Country Facts - Lithuania

The People

Ethnic Composition

Lithuanian	80.6%
Russian	8.7%
Polish	7.0%
Belorussian	1.6%
Other	2.1%

Religious Composition
Primarily Roman Catholic. Other religions include Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, Protestant, Evangelical Christian Baptist, Islam, and Judaism....

Nationality

Lithuanian(s)

Languages Spoken

Lithuanian is the official language. Polish and Russian are widely spoken as well.

Education and Literacy

Education is compulsory and free for all children between the ages of 6 and 16 years old. There are four major universities. The adult literacy rate is extremely high: 98 percent. Lithuanian is the most common language, although classes are also taught in Polish, Russian, and Yiddish.

Labor Force

Total: 1.5 million (2001)
By occupation:

Industry	30%
Agriculture	20%
Services	50%

Geography

Land Mass Total

25,173 sq mi (65,200 sq km)

Land

25,173 sq mi (65,200 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 791 mi (1,273 km)
Border countries: Belarus 311 mi (502 km), Latvia 281 mi (453 km), Poland 56 mi (91 km), Russia (Kaliningrad oblast) 141 mi (227 km)

Coastline

61 mi (99 km)

Maritime claim

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers.

Terrain

Lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Baltic Sea 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Juozapines/Kalnas 958 ft (292 m)

Natural Resources

Peat, arable land.

Land use

Arable land	45%
Permanent crops	1%
Other	54%

(1998)

Environment - current issues

Contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products and chemicals at military bases.

Geography Note

Fertile central plains are separated by hilly uplands that are ancient glacial deposits

Demographics

Population

3,601,138 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	18.2%	Male: 333,966	Female: 319,992
15-64 years:	68%	Male: 1,184,969	Female: 1,265,711
65 years and over:	13.8%	Male: 167,789	Female: 328,711

Growth Rate

-0.25% (2002)

Life Expectancy

69.42 years
Female: 75.6 years
Male: 63.54 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$7,600 (2001)

Infant Mortality

14.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	0.94 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.51 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.88 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Lithuania, the Baltic state that has conducted the most trade with Russia, has been slowly rebounding from the 1998 Russian financial crisis. High unemployment, at 12.5 percent in 2001, and weak consumption has held back recovery. Trade has been increasingly oriented toward the West. Lithuania has gained membership in the World Trade Organization and has moved ahead with plans to join the E.U. in 2004. Privatization of the large, state-owned utilities, particularly in the energy sector, is continuing. GDP growth topped 5 percent in 2002 and is projected to rise as high as 5.6 percent by 2005. Unemployment dropped to 11.5 percent in 2002 and is predicted to fall as low as 8.7 percent by 2005. Inflation, however, will show an increase from 2.5 percent in 2003 up to 4 percent in the following two years.

Unemployment

12.5% (2001)

Inflation Rate

1.3% (2001)

Industries

metal-cutting machine tools, electric motors, television sets, refrigerators and freezers, petroleum refining, shipbuilding (small ships), furniture making, textiles, food processing, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, optical equipment, electronic components, computers, amber.

Exports

US$4.8 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$5.7 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$27.4 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Latvia 15%, Germany 14%, UK 8%, Russia 7%, Ukraine 5% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Russia 28%, Germany 15%, Poland 5%, France 4%, UK 4% (2000)

Top Exports

Mineral products 21%, textiles and clothing 19%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 8%, wood and wood products 6%, foodstuffs 4% (2000)

Top Imports

Mineral products 23%, machinery and equipment 16%, chemicals 9%, textiles and clothing 9%, transport equipment 9% (2000)

Debt - external

US$3.6 billion (2001)

Economic aid

US$228.5 million (1995)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	9a.m. to 6p.m. Offices may close for lunch between 1p.m. and 2p.m.	Closed
Retail	10a.m. to 8p.m.	Slightly shorter hours on the weekends.
Banks	Monday to Thursday 9a.m. to 3p.m. Banks may close earlier with little or no warning.	Closed
Government	Monday to Thursday 10a.m. to 4p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Independence Day	February 16	February 16	February 16
Restoration of Statehood	March 11	March 11	March 11
Easter¹	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 20	April 12	March 28
Labor Day	May 1	May1	May 1
Day of Statehood	July 6	July 6	July 6
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary	August 15	August 15	August 15
All Saints' Day	November 1	November 1	November 1
Christmas Day²	December 25	December 25	December 25
Boxing Day	December 26	December 26	December 26

Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press