Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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 the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast 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 members of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, which is also the most widely spoken language of the branch.
Some of the key events about Lithuania
- 1236The Baltic Crusades led to the conquest and forced Christianization of Lithuania
- 1253The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was established, marking the beginning of a powerful medieval state
- 1387Lithuania officially adopted Christianity, becoming the last pagan nation in Europe to do so
- 1569The Union of Lublin created the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries in 16th-century Europe
- 1569The Union of Lublin resulted in Lithuania losing its political sovereignty to Poland
- 1579Vilnius University was founded, becoming one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe
- 1791The Constitution of May 3 was adopted, considered Europe's first written national constitution
- 1795The Third Partition of Poland-Lithuania ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- 1915German forces occupied Lithuania during World War I
- 1918Lithuania declared its independence, establishing the modern Lithuanian state
- 1940The Soviet Union occupied and annexed Lithuania
- 1941Nazi Germany invaded Lithuania, leading to the Holocaust and mass killings of Jews
- 1944The Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania, beginning a period of Soviet rule
- 1948Mass deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia by Soviet authorities intensified
- 1986The Chernobyl disaster affected Lithuania with radioactive fallout
- 1990Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare independence from the USSR
- 2004Lithuania joined the European Union and NATO, integrating with Western political and economic structures
- 2008The global financial crisis severely impacted Lithuania's economy
- 2015Lithuania adopted the euro as its official currency, further integrating with the European economy
- 2022Lithuania became the first country in the EU to completely stop importing Russian gas, demonstrating energy independence
Disclaimer: This material is written based on information taken from open sources, including Wikipedia, news media, podcasts, and other public sources.
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