11 March 1990 (declared); 6 September 1991 (recognized by Soviet Union)
22 September 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 90%, Christian 1%, indigenous beliefs 9%
Languages
Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)
French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages
Exports
mineral products 23%, textiles and clothing 16%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 6%, wood and wood products 5%, foodstuffs 5% (2001)
cotton, gold, livestock
External Debt
$31,030,000,000 $
$3,192,000,000 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%
1.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
5
0
Location
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia
Western Africa, southwest of Algeria
Area
65,300 km sq
1,240,192 km sq
Coastline
90 km
0 km
Climate
transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers
subtropical to arid; hot and dry (February to June); rainy, humid, and mild (June to November); cool and dry (November to February)
