11 March 1990 (declared); 6 September 1991 (recognized by Soviet Union)
5 August 1960 (from France)
Religions
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)
Muslim 50%, indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian (mainly Roman Catholic) 10%
Languages
Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)
French (official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population
Exports
mineral products 23%, textiles and clothing 16%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 6%, wood and wood products 5%, foodstuffs 5% (2001)
cotton, livestock, gold
External Debt
$31,030,000,000 $
$2,335,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
litai (LTL) per US dollar - 2.3251 (2008 est.), 2.5362 (2007), 2.7498 (2006), 2.774 (2005), 2.7806 (2004)
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar 438.77 (2008 est.), 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004) note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.900%
1.200%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
5
0
Location
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia
Western Africa, north of Ghana
Area
65,300 km sq
274,200 km sq
Coastline
90 km
0 km
Climate
transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers
