Lithuania

C

Plants and Animals

Lithuania’s forests are most dense in the southeast. Pine trees are found in the coastal region and the south, while oak trees predominate in the central portion of the country. Spruce, birch, black alder, and aspen are less commonly found.

Lithuania’s nature reserves support a variety of wildlife. Large mammals include moose (called elk in Europe), red and roe deer, and wild boar. Wolves, foxes, raccoons, and other mammals live in the country’s forests. Lithuania’s many birds include white storks, herons, geese, ducks, and hawks.

D

Natural Resources

Lithuania has limited natural resources. Peat (compacted, partially decayed vegetable matter) is used for fuel and mulch. Minerals include iron ore, granite, sulfates, limestone, chalk, sand, and gravel. Western Lithuania and the coastal shelf of the Baltic Sea are promising areas for the extraction of petroleum and natural gas. Amber, a fossil tree resin, is found along the Baltic shore.

E

Environmental Issues

Like many former republics of the USSR, Lithuania has a significant pollution problem. Pollutants were uncontrolled while Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union, and after independence a lack of technology, equipment, and funds hampered efforts to reduce industrial emissions and to replace older, polluting equipment. Automobiles and trains, industry, and power plants release pollutants into the air. Air pollution is worst in the industrial centers of Vilnius and Kaunas. Air pollution has resulted in acid rain, which further degrades water and soil quality.

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Lithuania is struggling to upgrade its sewage treatment plants, because much of the country’s surface water is contaminated with bacteria. Agricultural runoff from fertilizers and pesticides also contributes to the pollution of the country’s groundwater and many of its rivers. Contamination of rivers, in turn, pollutes the coastal areas into which the rivers empty. See also Water Pollution.

During the Soviet era, Lithuania depended almost entirely on nuclear energy for its electricity. The Ignalina nuclear plant, in the eastern part of the country, was constructed in the 1980s; its reactors are of the same design as those at the Chernobyl’ nuclear power plant, where the worst nuclear disaster in history occurred in 1986. Under pressure from the EU, Lithuanian officials agreed in 2002 to shut down the plant by the end of the decade. The EU was providing funds for the cleanup of the site.

Environmental regulations adopted in the early 1990s called for reducing pollution and monitoring it more effectively. These regulations also sought to end the government secrecy about environmental issues that characterized the Soviet era. Lithuania has ratified international agreements protecting biodiversity, the ozone layer, and wetlands. It is also party to international treaties concerning climate change and ship pollution.

III

People of Lithuania

According to the 2001 Lithuanian census, ethnic Lithuanians constituted about 83 percent of the country’s population. The proportion of Lithuanians increased slightly in the first years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union—many Lithuanians returned to their homeland from that country and abroad while some Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians left the country. Russians and Poles constitute the country’s largest minority groups, each accounting for roughly 7 percent of the population. Jews were the largest minority group in Lithuania before World War II (1939-1945), during which an estimated 165,000 were killed in the Holocaust.

In 1989 Lithuania passed laws allowing all people who live within its borders to apply for citizenship, regardless of ethnic origin. Most residents among the minority populations have since become citizens.

The population of Lithuania (2009 estimate) is 3,555,179, giving it a population density of 55 persons per sq km (141 persons per sq mi). Lithuania is highly urbanized, with 67 percent of the population living in urban areas. Unlike most other republics of the former USSR, the country is not dominated by a single urban center. Vilnius, the capital, is the largest city, followed by Kaunas, an industrial and commercial center, and Klaipėda, an important seaport.

A

Language and Religion

The country’s official language since 1988 has been Lithuanian, a language of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Lithuanian language is closely related to Latvian. Other languages spoken in the country include Russian and Polish.

During most of the Soviet period, religious practice and instruction were greatly limited in Lithuania and the rest of the Soviet bloc. The lifting of these restrictions in the late 1980s and the restoration of independence in 1991 stimulated a revival of religious practice. The largest denomination in the country is the Roman Catholic Church. It is followed by the Orthodox Church and various Protestant denominations.

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