Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Lithuania is one of the Baltic states. Situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the southeast of Sweden and Denmark, Lithuania is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.8 million people as of 2019. The capital and largest city is Vilnius and other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians are Balts. The official language, Lithuanian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, the other being Latvian.
Basketball Club Žalgiris is a professional basketball team that is based in Kaunas, Lithuania, and competes domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga. Founded in 1944, it is one of the oldest teams in the EuroLeague. Žalgiris is one of 11 European clubs to hold long-term licenses with the EuroLeague, which provides a guaranteed place in the regular-season phase of this league. Since the 2011–12 season, Žalgiris plays its home games in Žalgiris Arena, which was built just before EuroBasket 2011. The club's name commemorates the victorious Battle of Žalgiris. Both Žalgiris and Grunwald translate to "green grove".
The Lithuania men's national basketball team represents Lithuania in international basketball competitions. They are controlled by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Lithuania. Despite Lithuania's small size, with a population of less than 3 million, the country's devotion to basketball has made them a traditional force of the sport in Europe.
Jonas Mačiulis is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. Standing at 1.98 m, he plays at the small forward position. As a member of the senior Lithuanian national team, he earned an All-EuroBasket Team selection in 2015, as Lithuania won the silver medal.
Linas and Simona was a duo, which represented Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004. With 26 points they placed 16th in the semifinal and could not participate in the final. However, they befriended Ruslana, the winner of the Eurovision 2004, and together recorded Fight for Love and Freedom. This song was released in album I Love U on 22 July 2005. In 2005 they were representatives of an anti-AIDS campaign in Lithuania. The couple separated in late 2007 ending the duo. Their last work, live album Linas and Simona presents UAB MUSIC Live featuring Stasys Povilaitis, Violeta Riaubiškytė, was released in February 2008.
This article is about the particular significance of the year 2010 to Lithuania and its people.
Domantas Sabonis is a Lithuanian-American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played in Spain for Unicaja Málaga's junior and senior teams before playing two seasons of college basketball for Gonzaga. He is the son of the Basketball Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis, and was born in Portland, while his father was playing for the Portland Trail Blazers.
Rokas Giedraitis is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Baskonia of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He plays at the shooting guard and small forward positions.
Simonas Stankevičius is a Lithuanian international footballer who last played for Mjøndalen, as a striker.
Lithuania competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Games in the post-Soviet era and ninth overall in Summer Olympic history.
Tadas Sedekerskis is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Kirolbet Baskonia of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.
Giedrius Staniulis is a professional Lithuanian basketball player. He mainly plays the power forward position, but can also play small forward.
Jokūbas Gintvainis is a professional Lithuanian basketball player for Lietkabelis Panevėžys of the Lithuanian Basketball League. He plays for point guard and shooting guard positions.
Martynas Paliukėnas is a Lithuanian basketball player for Trefl Sopot of the Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK). Standing at 1.95 m, he plays the shooting guard position.
Osvaldas Olisevičius is a professional Lithuanian basketball player for Medi Bayreuth of the Basketball Bundesliga. He can play both small forward and power forward positions.
Augustas Pečiukevičius is a professional Lithuanian basketball player. He plays for point guard and shooting guard positions for Leyma Coruña of the LEB Oro.
The Lithuania men's national under-16 and under-17 basketball team, is the representative for Lithuania in international basketball competitions, and it is organized and run by the Lithuanian Basketball Federation. The Lithuania men's national under-16 basketball team represents Lithuania at the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, where they have a chance to qualify into the FIBA Under-17 World Championship.
Arnas Velička is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for Champagne Châlons-Reims of the LNB Pro A.
Arnoldas Kulboka is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for RETAbet Bilbao Basket of the Liga ACB.
