Lithuania with the capital city Vilnius is located in Europe (Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea). It covers some 65,200 square kilometres (slightly larger than West Virginia) with 3,565,000 citizens.

About the flag and history of Lithuania

Three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), green, and red; yellow symbolizes golden fields, as well as the sun, light, and goodness; green represents the forests of the countryside, in addition to nature, freedom, and hope; red stands for courage and the blood spilled in defense of the homeland.

Lithuanian lands were united under MINDAUGAS in 1236; over the next century, through alliances and conquest, Lithuania extended its territory to include most of present-day Belarus and Ukraine. By the end of the 14th century Lithuania was the largest state in Europe. An alliance with Poland in 1386 led the two countries into a union through the person of a common ruler. In 1569, Lithuania and Poland formally united into a single dual state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This entity survived until 1795 when its remnants were partitioned by surrounding countries. Lithuania regained its independence following World War I but was annexed by the USSR in 1940 - an action never recognized by the US and many other countries. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first of the Soviet republics to declare its independence, but Moscow did not recognize this proclamation until September of 1991 (following the abortive coup in Moscow). The last Russian troops withdrew in 1993. Lithuania subsequently restructured its economy for integration into Western European institutions; it joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.

National administrative regions of Lithuania

• Alytaus Apskritis
• Kauno Apskritis
• Klaipedos Apskritis
• Lithuania (general)
• Marijampoles Apskritis
• Panevezio Apskritis
• Siauliu Apskritis
• Taurages Apskritis
• Telsiu Apskritis
• Utenos Apskritis
• Vilniaus Apskritis

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