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Lithuania (/ˌlɪθjuˈeɪniə/ ^ⓘ 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 members of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, which is also the most widely spoken language of the branch.

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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Lithuanian partisans of the Vytautas military district Tigras (Tiger) team, 1947.

Lithuanian partisans (Lithuanian: Lietuvos partizanai) were partisans who waged guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers and cursed soldiers, fought against Soviet rule in Estonia, Latvia and Poland. An estimated total of 30,000 Lithuanian partisans and their supporters were killed. The Lithuanian partisan war lasted almost for a decade, thus becoming one of the longest partisan wars in Europe.

At the end of World War II, the Red Army pushed the Eastern Front towards Lithuania. The Soviets invaded and occupied Lithuania by the end of 1944. As forced conscription into Red Army and Stalinist repressions escalated, thousands of Lithuanians took to the forests in the countryside as a refuge. These spontaneous groups became more organized and centralized culminating in the establishment of the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters in February 1948. In their documents, the partisans emphasized that their ultimate goal was the recreation of independent Lithuania. As the partisan war continued, it became clear that the West would not interfere in Eastern Europe (see Western betrayal) and the partisans had no chance of success against a far stronger opponent. Eventually, the partisans made an explicit and conscious decision not to accept any new members. The leadership of the partisans was destroyed in 1953 thus effectively ending the partisan war, though individual fighters held out until the 1960s. (Full article...)

The following are images from various Lithuania-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The plan of deportations of the civilian population in Lithuania during the Operation Priboi (1949) created by the Soviet MGB. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 2Pope Innocent IV's bull regarding Lithuania's placement under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, Mindaugas' baptism and coronation (from History of Lithuania)
Image 3Poland and Lithuania after the Union of Lublin (1569) (from History of Lithuania)
Image 4Joseph Stalin, Joachim von Ribbentrop and others at the signing of the German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty (from History of Lithuania)
Image 5An Anti-Soviet rally in Vingis Park of about 250,000 people. Sąjūdis was a movement which led to the restoration of an Independent State of Lithuania. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 6Restored Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, which was reconstructed in a Renaissance style by Sigismund I the Old and his son Sigismund II Augustus (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 7Martynas Mažvydas' Catechism was published in Lithuanian in Königsberg (1547) (from History of Lithuania)
Image 8St. Anne's Church and the church of the Bernardine Monastery in Vilnius. Two examples of Gothic architecture. (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 9Grand Duke Vytautas, a Lithuanian hero, was Jogaila's first cousin and rival (from History of Lithuania)
Image 10Constitution of 3 May, one of the first official state documents issued in both Polish and Lithuanian, Lithuanian edition (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 11Balts in the 12th century (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 12Daumantas of Pskov killed Mindaugas in revenge for the king's taking of Daumantas' wife (from History of Lithuania)
Image 13Yellow, green, and red horizontally shape the flag of Lithuania (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 14Gediminas' Tower in Vilnius, built under Vytautas (from History of Lithuania)
Image 15Vincas Kudirka (from History of Lithuania)
Image 16Grand Duchy of Lithuania under the rule of Vytautas the Great (1392 – 1430) (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 17Traditional ethnographic regions of Lithuania proper (from History of Lithuania)
Image 18The Third Statute of Lithuania (confirmed in 1588), which stated that Poland and Lithuania have equal rights within the Commonwealth (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 19Simple Words of Catechism by Martynas Mažvydas was the first Lithuanian book and was published in 1547. (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 20St. Nicholas in Vilnius, the oldest church in Lithuania (from History of Lithuania)
Image 21The Grand Duke of Lithuania, Alexander Jagiellon, specified that the Roman Catholic priests in these 28 churches must know the Lithuanian language, according to his letter of 18 September 1501, which was addressed to the Bishop of Vilnius Albertas. (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 22Lithuanian deportee house in Kolyma (1958). (from History of Lithuania)
Image 23Modern Lithuania with the former Russian Empire's administrative divisions (governorates) shown (1867–1914). (from History of Lithuania)
Image 24Act of Kreva signed on 14 August 1385 (from History of Lithuania)
Image 25Jogaila's treaty with the Teutonic Knights precipitated the fall of Kęstutis. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 26Unarmed Lithuanian citizen standing against a Soviet tank during the January Events. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 27Lithuanian artist Jonas Mekas, regarded as godfather of American avant-garde cinema (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 28A ceremony of Lithuanian modern pagans. (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 29The first printed book in Lithuanian Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas by Martynas Mažvydas (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 30Lithuanian–Polish territorial disputes in the early 1920s, including the Republic of Central Lithuania. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 31King Władysław IV's universal of March 22, 1639 forbidding his subjects to hunt on the territory of Ducal Prussia. The universal was translated into Old Lithuanian at the Prussian chancellery. (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 32The Great Courtyard of Vilnius University and the Church of St. Johns (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 33Lithuanian resistance fighters, commanded by the Provisional Government, lead the disarmed soldiers of the Red Army in Kaunas during the June Uprising in 1941 (from History of Lithuania)
Image 34Description of Kernavė as "Kiernow primum M. Duci Lith. domicilium" (English: Kernavė, the first residence-capital of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania) in the Radziwiłł map (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 35Baltic tribes around 1200, in the neighbourhood about to face the Teutonic Knights’ conversion and conquests; note that Baltic territory extended far inland. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 36The Grand Duchy of Lithuania within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth c. 1635 (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 371960 postage stamp depicting Lithuanians in traditional clothing (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 38Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius, Lithuania (from History of Lithuania)
Image 39Gediminas' Tower and other remnants of the Upper Castle in Vilnius (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 40Lithuania and its administrative divisions in 1385. (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 411864 Lithuanian prayer book, printed in the Latin characters and therefore prohibited. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 42Royal insignias of the rulers of Lithuania in the Vilnius Cathedral, 1931 (from History of Lithuania)
Image 43Leaders of the Supreme Council of Lithuania on 11 March 1990, after promulgation of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania in Vilnius (from History of Lithuania)
Image 44Lithuania in the Mappa mundi of Pietro Vesconte, 1321. The inscription reads: Letvini pagani – pagan Lithuanians. (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 45Konstanty Kalinowski (from History of Lithuania)
Image 46Jonas Basanavičius, a preeminent figure in the Lithuanian National Revival movement (from History of Lithuania)
Image 47A facsimile of a page from Sebastian Münster atlas Cosmographia universalis (first edition 1544), describing the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1544 (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 48Poland and Lithuania in 1386–1434 (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 49Celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of statehood of Lithuania with foreign leaders (Vilnius, 2018) (from History of Lithuania)
Image 50Lithuanian rebels during the Klaipėda Revolt (from History of Lithuania)
Image 51Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania (from History of Lithuania)
Image 52Title of the Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania written in the Ruthenian language, 1588 (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 53Hetman Kristupas Radvila or Krzysztof Radziwiłł (1585–1640), a Lithuanian Calvinist and an accomplished military commander (from History of Lithuania)
Image 54The preservation of the Great Seal of Lithuania (pictured, dating to 1623) when concluding the Union of Lublin meant that the elected monarchs acts without being confirmed with the Lithuanian seals were void in Lithuania. These Lithuanian seals were in possession of the Lithuanian Grand Chancellor (Great Seal) and Lithuanian Vice-Chancellor [lt] (Lesser Seal). (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 55Columns of Gediminas (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 56Former KGB headquarters in Vilnius, containing the Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 57Ruthenian depiction of Christian Jogaila (from History of Lithuania)
Image 58Seal of Mindaugas (from History of Lithuania)
Image 59Lithuanian basketball clubs Žalgiris and Šiauliai playing a match (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 60Flag of Lithuania (from History of Lithuania)
Image 61The original twenty members of the Council of Lithuania (from History of Lithuania)
Image 62Aušra, originally spelled Auszra, formulated the ideas of Lithuanian nationalism (from History of Lithuania)
Image 63Lithuanian cemetery at All Souls night (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 64Battle of Grunwald was one of the largest battles in Medieval Europe and is regarded as one of the most important victories in the history of Lithuania (from History of Lithuania)
Image 65Medieval-like Lithuanian soldiers during the historical reenactment of the Battle of Grunwald in 2009 (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 66A flyer with a proposed agenda for the Great Seimas of Vilnius; it was rejected by the delegates and a more politically activist schedule was adopted (from History of Lithuania)
Image 67Map of the ancient Baltic homelands at the time of the Hunnish invasions (3rd-4th c. AD). Baltic cultural areas (identified archaeologically) are in purple. The Baltic sphere originally covered Eastern Europe from the Baltic Sea to modern Moscow. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 68Area where according to Zigmas Zinkevičius the Lithuanian language was predominantly spoken in the 16th century (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 69First Lithuanian legal statute, implemented in 1522–1529 (from History of Lithuania)
Image 70Poland and Lithuania in 1526, before the Union of Lublin (from History of Lithuania)
Image 71Administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 17th century (from History of Lithuania)
Image 72Simonas Daukantas (from History of Lithuania)
Image 73Peace agreement between Gediminas and the Teutonic Order (from History of Lithuania)
Image 74Counties of Lithuania 1920–1939 (from History of Lithuania)
Image 75Lubart's Castle in Ukraine, built by the son of Gediminas' Liubartas in the mid-14th century, is famous for the Congress of Lutsk which took place in 1429 (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 76Oldest surviving manuscript in the Lithuanian language (beginning of the 16th century), rewritten from a 15th-century original text (from History of Lithuania)
Image 77The Battle of Grunwald, 1410, with Ulrich von Jungingen and Vytautas at center (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 78Coin of the Principality of Kiev, around the time of Vladimir Olgerdovich (1362–1394), imitating a Gulistan mint dang of Golden Horde ruler Jani Beg (Jambek). Uncertain Kiev region mint. Pseudo-Arabic legend. (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 79East of the Baltic tribes: Kievan Rus' (from History of Lithuania)
Image 80Demarcation lines between Poland and Lithuania 1919–1939 (from History of Lithuania)
Image 81Sigismund II Augustus took decisive steps to ensure preservation of the union after his death (from History of Lithuania)
Image 82Church of St. Johns in Vilnius. Example of Vilnian Baroque style (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 8316th-century image of Algirdas, one of the great rulers of 14th-century Europe (from History of Lithuania)
Image 84German soldiers and locals watch a Lithuanian synagogue burn in 1941. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 85Presidium and secretariat of the Vilnius Conference (from History of Lithuania)
Image 86Antanas Smetona, the first and last president of independent Lithuania during the interbellum years. The 1918–1939 period is often known as "Smetona's time". (from History of Lithuania)
Image 87Trakai Island Castle, built by Grand Duke Vytautas, which served as a residence of Lithuanian Grand Dukes (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 88Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 89Opera performance Sun & Sea (Marina) at 2019 Venice Biennale (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 90Lithuania's name first written in 1009, in the annals of the Quedlinburg Abbey, Germany. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 91Adam Mickiewicz was a Polish–Lithuanian poet when the Polish–Lithuanian state no longer existed (from History of Lithuania)
Image 92Lithuania and its administrative divisions in the 17th century (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 93Augustinas Voldemaras, Lithuania's first prime minister (from History of Lithuania)
Image 94Lithuanian territorial issues 1939–1940 (from History of Lithuania)
Image 95Cepelinai served with sour cream (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 96Lithuanian armed resistance against Soviet occupation lasted until 1953. (from History of Lithuania)
Image 97Violeta Urmanavičiūtė, a Lithuanian soprano singer. (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 98Expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13–15th centuries (from History of Lithuania)
Image 99State of the Teutonic Order in 1260 (from History of Lithuania)
Image 100The Picture Gallery in Vilnius' Chodkiewicz Palace (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 101Lithuanian state in 13–15th centuries (from Grand Duchy of Lithuania)
Image 102Seal of Kęstutis (from History of Lithuania)
Image 103A Lithuanian folklore band Kūlgrinda performing in Vilnius (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 104Third Grand Duchy's Statute (1588 legal code) was still written in the Ruthenian language. Lithuanian coat of arms, "the Chase", is shown on the title page (from History of Lithuania)
Image 105Biržai Castle (from Culture of Lithuania)
Image 106Parade of the Lithuanian Army in Vilnius (1939) (from History of Lithuania)
Image 107Grodno Military Command, loyal to Lithuania, decorated with three flags of Lithuania, Belarus, and with the Coat of arms of Lithuania, January 1919 (from History of Lithuania)
Image 108Kernavė Mounds (from History of Lithuania)

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...on September 18, 1999 Jurgis Kairys flew under all bridges over the Neris River in Vilnius?
...Lithuanian basketball legend Arvydas Sabonis is not only considered as one of the best European basketball players of all-time, but also currently is the tallest person in the whole Lithuania with 223,6 cm height?
...Prince Wilhelm of Urach was named as King of Lithuania Mindaugas II just for a few months in 1918?

... that the Church of St. Jacob, which had been used for centuries by Prussian Lithuanians in Klaipėda, was demolished by soldiers of the Soviet Armed Forces using tanks in 1959?
... that during the Polish–Soviet War, Lithuanian-Belorussian Soviet Republic People's Commissar for Justice Yitzhak Weinstein-Branovsky organized revolutionary militias in villages near Utena?
... that Daniel Klein's Grammatica Litvanica, the first printed grammar of the Lithuanian language, introduced the distinctive Lithuanian letter Ė?

More did you know facts

Image 1Orlen Lietuva is the only oil refinery in the Baltic States
Image 2The modern skyline of Vilnius
Image 3"Fairy Tale - III" (1907) by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis
Image 4Kretinga Museum
Image 5Žaltys and the Holy Fire are depicted in Olaus Magnus' Carta Marina, above the inscription LITVANIE PARS
Image 6The Seal of Mindaugas is a medieval seal affixed to the October 1255 act by Mindaugas, King of Lithuania, granting Selonia to the Teutonic Knights.
Image 7Sand dunes in the Curonian Spit
Image 8Gediminas' Tower is the remaining part of the Upper Castle in Vilnius
Image 9Trakai Island Castle was built in the 14th century
Image 10Bridge in Lyduvėnai is the longest railway bridge in Lithuania
Image 11Old Town of Kaunas
Image 12One of the old hillfort mounds at Kernavė
Image 13Commemorative 2016 post stamp with George Maciunas
Image 14Bird's-eye view of town Nida
Image 15Winter in the countryside of Lithuania
Image 16Summer in the port city of Klaipėda
Image 17Lithuanian resistance fighters. Anti-Soviet resistance lasted until 1950s.
Image 18FSRU Independence in the port of Klaipėda
Image 19Vytautas the Great was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Image 20Lithuanian 2 Euro coin
Image 21Skyscrapers in Vilnius
Image 22Lithuanian design ANBO III aircraft from 1930s
Image 23The victory of the Polish-Lithuanian forces over the Grand Duchy of Moscow at the Battle of Orsha in 1514
Image 24Kaunas Castle in 2016
Image 25Vilnius Old Town

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Portal:Lithuania, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

Public holidays in Lithuania
Date	English name	Local name	Remarks
1 January	New Year's Day	Naujųjų metų diena
16 February	Day of Restoration of the State of Lithuania (1918)	Lietuvos valstybės atkūrimo diena
11 March	Day of Restoration of Independence of Lithuania (1990)	Lietuvos nepriklausomybės atkūrimo diena
Moveable Sunday	Easter Sunday	Šv. Velykos	Commemorates resurrection of Jesus. The first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March.
The day after Easter Sunday	Easter Monday	Antroji šv. Velykų diena
1 May	International Workers' Day	Tarptautinė darbo diena
First Sunday in May	Mother's Day	Motinos diena
First Sunday in June	Father's Day	Tėvo diena
24 June	St. John's Day / Day of Dew	Joninės / Rasos	Celebrated according to mostly pagan traditions (Midsummer Day, Saint Jonas Day).
6 July	Statehood Day	Valstybės (Lietuvos karaliaus Mindaugo karūnavimo) ir Tautiškos giesmės diena	Celebrates the 1253 coronation of Mindaugas, the first King of Lithuania, and the national anthem of Lithuania.
15 August	Assumption Day	Žolinė (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 November	All Saints' Day	Visų šventųjų diena	Halloween is increasingly popular and is also informally celebrated on the eve (31 October).
2 November	All Souls' Day	Mirusiųjų atminimo (Vėlinių) diena
24 December	Christmas Eve	Šv. Kūčios
25 and 26 December	Christmas Day	Šv. Kalėdos	Commemorates birth of Jesus.

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Portal:Lithuania

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