1993 Edition

Area

total area: 65,200 km2 land area: 65,200 km2 comparative area: slightly larger than West Virginia

Climate

maritime; wet, moderate winters

Coastline

108 km

Environment

risk of accidents from the two Chernobyl-type reactors at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant; contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products and chemicals at military bases

International disputes

dispute with Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast) over the position of the Neman River border presently located on the Lithuanian bank and not in midriver as by international standards

Irrigated land

430 km2 (1990)

Land boundaries

total 1,273 km, Belarus 502 km, Latvia 453 km, Poland 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 227 km

Land use

arable land: 49.1% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 22.2% forest and woodland: 16.3% other: 12.4%

Location

Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Sweden and Russia

Map references

Asia, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

peat

Terrain

lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil

Birth rate

14.95 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate

10.94 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Ethnic divisions

Lithuanian 80.1%, Russian 8.6%, Polish 7.7%, Belarusian 1.5%, other 2.1%

Infant mortality rate

16.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force

1.836 million by occupation: industry and construction 42%, agriculture and forestry 18%, other 40% (1990)

Languages

Lithuanian (official), Polish, Russian

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 71.12 years male: 66.39 years female: 76.08 years (1993 est.)

Literacy

age 9-49 can read and write (1970) total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100%

Nationality

noun: Lithuanian(s) adjective: Lithuanian

Net migration rate

3.62 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population

3,819,638 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate

0.76% (1993 est.)

Religions

Roman Catholic, Lutheran, other

Total fertility rate

2.03 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Administrative divisions

NA districts

Capital

Vilnius

Chief of State

Seimas Chairman and Acting President Algirdas Mykolas BRAZAUSKAS (since 15 November 1992); Deputy Seimas Chairmen Aloyzas SAKALAS (since NA December 1992) and Egidius BICKAUSKAS (since NA December 1992)

Constitution

adopted 25 October 1992

Digraph

LH

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Stasys LOZORAITIS, Jr. chancery: 2622 16th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: (202) 234-5860, 2639

Executive branch

president, prime minister, cabinet

FAX

(202) 328-0466 consulate general: New York

011 [7] (012-2) 222-779

Flag

three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), green, and red

Head of Government

Premier Adolfas SLEZEVICIUS (since NA)

Independence

6 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court, Court of Appeals

Legal system

based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts

Legislative branch

unicameral Seimas (parliament)

Member of

CBSS, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, ITU, NACC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Lithuania conventional short form: Lithuania local long form: Lietuvos Respublika local short form: Lietuva former: Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic

National holiday

Independence Day, 16 February

Other political or pressure groups

Sajudis; Lithuanian Future Forum; Farmers Union

Political parties and leaders

Christian Democratic Party, Egidijus KLUMBYS, chairman; Democratic Labor Party of Lithuania, Algirdas Mykolas BRAZAUSKAS, chairman; Lithuanian Democratic Party, Sauluis PECELIUNAS, chairman; Lithuanian Green Party, Irena IGNATAVICIENE, chairwoman; Lithuanian Humanism Party, Vytautas KAZLAUSKAS, chairman; Lithuanian Independence Party, Virgilijus CEPAITIS, chairman; Lithuanian Liberty League, Antanas TERLECKAS; Lithuanian Liberal Union, Vytautus RADZVILAS, chairman; Lithuanian Nationalist Union, Rimantas SMETONA, chairman; Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, Aloizas SAKALAS, chairman; Union of the Motherland, Vytavtas LANDSBERGIS, chairman

President

last held 14 February 1993 (next to be held NA); results - Algirdas BRAZAUSKAS was elected

Seimas (parliament)

last held 26 October and 25 November 1992 (next to be held NA); results - Democratic Labor Party 51%; seats - (141 total) Democratic Labor Party 73

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Darryl N. JOHNSON embassy: Akmenu 6, Vilnius 232600 mailing address: APO AE 09723 telephone: 011 [7] (012-2) 222-031

Agriculture

employs around 20% of labor force; sugar, grain, potatoes, sugarbeets, vegetables, meat, milk, dairy products, eggs, fish; most developed are the livestock and dairy branches, which depend on imported grain; net exporter of meat, milk, and eggs

Budget

revenues $258.5 million; expenditures $270.2 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)

Currency

using talonas as temporary currency (March 1993), but planning introduction of convertible litas (late 1993)

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (1992), $10 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-86), $NA million; Communist countries (1971-86), $NA million

Electricity

5,925,000 kW capacity; 25,000 million kWh produced, 6,600 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates

NA

Exports

$NA commodities: electronics 18%, petroleum products 5%, food 10%, chemicals 6% (1989) partners: Russia 40%, Ukraine 16%, other former Soviet republics 32%, West 12%

External debt

$650 million (1991 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for illicit drugs from Central and Southwest Asia to Western Europe; limited producer of illicit opium; mostly for domestic consumption

Imports

$NA commodities: oil 24%, machinery 14%, chemicals 8%, grain NA% (1989) partners: Russia 62%, Belarus 18%, former Soviet republics 10%, West 10%

Industrial production

growth rate -50% (1992 est.)

Industries

employs 25% of the labor force; shares in the total production of the former

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

10%-20% per month (first quarter 1993)

National product

GDP $NA

National product per capita

$NA

National product real growth rate

-30% (1992 est.)

Overview

Lithuania is striving to become an independent privatized economy. Although it was substantially above average in living standards and technology in the old USSR, Lithuania historically lagged behind Latvia and Estonia in economic development. The country has no important natural resources aside from its arable land and strategic location. Industry depends entirely on imported materials that have come from the republics of the former USSR. Lithuania benefits from its ice-free port at Klaipeda on the Baltic Sea and its rail and highway hub at Vilnius, which provides land communication between Eastern Europe and Russia, Latvia, Estonia, and Belarus. Industry produces a small assortment of high-quality products, ranging from complex machine tools to sophisticated consumer electronics. Because of nuclear power, Lithuania is presently self-sufficient in electricity, exporting its surplus to Latvia and Belarus; the nuclear facilities inherited from the USSR, however, have come under world scrutiny as seriously deficient in safety standards. Agriculture is efficient compared with most of the former Soviet Union. Lithuania held first place in per capita consumption of meat, second place for eggs and potatoes, and fourth place for milk and dairy products. Grain must be imported to support the meat and dairy industries. Lithuania is pressing ahead with plans to privatize at least 60% of state-owned property (industry, agriculture, and housing), having already sold almost all housing and many small enterprises using a voucher system. Other government priorities include encouraging foreign investment by protecting the property rights of foreign firms and redirecting foreign trade away from Eastern markets to the more competitive Western markets. For the moment, Lithuania will remain highly dependent on Russia for energy, raw materials, grains, and markets for its products. In 1992, output plummeted by 30% because of cumulative problems with inputs and with markets, problems that were accentuated by the phasing out of the Russian ruble as the medium of exchange.

Unemployment rate

1% (February 1993); but large numbers of underemployed workers

USSR are

metal-cutting machine tools 6.6%; electric motors 4.6%; television

refining, shipbuilding (small ships), furniture making, textiles, food processing, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, optical equipment, electronic components, computers, and amber

sets 6.2%; refrigerators and freezers 5.4%; other branches

petroleum

Airports

total: 96 useable: 19 with permanent-surface runways: 12 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 11

Highways

44,200 km total 35,500 km hard surfaced, 8,700 km earth (1990)

Inland waterways

600 km perennially navigable

Merchant marine

46 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 282,633 GRT/332,447 DWT; includes 31 cargo, 3 railcar carrier, 1 roll-on/roll-off, 11 combination bulk

Pipelines

crude oil 105 km, natural gas 760 km (1992)

Ports

coastal - Klaipeda; inland - Kaunas

Railroads

2,100 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)

Telecommunications

better developed than in most other former USSR republics; operational NMT-450 analog cellular network in Vilnius; fiber optic cable installed beween Vilnius and Kaunas; 224 telephones per 1000 persons; broadcast stations - 13 AM, 26 FM, 1 SW, 1 LW, 3 TV; landlines or microwave to former USSR republics; leased connection to the Moscow international switch for traffic with other countries; satellite earth stations - (8 channels to Norway); new international digital telephone exchange in Kaunas for direct access to 13 countries via satellite link out of Copenhagen, Denmark

Branches

Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Security Forces (internal and border troops), National Guard (Skat)

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $NA, 5.5% of GDP (1993 est.)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 933,245; fit for military service 739,400; reach military age (18) annually 27,056 (1993 est.)