Portal:Lithuania

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Coat of Arms of Lithuania

Lithuania (/ˌlɪθjuˈniə/ LITH-ew-AY-nee-ə; 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast 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 2.88 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.

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. (Full article...)

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The twenty signatories

The signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania were the twenty Lithuanian men who signed the Act of Independence of Lithuania on February 16, 1918. The signatories were elected to the Council of Lithuania by the Vilnius Conference in September 1917 and entrusted with the mission of establishing an independent Lithuanian state. The proclaimed independence was established only in late 1918, after Germany lost World War I and its troops retreated from Lithuanian territory. What followed was a long process of building the state, determining its borders, and gaining international diplomatic recognition. The signatories succeeded in their mission and independent Lithuania survived until the Soviet Union occupied the state on June 15, 1940.

Their political, professional, and social backgrounds were diverse. Several rose to political prominence; Antanas Smetona and Aleksandras Stulginskis were later elected Presidents of Lithuania and Jonas Vileišis went on to become mayor of Kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania. After Lithuania lost its independence during World War II, six of the surviving signatories were sent to prison or executed by the Soviet government and six others emigrated to Western countries. (Full article...)

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Military of Lithuania
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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