Introduction
Independent between the two World Wars, Lithuania was annexed by the USSR in 1940. 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 has restructured its economy for eventual integration into Western European institutions. It will accede to the EU in May 2004 and to NATO in the summer of 2004.
Location
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia
Geographic coordinates
56 00 N, 24 00 E
Area
total: 65,200 sq km
water: NA sq km
land: NA sq km
Land boundaries
total: 1,273 km
border countries: Belarus 502 km, Latvia 453 km, Poland 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 227 km
Maritime claims
territorial sea: 12 NM
Climate
transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers
Terrain
lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil
Natural resources
peat, arable land
Irrigated land
90 sq km (1998 est.)
Environment - international agreements
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants
Population
3,607,899 (July 2004 est.)