11 March 1990 (declared); 6 September 1991 (recognized by Soviet Union)
18 November 1918 (from Soviet Russia)
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)
Lutheran 19.6%, Orthodox 15.3%, other Christian 1%, other 0.4%, unspecified 63.7% (2006)
Languages
Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)
Latvian (official) 58.2%, Russian 37.5%, Lithuanian and other 4.3% (2000 census)
Exports
mineral products 23%, textiles and clothing 16%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 6%, wood and wood products 5%, foodstuffs 5% (2001)
wood and wood products, machinery and equipment, metals, textiles, foodstuffs
External Debt
$31,030,000,000 $
$38,370,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
litai (LTL) per US dollar - 2.3251 (2008 est.), 2.5362 (2007), 2.7498 (2006), 2.774 (2005), 2.7806 (2004)
lati (LVL) per US dollar - 0.4701 (2008 est.), 0.5162 (2007), 0.5597 (2006), 0.5647 (2005), 0.5402 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.900%
1.100%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
5
3
Location
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania
Area
65,300 km sq
64,589 km sq
Coastline
90 km
498 km
Climate
transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers
