Lithuania is officially the Republic of Lithuania, a nation in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of 3 Baltic states and rests on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania shares land borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the eastern and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia to the southwest.

It has a maritime boundary with Sweden to the west on the Baltic Sea. Lithuania covers a location of 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi), with a populace of 2.8 million. Its funding and also largest city is Vilnius; various other major cities are Kaunas and also Klaipėda. Lithuanians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts as well as speak Lithuanian, among just a couple of living Baltic languages.

For centuries the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were occupied by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, Lithuanian lands were joined by Mindaugas, establishing the Kingdom of Lithuania on 6 July 1253. In the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; contemporary Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and also Russia were all lands of the Grand Duchy.

The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland as well as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania remained in a de facto individual union from 1386 with the marital relationship of the Polish queen Hedwig as well as Lithuania’s Grand Battle each other Jogaila, who was crowned King jure uxoris Władysław II Jagiełło of Poland. The Commonwealth of Poland as well as Lithuania was established by the Union of Lublin in July 1569. The Commonwealth lasted greater than 2 centuries, until adjoining countries dismantled it in 1772– 1795, with the Russian Empire linking a lot of Lithuania’s territory.

As World war ended, Lithuania’s Act of Independence was joined 16 February 1918, establishing the contemporary Republic of Lithuania. In World War II, Lithuania was occupied first by the Soviet Union and afterwards by Nazi Germany. Towards the end of the war in 1944, when the Germans were retreating, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. Lithuanian armed resistance to the Soviet line of work lasted up until the very early 1950s.

On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania passed the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, ending up being the first Soviet republic to declare its self-reliance.

Lithuania is an established nation, with a high revenue progressed economic climate; rating very high in the Human being Advancement Index. It rates favourably in regards to constitutionals rights, press freedom, net freedom, autonomous administration, and tranquillity.

Lithuania belongs to the European Union, the Council of Europe, eurozone, the Nordic Financial Investment Financial Institution, Schengen Agreement, NATO as well as OECD. It takes part in the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) regional co-operation style and is a permanent observer of Nordic Council.