立陶宛(Lithuania)
正式名称立陶宛共和国（Republic of Lithuania）
欧洲东北部国家。面积65,301平方公里。人口约3,691,000（2001）。首都︰维尔纽斯。立陶宛人约占总人口的4/5，还有俄罗斯人、波兰人、白俄罗斯人等少数民族。语言：立陶宛语（官方语）、俄罗斯语、波兰语和白俄罗斯语。宗教：天主教（占人口大多数）。货币：立塔斯（litas）。该国以低洼的平原为主，间有一些山丘高地，河流均缓缓向西流入波罗的海。制造业是最重要的经济部门，包括金属加工、木器加工和纺织生产，特别集中於东部和南部。农业以饲养牲畜为主，尤其是乳牛和猪，并种植谷物、亚麻、甜菜、马铃薯和饲料作物。政府形式是共和国，有一立法机构。国家元首是总统，政府首脑是总理。
西元13世纪中叶立陶宛各部落团结起来反对条顿骑士团。格迪米纳斯大公将立陶宛扩展为一个帝国，该帝国在14～16世纪统治了东欧大部分地区。1386年立陶宛大公成为波兰国王，其後四百年间，这两个国家一直紧密地联系在一起。1795年第三次瓜分波兰时，俄国取得立陶宛，1863年立陶宛人参与波兰的暴动。第一次世界大战期间为德国人占领，1918年宣布独立。1940年苏联红军控制立陶宛，不久即并入苏联，成为立陶宛苏维埃社会主义共和国。1941～1944年德国人再度占领立陶宛，但红军再次於1944年夺回。苏联解体後，1990年立陶宛宣布独立，次年取得完全的独立地位。1990年代期间致力於稳定经济情况，并希望加入欧洲共同体。1997年与俄罗斯签定边界条约。
English version：
Lithuania
Nation, northeastern Europe. Area: 25,213 sq mi (65,301 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 3,710,000. Capital: Vilnius. Ethnic Lithuanians make up about four-fifths of the population; there are smaller numbers of Russians, Poles, and Belarusians. Languages: Lithuanian (official), Russian, Polish, Belarusian. Religion: Roman Catholicism (a majority of the population). Currency: litas. The country consists of low-lying plains alternating with hilly uplands, watered by rivers that meander westward to the Baltic Sea. Manufacturing, including metalworking, woodworking, and textile production, is the most important sector of the economy, especially in the east and south. Agriculture focuses on livestock breeding, especially dairy farming and pigs, and the cultivation of cereals, flax, sugar beets, potatoes, and fodder crops. It is a republic with one legislative house; its head of state is the president, and the head of government is the prime minister. Lithuanian tribes united in the mid-13th cent to oppose the Teutonic knights. Gediminas, one of the grand dukes, expanded Lithuania into an empire that dominated much of eastern Europe in the 14th-16th century. In 1386 the Lithuanian grand duke became the king of Poland, and the two countries remained closely associated for the next 400 years. It was acquired by Russia in the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 and joined in the Polish revolt in 1863. Occupied by Germany during World War I, it declared its independence in 1918. In 1940 the Soviet Red Army gained control of Lithuania, which was soon incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Lithuanian S.S.R. Germany occupied Lithuania again in 1941-44, but the Red Army regained control in 1944. With the breakup of the U.S.S.R., Lithuania declared its independence in 1990 and gained full independence in 1991. During the 1990s it sought economic stability and hoped to join the European Community. It signed a border-treaty with Russia in 1997.
