Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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. Lithuania shares land borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Russia to the southwest. It has a maritime border with Sweden to the west on the Baltic Sea. Lithuania covers an area of 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi), with a population of 2.8 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities are Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys. Lithuanians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts and speak Lithuanian, one of only a few living Baltic languages.
Vilnius is the capital and the largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 591,632 as of 2023. The population of Vilnius's functional urban area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 718,507, while according to the Vilnius territorial health insurance fund, there were 753,875 permanent inhabitants as of November 2022 in Vilnius city and Vilnius district municipalities combined. Vilnius is situated in southeastern Lithuania and is currently the second largest city in the Baltic states. It is the seat of Lithuania's national government and the Vilnius District Municipality.
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the third largest city and the capital of its eponymous county, as well as the only major seaport in Lithuania.
Šiauliai is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 99,462 in 2022. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County.
Telšiai is a city in Lithuania with about 21,499 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County and Samogitia region, and it is located on the shores of Lake Mastis.
Regimantas Adomaitis was a Lithuanian film and stage actor. He was also active in Russia and Germany.
Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, located on Gediminas Avenue in Vilnius, is one of Lithuania’s most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues and cultural institutions. Founded as a Vilnius State Theatre in 1940, it became Lithuanian National Drama Theatre in 1998. The theatre’s façade featuring the Feast of Muses sculpture by Stanislovas Kuzma has become a landmark of Vilnius city.
Ringaudas Bronislovas Songaila was an official of the Lithuanian SSR nomenclatura. In 1987–1988, he was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania or the de facto head of state.
This article is about the administrative divisions of Lithuania.
Rambynas is a hill on the right bank of the Neman River in Rambynas Regional Park, Pagėgiai Municipality, western Lithuania. The current hill, about 46 metres (151 ft) above sea level and about 40 metres (130 ft) above the Neman, is a remnant of the larger hill that was destroyed by erosion. The hill was known as sacred among locals and played a role in the ceremonies of pagan Lithuanians. It is featured in many local legends and is protected by the state as a mythological object. A large stone at the top of the hill, known as the altar stone, was destroyed by a miller in 1811. Rambynas became popular with Prussian Lithuanians at the end of the 19th century who organized various events, most notably celebrations of the Saint Jonas' Festivals or Rasos, on the hill. They rebuilt the altar in 1928. The hill is popular with Lithuanian neo-pagans and hosts the annual celebrations of the summer solstice on 23 June.
Vytautas Kernagis was a Lithuanian singer-songwriter, bard, actor, director, and television announcer. He is considered a pioneer of Lithuanian sung poetry.
The Lithuanian Sports Club Makabi is a sports club of the Jewish minority in Lithuania. It is one of the many Maccabi sports clubs worldwide. It was originally established on September 19, 1920 in Kaunas. It ceased to exist during the Holocaust in Lithuania and was reestablished only in 1989 during the perestroika in the Lithuanian SSR. The club participates in the Maccabiah Games. It had about 500 members in 1990 and 200 in 2000. As of 2014, the club supported nine sports.
Vairas was a Lithuanian-language political and cultural newspaper published by Antanas Smetona and the Lithuanian Nationalist Union, the ruling party in Lithuania in 1926–1940. It was published three separate times. Vairas was first established in January 1914 when Smetona departed Viltis; it was discontinued due to World War I. The newspaper was briefly revived in September 1923 when Smetona and Augustinas Voldemaras harshly criticized their political opponents and the Lithuanian government. Due to anti-government rhetoric, their newspapers were closed by state censors one after another, but they would quickly establish a new newspaper under a new title. Vairas was closed in February 1924. The newspaper was reestablished as a cultural magazine in 1929 with the backing of the authoritarian regime of Smetona. In 1939, it became a weekly political magazine that pushed an agenda of radical nationalism and openly sympathized with National Socialism. The magazine was discontinued after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940.
Nusidavimai apie evangelijos prasiplatinimą tarp žydų ir pagonių was the second Lithuanian-language periodical. It was published from 1832 to August 1914 in Königsberg, East Prussia, by the Evangelical Missionary Society of Königsberg and mainly reported on Evangelical missions in Asia, Africa, South America. It was discontinued due to the outbreak of World War I.
Bitėnai is a small village in the Pagėgiai Municipality, in western Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, it had population of 76, a decline from 119 in 2001. It is situated along the Neman River near the Rambynas hill and is known as the location of the Martynas Jankus printing press. Jankus Museum and the visitors' center of the Rambynas Regional Park are located in the village.
America in the Bathhouse is a three-act comedy by Keturakis. The play was first published in 1895. It became the first Lithuanian-language play performed in public in present-day Lithuania when a group of Lithuanian activists staged it on 20 August 1899 in Palanga. The play depicts an episode from the everyday life of the Lithuanian village – a resourceful man swindles money from a naive woman and escapes to the United States. Due to its relevant plot, small cast, and simple decorations, the play was very popular with the Lithuanian amateur theater. It became one of the most popular and successful Lithuanian comedies of all time and continues to be performed by various troupes.
Pranas Mašiotas (1863–1940) was a Lithuanian activist and educator best known as children's writer and translator.
Jonas Kriaučiūnas was a Lithuanian activist during the Lithuanian National Revival mostly noted for editing and publishing Lithuanian periodicals Varpas and Ūkininkas in 1891–1895 and Vilniaus žinios in 1905–1906.
The Lithuanian and Samogitian Charitable Society was a charitable society active in Saint Petersburg in 1892–1918. For a time, it was only legal Lithuanian organization in the Russian Empire. It provided financial support to Lithuanian students and maintained a Lithuanian school attached to the Church of St. Catherine. It also organized Lithuanian cultural evenings with amateur theater performances, dances, songs. In 1895, it staged the first public Lithuanian play in the Russian Empire.
Danielius Alseika (1881–1936) was a Lithuanian physician and activist. He was the father of the archaeologist Marija Gimbutas.
