Vilnius is the capital of and largest city in Lithuania and the second-most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated July 2024 population was 605,270, and the Vilnius urban area has an estimated population of 708,627.
Vilnius International Airport is the airport of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It is located 5.9 km (3.7 mi) south of the city center. It is the largest of the three commercial airports in Lithuania by passenger traffic, with one runway and 5 million passengers a year. Vilnius International Airport serves as a base for airBaltic, Ryanair, and Wizz Air. The airport is managed by Joint Stock Company Lithuanian Airports under the Ministry of Transport and Communications. It is the 96th busiest airport in Europe.
Gediminas' Tower is the remaining part of the Upper Castle on top of the Gediminas Hill in Vilnius, Lithuania. It has a viewing platform that offers scenic views of Vilnius Old Town and Vilnius Central Business District.
The coat of arms of Lithuania is a mounted armoured knight holding a sword and shield, known as Vytis. Since the early 15th century, it has been Lithuania's official coat of arms and is one of the oldest European coats of arms. It is also known by other names in various languages, such as Waykimas, Pagaunė in the Lithuanian language or as Pogonia, Pogoń, Пагоня in the Polish, and Belarusian languages. Vytis is translatable as Chase, Pursuer, Knight or Horseman, similar to the Slavic vityaz. Historically – raitas senovės karžygys or in heraldry – raitas valdovas.
The Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius is the main Catholic cathedral in Lithuania. It is situated in Vilnius Old Town, just off Cathedral Square. Dedicated to the Christian saints Stanislaus and Ladislaus, the church is the heart of Catholic spiritual life in Lithuania.
The national symbols of Lithuania are used in Lithuania and abroad to represent the country and its people, history, culture, and nature. These symbols are seen in official capacities, such as flags, coats of arms, postage stamps, and currency, and in URLs. They appear less formally as recurring themes in literature, art and folk art, heraldry, monuments, clothing, personal decoration, and as the names of parks, bridges, streets, and clubs. The less formal manifestations may be classified as national emblems.
The first known record of the name of Lithuania recorded in the Quedlinburg Chronicle in a 9 March 1009 story of Saint Bruno. The Chronicle recorded in the form Litua. Although it is clear the name originated from a Baltic language, scholars still debate the meaning of the word.
The family of Gediminas is a group of family members of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, who interacted in the 14th century. The family included the siblings, children, and grandchildren of the Grand Duke and played the pivotal role in the history of Lithuania for the period as the Lithuanian nobility had not yet acquired its influence. Gediminas was also the forefather of the Gediminid dynasty, which ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1310s or 1280s to 1572.
Poland and Lithuania established diplomatic relations from the 13th century, after the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under king Mindaugas acquired some of the territory of Rus' and thus established a border with the then-fragmented Kingdom of Poland. Polish–Lithuanian relations subsequently improved, ultimately leading to a personal union between the two states. From the mid-16th to the late-18th century Poland and Lithuania merged to form the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a state that was dissolved following their partition by Austria, Prussia and Russia. After the two states regained independence following the First World War, Polish–Lithuanian relations steadily worsened due to rising nationalist sentiments. Competing claims to the Vilnius region led to armed conflict and deteriorating relations in the interwar period. During the Second World War Polish and Lithuanian territories were occupied by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, but relations between Poles and Lithuanians remained hostile. Following the end of World War II, both Poland and Lithuania found themselves in the Eastern Bloc, Poland as a Soviet satellite state, Lithuania as a Soviet republic. With the fall of communism relations between the two countries were reestablished. Since then relations have been friendly and akin to strategic partnership in defence and security.
Lithuania–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Lithuania and Ukraine. Both countries are members of the Lublin Triangle, OSCE, Council of Europe, World Trade Organization and United Nations. Lithuania supports Ukraine's European Union and NATO membership. Lithuania has an embassy in Kyiv and Ukraine has an embassy in Vilnius.
The Green Bridge is a bridge over the Neris River in Vilnius, Lithuania, that connects the city center with the district of Šnipiškės. The original 16th-century bridge was the oldest bridge in Vilnius.
Gediminas was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1315 or 1316 until his death in 1341.
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University is a public university located in Vilnius, Lithuania. There are 10 faculties including Antanas Gustaitis Aviation Institute, Architecture, Business Management, Civil Engineering, Creative Industries, Electronics, Environmental Engineering, Fundamental Sciences, Mechanics, Transport Engineering. Scientific research and experimental development is performed by 13 institutes, 3 research centres and 23 research laboratories.
The Vilnius–Lublin Portal is a public attraction that videoconferences between separate outdoor structures in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Lublin, Poland.
Gediminas' Cap was the most important regalia of the Lithuanian monarchs who ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the Union of Lublin in 1569. During the inaugurations of Lithuanian monarchs, Gediminas' Cap was placed on the monarch's heads by the Bishop of Vilnius in Vilnius Cathedral.
The New York–Dublin Portal was an interactive installation created by Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys to allow people in New York City and Dublin to interact with each other using two 24-hour live streaming video screens. The second series of installations in Gylys' Portal series, the New York–Dublin Portal has been compared to Paul St George's past art installation named the Telectroscope, which connected New York to London in 2008.
Vytautas Kašuba was a Lithuanian sculptor and honorary doctor of the Vilnius Academy of Arts. His major work is the Monument to Grand Duke Gediminas, a public sculpture in Vilnius in captal city of Lithuania, commissioned in 1992 and erected in October 1996.
