Country

Lithuania

Local name: Lietuva

Coordinates: 55°25′00″ N 24°00′00″ E

Population: 2,888,774; 2.9M
Continent: Europe
Local time: UTC+02:00; Europe/Vilnius · UTC+02:00

About Lithuania

Lithuania is a country in Europe. It is divided into 10 regions. Its population is 2,888,774.

From Wikipedia

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, bordered by 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), and has a population of 2.9 million.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

Built: 1990
Area: 65,300 km²
Official website: lietuva.lt

Source: Wikidata

Photos of Lithuania

Ežeras Žuvintas user:CD · CC BY-SA 4.0
Vištyčio ežeras Šarūnas Šimkus · Public domain
Ežeras Visaginas 7elteven · CC0
Ežeras Veisiejis Arz · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ežeras Ūkojas Hugo.arg · CC BY-SA 3.0

Travel notes for Lithuania

From Wikivoyage

Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuva) is one of the three Baltic states of northeast Europe. It's a low-lying, mostly agricultural country bordered by Latvia to the north and east, Belarus to the south, Poland to the southwest, Kaliningrad exclave of Russia to the west, and the Baltic Sea to the northwest. It broke away from the Soviet Union to become an independent republic in 1990, soon followed by Latvia and Estonia, the other two Baltic states. It is the largest of the three Baltic states, extending to about 65,300 square kilometres with a population of 2.9 million in 2025.

Vilnius, the capital, is the country's star attraction. Beyond is a compact yet diverse country of modern cities, unique small towns, traditional villages, forests, castles, manors, churches, lakes, rivers, hillforts and strange sculptures and monuments attesting to its pagan past.

Understand+

History:

The last ice age covered the Nordic and Baltic regions from 115,000 to 12,000 years ago. It melted to form a low scoured plain with gravel deposits around its margins, boreal forests, and a great lake that eventually broke through to the ocean and became the Baltic Sea.

“Balts” were the Indo-European tribes that settled from 3000 BC. They traded with neighbouring peoples, their prize export being amber, fossilised pine resin. The name “Lithuania” is first recorded in 1009 AD, and two pagan tribes lived in it: the Samogitians west, and the Aukštaitians on higher ground to the east. Their lands lacked natural defensible borders and have continually faced attack, so wherever there was a promising-looking hummock, this was bolstered with gravel and other glacial debris to form a castle mound (piliakalnis) with a wooden palisade.

Two dangerous foes from the 13th century were the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Knights, looting and laying waste under the pretext of Christianising the land. The tribes united under Mindaugas, who was crowned Lithuania’s first and only king in 1253. He converted to Christianity in a peace deal with the Teutonic Knights but reneged when their power ebbed, and there was no widespread conversion of the people. He was assassinated in 1263.

Civil war, assassinations and foreign incursions then roiled the land, but from the 14th century Lithuania had strong capable rulers who give their names to boulevards and squares and monuments everywhere, notably Gediminas (ruled 1316–1341) and Vytautas the Great (ruled 1392–1430). They converted to Christianity, the last European nation to abandon pagan ways, and together with Poland smashed the Teutonic Knights. That alliance was cemented by the Union of Lublin in 1569, creating the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which for 200 years bestrode Europe as far as the Black Sea.

Get in+

Lithuania is a member of the Schengen Agreement. See Travelling around the Schengen Area for more information on how the scheme works, what countries are members and what the requirements are for your nationality. In summary:

There are normally no immigration controls between countries that have signed and implemented the treaty; there may be such controls temporarily, such as in connection with important events and various crises.

The operators may carry out identity checks before passengers board international flights, ferries or trains, even between Schengen countries.

Citizens of the EEA countries and Switzerland do not need visas to travel in the Schengen area, and may stay up to 90 days with no requirements other than having a valid ID card or passport. See European Union#EEA citizens.

Normal visas granted by any Schengen member are valid in all countries that have signed and implemented the treaty (with exceptions for some overseas territories). The granting country may offer additional rights (such as longer stays or right to work) that apply only locally.

By plane:

Vilnius Airport (VNO IATA) has the best selection of flights.

Kaunas (KUN IATA) has Ryanair and other low cost flights from across Europe.

Palanga (PLQ IATA), near Klaipėda, has few flights, mostly seasonal.

Riga (RIX IATA), in Latvia, has a wide choice of flights. Long-distance buses from Riga city stop here on their way into Lithuania.

By train:

Lithuania has a broad-gauge railway (1520 mm / 4 ft 11 27⁄32 in), same as Latvia, Estonia, Belarus and Russia, so trains can't cross the border with Poland. "Rail Baltica" is a project to convert this to standard gauge (1435 mm / 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in), to strengthen links with the west. It's a slow process and you might encounter disruptions or substitute buses as the works grind on.

Source: Wikivoyage · CC BY-SA 4.0 · abridged