trakai Island Castle was
built in the second half
of the 14th century by
the other Grand Duke
Kęstutis. The
construction of Trakai
Island Castle was
related to the expansion
and strengthening of the
Trakai Peninsula Castle.
Kęstutis moved his main
residence and his
treasury to the Island
Castle.
The Hill of Crosses
This is a unique hill
with thousands of
crosses not only
from Lithuania but
also from other
countries of the
world.
Unesco Heritage
There are some objects
included in the list of
UNESCO heritage.
(Vilnius old town,dunes,
Kernavė prehistoric hills.
National Festivals
We have state and
religious festivals.
Actually religious
festivals are more
connected with pagan
traditions than Christian
ones. Such as
Shrovetide, Easter or
All Saints’ Day.
The Song and Dance festival
Every four years we have a very
cheerful festival of song and dance.
Basketball - the Second Religion of
Lithuania
Maybe you heard about our famous basketball
players Sabonis, Marčiulionis or Kleiza. This
year you are welcome to Europe Basketball
Championship in Lithuania
Lithuania is divided into 4
regions: Aukštaitija, Suvalkija,
Žemaitija, Dzūkija. We are the
representatives of Suvalkija
region.
Suvalkija is
the ethnic region
of Lithuania. It is
the region of
extensive plains
and fertile soil
where it is
difficult to find a
stone.
Like every region of our country, Suvalkija has its
typical accent which is considered as an official
accent of our language. We have traditional
clothes, songs, food and so on.
Marijampolė
My native town is
Marijampolė. The
symbol here is
Saint George
fighting the evil
dragon.
Marijampolė is a town in southwestern Lithuania. It is called “the
capital” of Suvalkija.




Marijampole is the
seventh largest city
in Lithuania.
Area: 21 km²
Date of
establishment: 1667
Population: 46 261
The history of our town
Pašešupio village was
first mentioned in
historical sources in
1667. It only consisted
of 24 wooden houses.
Later the village grew
to a nice town.
Neobarocco Classical
architecture style
prevails in the old
town.
Our Churches
We are proud of our historical
sites such as churches
The Railway Station
We have one of
the oldest railway
stations in
Lithuania.
There are important historical places and buildings in
Marijampole, such as one of the oldest gymnasiums,
Marijampole College, Drama Theatre or new culture
house.
Our town gave
a lot of famous
people to
Lithuania. The
first president
of the country
was from
Marijampole.
There is a
number of
poets,
politicians,
writers, etc that
came from this
town.
Our School – Rimanto Stankeviciaus
General Secondary School
I would like to
mention one of the
most significant
people that came from
Marijampolė.
Rimantas Stankevicius
graduated our school.
He is the national hero
and the only
Lithuanian astronaut
in the former Soviet
Union. He chose his
own death in order to
save other people’s
lives.
Thank you for your kind attention.
We are happy to welcome you in
Lithuania in one year.