Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania , is a country in northern Europe.[1] Situated along the south-eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of the Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest.

Area
65,300 sq km (25,212 sq miles).

Population
3,462,553 (official estimate 2003).

Population Density
53 per sq km.

Capital
Vilnius. Population: 553,373 (official estimate 2002).

Geography
Lithuania is situated on the eastern Baltic coast and borders Latvia in the north, the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation and Poland in the southwest, and Belarus in the southwest and east. The geometrical centre of Europe lies in eastern Lithuania near the village of Bernotai, 25km (16 miles) north of Vilnius. The landscape alternates between lowland plains and hilly uplands and has a dense, intricate network of rivers, including the Nemunas and the Neris. 1.5 per cent of the countrys territory is made up of lakes, of which there are over 2800. The majority of these lie in the east of the country and include Lake Druksiai and Lake Tauragnas.

Language
Lithuanian is the official language. Lithuania has a large number of dialects for such a small territory, including High Lithuanian (Aukstaiciai) and Low Lithuanian (Zemaiciai).