Lying on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, Lithuania was the last European country formally to embrace Christianity, around 1400. Its terrain is mostly flat with many lakes, moors, and bogs. Now a multiparty democracy, Lithuania achieved independence from the former USSR in 1991. Industrial production and agriculture are the mainstays of the economy. Russia finally withdrew all its troops from Lithuania in 1993.

Unlike the other Baltic states, Lithuania has a mainly Catholic population. As such it has strong historical links with Poland, with which the country was once united, although there is tension between ethnic Lithuanians and Poles. Relations with the Jewish minority remain strained. More than 90% of nonethnic Lithuanians have been granted citizenship. Relations with ethnic Russians are best of all the Baltic states, but there are fewer of them.

Strengths

Privatization has stimulated the economy to some extent. Inflation under control. Successful liberal reforms. Litas pegged to euro.

Weaknesses

Agriculture in the doldrums following decollectivization. Exports dependent on health of Russian economy. Poor raw materials base. Difficulty in attracting significant foreign investment.

Lithuania was the most politically stable of the three Baltic republics in the 1990s. Strongly nationalist when it reestablished independence from the disintegrating Soviet Union in 1991, it unexpectedly voted the former communists back into office in 1992 and 1993. Former communist leader Algirdas Brazauskas held the presidency for five years until returning emigré businessman Valdas Adamkus was elected in 1998. Meanwhile the conservative TS(LK) had won the 1996 legislative elections in the wake of a banking scandal, but their popularity dwindled as successive prime ministers were forced to resign. The TS(LK) suffered a massive defeat in the 2000 legislative elections. Adamkus controversially bypassed the Social Democrats, the largest bloc in the new Parliament, in favor of a pro-market coalition. This collapsed in mid-2001, and Brazauskas became prime minister in a government dominated by his Social Democrats.

As a "second wave" applicant, Lithuania began EU membership negotiations in 2000. It currently has the best relations with Russia of all the Baltic states, but is keen for all three to join NATO.

Lithuania's security is in the hands of its army, the small navy and air force, and a large National Guard formed to patrol its frontiers. Twelve months' military service is compulsory. The USA is now supporting Lithuania's entry into NATO.

Lithuania has significant reserves of peat and materials used in construction industry. The Ignalina nuclear plant provides more than 80% of the country's electricity. Oil is mostly imported from Russia.

Radioactive leaks and the risk of accident at the giant Chernobyl-type nuclear plant at Ignalina cause much concern. In 2002 the government agreed to decommission the plant, by 2009, after pressure from the EU, which will share the $2.6 billion cost.

Lithuania is crossed by international rail routes and Klaipeda provides extensive connections to other Baltic ports.

The 1997 reorganization of the health service involves replacing state funding with finance from insurance funds.

Teaching at all levels is in Lithuanian, making access to higher education harder for minorities; 8% of the population are graduates.

Levels of crime are low compared with other parts of the former USSR. Robbery is a growing problem.

Lithuanians are on average poorer than their neighbors in the other Baltic states. Since 1991 a large gap has opened between the incomes of rich and poor.

The tourist industry boomed after independence. Vilnius is well preserved; its historic center survived German and Russian occupation. Trakai, the capital of the Grand Duchy in the 16th century, is also popular with visitors.

Russia annexed Lithuania in 1795. The suppression of rebellions in 1831 and 1863 failed to undermine its nationalist movement.

• 1915 Occupied by German troops.
• 1918 Independence declared.
• 1926 Military coup; one-party rule.
• 1940 Annexed by Soviet Union.
• 1941–1944 Nazi occupation.
• 1945 Incorporated into USSR.
• 1991 Achieves full independence.
• 1992 First multiparty elections.
• 1993 Russian troops withdraw.
• 1996 Prime minister forced from office by banking scandal. General election; conservative TS(LK) wins.
• 1998 Valdas Adamkus president.
• 2000 Brief center-left coalition.
• 2001 Ex-president Brazauskas becomes prime minister.