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Extensible Markup Language | 1995-06-15 | 4KB | 19 lines

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <!DOCTYPE card PUBLIC "-//Apple, Inc.//DTD card V 2.0//EN" "" > <card> <id>29252</id> <filler1>0</filler1> <cantDelete> <false /> </cantDelete> <showPict> <true /> </showPict> <dontSearch> <false /> </dontSearch> <owner>5472</owner> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet_3106.css" /> <content> <layer>background</layer> <id>31</id> <text>LITHUANIAOfficial name: Lietuvos Respublika (Lithuania)Member of: UN, OSCEArea: 65301 km2 (25213 sq mi)Population: 3760000 (1993 est)Capital: Vilnius 597000 (1992 est)Other major cities: Kaunas 434000, Klaipeda 208000 (1992 est)Languages: Lithuanian (81%), Russian (10%), Polish (7%)Religions: Roman Catholic (80%), Lutheran and Russian Orthodox minoritiesGOVERNMENTThe 141-member Parliament (Seimas) is elected by universal adult suffrage for four years. The President, who is directly elected for five years, chooses the Prime Minister, who, in turn, appoints a Cabinet of Ministers.GEOGRAPHYLithuania comprises a low-lying plain dotted with lakes and crossed by ridges of glacial moraine that rise to 294 m (964 ft) in the southeast. A 100 km (60 mi) sandspit separates a large lagoon from the Baltic Sea. Climate: Lithuania has a transitional climate between the milder temperate areas to the west and the more extreme continental areas to the east.ECONOMYAbout 15% of the labor force is engaged in farming, mainly cattle rearing and dairying. Much of Lithuania is heavily forested. The engineering, timber, cement and food-processing industries are important, but Lithuania faces an uncertain future as it dismantles state control and breaks away from the former Soviet trade system. About one third of the economy had been privatized by 1994. An agreement of association with the EU/EC was negotiated in 1994-95. Currency: Litas.HISTORYThe Lithuanians were first united c. 1250. Their ΓÇÿgrand princesΓÇÖ greatly enlarged the country, annexing what is now Belarus and most of the Ukraine. The marriage of grand prince Jogaila to the queen of Poland (1386) united the crowns of the two countries, although Lithuania retained autonomy until 1569. Lithuania was annexed by Russia in 1795. Lithuanian national consciousness increased throughout the 19th century and Lithuanians rose with the Poles against Russian rule in 1830ΓÇô31 and 1863. German forces invaded in 1915 and encouraged the establishment of a Lithuanian state. After World War I, the new republic faced invasions by the Red Army from the east and the Polish army from the west (1919ΓÇô20). Internationally recognized boundaries were not established until 1923. The dictatorship of Augustinas Voldemaras (1926ΓÇô29) was followed by that of Antonas Smetona (1929ΓÇô40).The Non-Aggression Pact (1939) between Hitler and Stalin assigned Lithuania to the USSR, which invaded and annexed the republic (1940). Lithuania was occupied by Nazi Germany (1941ΓÇô44). When Soviet rule was reimposed (1945), large-scale Russian settlement replaced over 250000 Lithuanians who had been killed or deported to Siberia. In 1988, reforms in the USSR allowed Lithuanian nationalists to operate openly. Nationalists won a majority in the republicΓÇÖs parliament, but their declaration of independence (1990) brought a crackdown by Soviet forces in Lithuania. Following the failed coup by Communist hardliners in Moscow (August 1991), the USSR recognized LithuaniaΓÇÖs independence.</text> </content> <name>Lithuania</name> <script></script> </card>