11 March 1990 (declared); 6 September 1991 (recognized by Soviet Union)
Religions
nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%
Roman Catholic 79%, Russian Orthodox 4.1%, Protestant (including Lutheran and Evangelical Christian Baptist) 1.9%, other or unspecified 5.5%, none 9.5% (2001 census)
Languages
Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French
Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)
Exports
soybeans and derivatives, petroleum and gas, vehicles, corn, wheat
mineral products 23%, textiles and clothing 16%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 6%, wood and wood products 5%, foodstuffs 5% (2001)
External Debt
$136,800,000,000 $
$31,030,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Argentine pesos (ARS) per US dollar - 3.1636 (2008 est.), 3.1105 (2007), 3.0543 (2006), 2.9037 (2005), 2.9233 (2004)
litai (LTL) per US dollar - 2.3251 (2008 est.), 2.5362 (2007), 2.7498 (2006), 2.774 (2005), 2.7806 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.800%
0.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
6
5
Location
Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia
Area
2,780,400 km sq
65,300 km sq
Coastline
4,989 km
90 km
Climate
mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest
transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers
