Lithuania

Lithuania, country of northeastern Europe, the southernmost and largest of the three Baltic states. Lithuania was a powerful empire that dominated much of eastern Europe in the 14th–16th centuries before becoming part of the Polish-Lithuanian confederation for the next two centuries. Destination Lithuania, an Eastern European country with a coastline at the Baltic Sea in west. It is the largest and most populous of the three Baltic states. The country is bordered by Belarus, Latvia, Poland, and Russia (Kaliningrad) and it shares a maritime border with Sweden. Lithuania is famous for its landscapes, flatlands, abundant forests, lakes and marches. In addition, the seaside with its sandy beaches where amber may be found and the Curonian Spit with its impressive images and dunes attract tourists as well. They have fair skin, more than 80% have light-colored eyes and many have light-colored hair (a stereotypical Lithuanian is thus blue-eyed blonde, even though such people are a minority). Lithuanians are among the tallest peoples of the world (this maybe explains their affinity for basketball). Lithuania was the last country in Europe to be converted to Christianity. Before Christianity, the country’s religion was ‘Romuva’. The capital of Lithuania is Vilnius. Juozapines Hill (294 m) forms the highest point in Lithuania, while the largest and longest river in the country is Nemunas. What makes Lithuania special is not simply that it marks the compass point where Northern, Eastern, Western Europe converge. More importantly, it is the place where the values of democracy, freedom, tolerance and hospitality find unity and voice.