Transcript Republic of Lithuania

LITHUANIA
LIETUVA
Officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos
Respublika) is a country in Northern Europe, the
southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the
southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with
Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and
the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the southwest.
Lithuania is a member of NATO, the Council of Europe, and
the European Union. Lithuania became a full member of the
Schenge Agreement on 21 December 2007. Its population
is 3.6 million. Its capital and the largest city is Vilnius.
In 2009, Vilnius is the European Capital of Culture and
Lithuania celebrates the millennium of its name.
During the 14th century, Lithuania was the largest country in
Europe: present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland
and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
With the Lublin Union of 1569 Poland and Lithuania formed
a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The
Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until
neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from
1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of
Lithuania's territory. In the aftermath of World War I,
Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February
1918, declaring the re-establishment of a sovereign state.
Starting in 1940, Lithuania was occupied first by the Soviet
Union then Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end in
1944 and the Nazis retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied
Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first
Soviet republic to declare its renewed independence. Prior
to the global financial crisis of 2008–2009, post-Soviet
Lithuania had one of the fastest growing economies in the
European Union.
Basics
Capital- Vilnius.
 Population- 3,6 mln.
 Area- 65,200 km².
 Official languages- Lithuanian.
 President- Dalia Grybauskaitė.
 Prime Minister- Andrius Kubilius.
 Seimas Speaker- Irena Degutienė.

President
History
Vytautas the Great.
Lithuania reached the
height of its power
under his reign.
(17th century painting)
During World War I, the Council of Lithuania declared independence
of Lithuania on 16 February 1918. Lithuania's foreign policy was
dominated by territorial disputes with Poland and Germany.
Vilnius Region, including Vilnius, the designated capital in the
Constitution of Lithuania, was taken over by Polish forces during
the Żeligowski's Mutiny in October 1920 and remained under
Polish control until the outbreak of World War II. Acquired during
the Klaipėda Revolt of 1923, the Klaipėda Region was ceded back
to Germany after a German ultimatum in March 1939. The
domestic affairs were controlled by authoritarian Antanas
Smetona and his Lithuanian National Union, who came to power
after the coup d'état of 1926.
In June 1940, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Lithuania in
accordance with the Molotov– Ribbentrop Pact. A year later Russia
was attacked by Nazi Germany leading to Nazi occupation of
Lithuania. The Nazis and their Lithuanian collaborators murdered
around 190,000 Lithuanian Jews (91% of the pre-war Jewish
community) during the Holocaust. After the retreat of the German
armed forces, the Soviets re-established the Lithuanian Soviet
Socialist Republic in 1944. From 1944 to 1952 approximately
100,000 Lithuanian partisans fought a guerrilla war against the
Soviet system. An estimated 30,000 partisans and their
supporters were killed and many more were arrested and
deported to Siberian GULAGs. Population losses of Lithuania
during World War II are estimated at 780,000.
The advent of perestroika and glasnost in the late 1980s allowed
establishment of Sąjūdis, an anti-communist independence
movement. After a landslide victory in elections to the
Supreme Soviet, members of Sąjūdis proclaimed Lithuania's
renewed independence on 11 March 1990 becoming the first
Soviet republic to do so. The Soviet Union imposed economic
blockade attempting to suppress this secession. The Soviet
troops attacked the Vilnius TV Tower and killed 13 Lithuanian
civilians on the night of 13 January 1991 On 4 February 1991,
Iceland became the first country to recognize Lithuanian
independence. After the Soviet August Coup, independent
Lithuania received wide recognition and joined the United
Nations on 17 September 1991. The last Soviet troops left
Lithuania on 31 August 1993 – even earlier than they departed
from East Germany. Lithuania, seeking closer ties with the
West, applied for NATO membership in 1994. After a difficult
transition from planned economy to the free market, Lithuania
became a full member of NATO and the European Union in
spring 2004.
Climate
Lithuania's climate, which ranges between maritime and
continental, is relatively mild. Average temperatures on the
coast are -2.5 °C in January and 16 °C in July. In Vilnius
the average temperatures are -6 °C in January and 16 °C in
July. Simply speaking, 20 °C is frequent on summer days
and 14 °C at night although temperatures can reach 30 or
35 °C. Some winters can be very cold. -20 °C occurs
almost every winter. Winter extremes are -34 °C in coastal
areas and -43 °C in the east of Lithuania. The average
annual precipitation is 800 millimeters on the coast,
900 mm in the Samogitia highlands and 600 millimeters in
the eastern part of the country. Snow occurs every year, it
can snow from October to April. In some years sleet can fall
in September or May. The growing season lasts 202 days in
the western part of the country and 169 days in the eastern
part. Severe storms are rare in the eastern part of
Lithuania but common in the coastal areas.
Sports
Among all the sports personalities of Lithuania, the
most popular individual known to the Western
world is basketball player Žydrūnas Ilgauskas
who plays as center for the Cleveland Cavaliers of
the NBA. Another popular individual is
professional ice hockey player Darius Kasparaitis
who played for the New York Islanders,
Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche, and
New York Rangers of the NHL. Also Arvydas
Sabonis, played in the NBA for a long time.
Ignatas Konovalovas is a 23 year old professional
cyclist with, in 2009, the Cervelo Test Team; he
also has ridden for the French Credit Agricole
team. Konovalovas won the final stage of the
2009 Giro d'Italia.
Beautiful Lithuania
The End
Made by:
Miglė Jakutytė.
 Dominyka Daškevičiūtė.
 Aivaras Čeikauskas.
 Dominykas Valaitis.

2009