Lithuania

Europe

Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia.

56 00 N, 24 00 E

"Tautos jėga vienybėje" "The strength of the nation lies in unity"
President Dalia Grybauskaitė	Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius

Capital
Vilnius

Government
Semi-presidential republic

Religion
Roman Catholic 79%, Russian Orthodox 4.1%, Protestant (including Lutheran and Evangelical Christian Baptist) 1.9%, other or unspecified 5.5%, none 9.5%.

Population
3,545,319

Ethnic group
Lithuanian 84%, Polish 6.1%, Russian 4.9%, Belarusian 1.1%, other or unspecified 3.9%.

National Language                     
Lithuanian
            
National Day
16 February 1918 (from Soviet Russia)

Anthem
Tautiška giesmė

Currency
Lithuanian litas (LTL)

Attractions
Vilnius Old Town 

Website     

Art & Cultural

The ICON

Vilnius Cathedral    The Cathedral of Vilnius  is the main Roman Catholic Cathedral of Lithuania. It is situated in Vilnius Old Town, just off of Cathedral Square. It is the heart of Lithuania's Catholic spiritual life. The coronations of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania took place within its confines. Inside its crypts and catacombs, many famous people in Lithuanian and Polish history are buried, among them Vytautas (1430), his wife Anna (1418), his brother Sigismund (Žygimantas) (1440), cousin Švitrigaila (1452), Saint Casimir (1484), Alexander Jagiellon (1506), two wives of Sigismund II Augustus: Elisabeth of Habsburg (1545) and Barbara Radziwiłł (1551), as well as others, are interred. The heart of Polish-Lithuanian king Władysław IV Vasa was buried there upon his death while his body is buried at the Wavel Cathedral in Cracow. Inside, there are more than forty works of art dating from the 16th through 19th centuries; including frescoes and paintings of various sizes. During the restoration of the Cathedral, the altars of a presumed pagan temple and the original floor, laid during the reign of King Mindaugas, were uncovered. In addition, the remains of the cathedral built in 1387 were also located. A fresco dating from the end of the 14th century, the oldest known fresco in Lithuania, was found on the wall of one of the cathedral's underground chapels.

Gediminas Tower