Portal:Lithuania

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Lithuania (/ˌlɪθjuˈniə/ LITH-yoo-AYN-ee-ə; Lithuanian: Lietuva [lʲɪɛtʊˈvɐ]), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika [lʲɪɛtʊˈvoːs rʲɛsˈpʊblʲɪkɐ]), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Russia to the southwest, with a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Lithuania covers an area of 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi), with a population of 2.86 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities are Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys. Lithuanians belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Lithuanian, one of only a few living Baltic languages, and the most widely spoken.

For millennia, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, Lithuanian lands were united for the first time by Mindaugas, who formed the Kingdom of Lithuania on 6 July 1253. Subsequent expansion and consolidation resulted in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which by the 14th century was the largest country in Europe. In 1386, the Grand Duchy entered into a de facto personal union with the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. The two realms were united into the bi-confederal Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, forming one of the largest and most prosperous states in Europe. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries gradually dismantled it between 1772 and 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory. Towards the end of World War I, Lithuania declared Independence in 1918, founding the modern Republic of Lithuania. In World War II, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union, then by Nazi Germany, before being reoccupied by the Soviets in 1944. Lithuanian armed resistance to the Soviet occupation lasted until the early 1950s. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to break away when it proclaimed the restoration of its independence.

Lithuania is a developed country with a high income, advanced economy, ranking 35th in the Human Development Index. Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the eurozone, the Nordic Investment Bank, the Schengen Agreement, NATO, and OECD. It also participates in the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) regional co-operation format. (Full article...)

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Soviet deportations from Lithuania were a series of 35 mass deportations carried out in Lithuania, a country that was occupied as a constituent socialist republic of the Soviet Union, in 1941 and 1945–1952. At least 130,000 people, 70% of them women and children, were forcibly transported to labor camps and other forced settlements in remote parts of the Soviet Union, particularly in the Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. Among the deportees were about 4,500 Poles. Deportations included Lithuanian partisans and their sympathizers or political prisoners deported to Gulag labor camps (Operation Vesna). Deportations of the civilians served a double purpose: repressing resistance to Sovietization policies in Lithuania and providing free labor in sparsely inhabited areas of the Soviet Union. Approximately 28,000 of Lithuanian deportees died in exile due to poor living conditions. After Stalin's death in 1953, the deportees were slowly and gradually released. The last deportees were released only in 1963. Some 60,000 managed to return to Lithuania, while 30,000 were prohibited from settling back in their homeland. Similar deportations took place in Latvia, Estonia, and other parts of the Soviet Union (see Soviet deportations from Estonia and population transfer in the Soviet Union). Lithuania observes the annual Mourning and Hope Day on June 14 in memory of those deported. (Full article...)
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Military of Lithuania
Public holidays in Lithuania
DateEnglish nameLocal nameRemarks
1 JanuaryNew Year's DayNaujųjų metų diena 
16 FebruaryDay of Restoration of the State of Lithuania (1918)Lietuvos valstybės atkūrimo diena 
11 MarchDay of Restoration of Independence of Lithuania (1990)Lietuvos nepriklausomybės atkūrimo diena 
Moveable SundayEaster SundayŠv. VelykosCommemorates resurrection of Jesus. The first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March.
The day after Easter SundayEaster MondayAntroji šv. Velykų diena 
1 MayInternational Workers' DayTarptautinė darbo diena 
First Sunday in MayMother's DayMotinos diena 
First Sunday in JuneFather's DayTėvo diena 
24 JuneSt. John's Day / Day of DewJoninės / RasosCelebrated according to mostly pagan traditions (Midsummer Day, Saint Jonas Day).
6 JulyStatehood DayValstybės (Lietuvos karaliaus Mindaugo karūnavimo) ir Tautiškos giesmės dienaCelebrates the 1253 coronation of Mindaugas, the first King of Lithuania, and the national anthem of Lithuania.
15 AugustAssumption DayŽolinė (Švč. Mergelės Marijos ėmimo į dangų diena)Also marked according to pagan traditions, celebrating the goddess Žemyna and noting the mid-August as the middle between summer and autumn.
1 NovemberAll Saints' DayVisų šventųjų dienaHalloween is increasingly popular and is also informally celebrated on the eve (31 October).
2 NovemberAll Souls' DayMirusiųjų atminimo (Vėlinių) diena 
24 DecemberChristmas EveŠv. Kūčios 
25 and 26 DecemberChristmas DayŠv. KalėdosCommemorates birth of Jesus.

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