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Coat of Arms of Lithuania

Lithuania (/ˌlɪθjuˈnijə/ LITH-yoo-AYN-ee-yə; Lithuanian: Lietuva [lʲiətʊˈvɐ]), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika [lʲiətʊˈvoːs rʲɛsˈpʊblʲɪkɐ]), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Russia to the southwest, with a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Lithuania covers an area of 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi), with a population of 2.86 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities are Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys. Lithuanians belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Lithuanian, one of only a few living members of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, which is also the most widely spoken language of the branch.

For millennia, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, Lithuanian lands were united for the first time by Mindaugas, who formed the Kingdom of Lithuania on 6 July 1253. Subsequent expansion and consolidation resulted in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which by the 14th century was the largest country in Europe. In 1386, the Grand Duchy entered into a de facto personal union with the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. The two realms were united into the bi-confederal Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, forming one of the largest and most prosperous states in Europe. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries gradually dismantled it between 1772 and 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory. Towards the end of World War I, Lithuania declared Independence in 1918, founding the modern Republic of Lithuania. In World War II, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union, then by Nazi Germany, before being reoccupied by the Soviets in 1944. Lithuanian armed resistance to the Soviet occupation lasted until the early 1950s. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to break away when it proclaimed the restoration of its independence.

Lithuania is a developed country with a high income, advanced economy, ranking 37th in the Human Development Index (HDI) and 19th in the World Happiness Report. Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the eurozone, the Nordic Investment Bank, the Schengen Agreement, NATO, and OECD. It also participates in the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) regional co-operation format. (Full article...)

A 19th-century copy of a portrait attributed to Martin Kober representing Stephen Báthory in decorative Sarmatian attire

Stephen Báthory (Hungarian: Báthory István; Polish: Stefan Batory; Lithuanian: Steponas Batoras; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576), Prince of Transylvania (1576–1586), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586).

The son of Stephen VIII Báthory and a member of the Hungarian Báthory noble family, Báthory was a ruler of Transylvania in the 1570s, defeating another challenger for that title, Gáspár Bekes. (Full article...)
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The following are images from various Lithuania-related articles on Wikipedia.

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  • ... that Lithuanian communist activist Valerija Narvydaitė spent more than 14 years in jails and detention centres?
  • ... that during the Polish–Soviet War, Lithuanian-Belorussian Soviet Republic People's Commissar for Justice Yitzhak Weinstein-Branovsky organized revolutionary militias in villages near Utena?
  • ... that after being arrested for organizing a general strike in 1920, S. Girinis was sent to the Soviet Union following a Soviet-Lithuanian exchange of political prisoners?

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Military of Lithuania

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Public holidays in Lithuania
Date English name Local name Remarks
1 January New Year's Day Naujųjų metų diena  
16 February Day of Restoration of the State of Lithuania (1918) Lietuvos valstybės atkūrimo diena  
11 March Day of Restoration of Independence of Lithuania (1990) Lietuvos nepriklausomybės atkūrimo diena  
Moveable Sunday Easter Sunday Šv. Velykos Commemorates resurrection of Jesus. The first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March.
The day after Easter Sunday Easter Monday Antroji šv. Velykų diena  
1 May International Workers' Day Tarptautinė darbo diena  
First Sunday in May Mother's Day Motinos diena  
First Sunday in June Father's Day Tėvo diena  
24 June St. John's Day / Day of Dew Joninės / Rasos Celebrated according to mostly pagan traditions (Midsummer Day, Saint Jonas Day).
6 July Statehood Day Valstybės (Lietuvos karaliaus Mindaugo karūnavimo) ir Tautiškos giesmės diena Celebrates the 1253 coronation of Mindaugas, the first King of Lithuania, and the national anthem of Lithuania.
15 August Assumption Day Žolinė (Švč. Mergelės Marijos ėmimo į dangų diena) Also marked according to pagan traditions, celebrating the goddess Žemyna and noting the mid-August as the middle between summer and autumn.
1 November All Saints' Day Visų šventųjų diena Halloween is increasingly popular and is also informally celebrated on the eve (31 October).
2 November All Souls' Day Mirusiųjų atminimo (Vėlinių) diena  
24 December Christmas Eve Šv. Kūčios  
25 and 26 December Christmas Day Šv. Kalėdos Commemorates birth of Jesus.

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