Compare Lithuania (2007) - European Union (2007)

Compare Lithuania (2007) z European Union (2007)

	Lithuania (2007)	European Union (2007)

Administrative divisions	10 counties (apskritys, singular - apskritis); Alytaus, Kauno, Klaipedos, Marijampoles, Panevezio, Siauliu, Taurages, Telsiu, Utenos, Vilniaus	-
Age structure	0-14 years: 14.9% (male 273,573/female 259,570) 15-64 years: 69.3% (male 1,213,011/female 1,264,996) 65 years and over: 15.8% (male 194,500/female 369,789) (2007 est.)	0-14 years: 15.72% (male 37,208,905/female 35,254,445) 15-64 years: 67.16% (male 155,807,769/female 153,690,235) 65 years and over: 17.11% (male 32,592,595/female 46,273,197) (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	grain, potatoes, sugar beets, flax, vegetables; beef, milk, eggs; fish	wheat, barley, oilseeds, sugar beets, wine, grapes; dairy products, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry; fish
Airports	87 (2007)	3,393 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 30 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 17 (2007)	2,020 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 57 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 53 (2007)	1,373 (2006)
Area	total: 65,200 sq km land: NA sq km water: NA sq km	total: 4,324,782 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly larger than West Virginia	less than one-half the size of the US
Background	Lithuanian lands were united under MINDAUGAS in 1236; over the next century, through alliances and conquest, Lithuania extended its territory to include most of present-day Belarus and Ukraine. By the end of the 14th century Lithuania was the largest state in Europe. An alliance with Poland in 1386 led the two countries into a union through the person of a common ruler. In 1569, Lithuania and Poland formally united into a single dual state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This entity survived until 1795, when its remnants were partitioned by surrounding countries. Lithuania regained its independence following World War I, but was annexed by the USSR in 1940 - an action never recognized by the US and many other countries. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first of the Soviet republics to declare its independence, but Moscow did not recognize this proclamation until September of 1991 (following the abortive coup in Moscow). The last Russian troops withdrew in 1993. Lithuania subsequently restructured its economy for integration into western European institutions; it joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.	Following the two devastating World Wars of the first half of the 20th century, a number of European leaders in the late 1940s became convinced that the only way to establish a lasting peace was to unite the two chief belligerent nations - France and Germany - both economically and politically. In 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert SCHUMAN proposed an eventual union of all Europe, the first step of which would be the integration of the coal and steel industries of Western Europe. The following year the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was set up when six members, Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris. The ECSC was so successful that within a few years the decision was made to integrate other parts of the countries' economies. In 1957, the Treaties of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), and the six member states undertook to eliminate trade barriers among themselves by forming a common market. In 1967, the institutions of all three communities were formally merged into the European Community (EC), creating a single Commission, a single Council of Ministers, and the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament were initially selected by national parliaments, but in 1979 the first direct elections were undertaken and they have been held every five years since. In 1973, the first enlargement of the EC took place with the addition of Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. The 1980s saw further membership expansion with Greece joining in 1981 and Spain and Portugal in 1986. The 1992 Treaty of Maastricht laid the basis for further forms of cooperation in foreign and defense policy, in judicial and internal affairs, and in the creation of an economic and monetary union - including a common currency. This further integration created the European Union (EU). In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU, raising the membership total to 15. A new currency, the euro, was launched in world money markets on 1 January 1999; it became the unit of exchange for all of the EU states except the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In 2002, citizens of the 12 euro-area countries began using the euro banknotes and coins. Ten new countries joined the EU in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - and in 2007 Bulgaria and Romania joined, bringing the current membership to 27. In order to ensure that the EU can continue to function efficiently with an expanded membership, the Treaty of Nice (in force as of 1 February 2003) set forth rules streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions. An effort to establish an EU constitution, begun in October 2004, failed to attain unanimous ratification. A new effort, undertaken in June 2007, calls for the creation of an Intergovernmental Conference to form a political agreement, known as the Reform Treaty, which is to serve as a constitution. Unlike the constitution, however, the Reform Treaty would amend existing treaties rather than replace them.
Birth rate	8.87 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	10 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	revenues: $10.05 billion expenditures: $10.12 billion (2006 est.)	-
Capital	name: Vilnius geographic coordinates: 54 41 N, 25 19 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October	name: Brussels (Belgium), Strasbourg (France), Luxembourg geographic coordinates: 50 50 N, 4 20 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October note: the Council of the European Union meets in Brussels, Belgium, the European Parliament meets in Brussels and Strasbourg, France, and the Court of Justice of the European Communities meets in Luxembourg
Climate	transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers	cold temperate; potentially subarctic in the north to temperate; mild wet winters; hot dry summers in the south
Coastline	90 km	65,992.9 km
Constitution	adopted 25 October 1992	based on a series of treaties: the Treaty of Paris, which set up the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; the Treaties of Rome, which set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957; the Single European Act in 1986; the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) in 1992; the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997; and the Treaty of Nice in 2003; note - a new draft Constitutional Treaty, signed on 29 October 2004 in Rome, gave member states two years for ratification either by parliamentary vote or national referendum before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006; defeat in French and Dutch referenda in May-June 2005 dealt a severe setback to the ratification process; in June 2007, the European Council agreed on a clear and concise mandate for an Intergovernmental Conference to form a political agreement and put it into legal form; this agreement, known as the Reform Treaty, is to serve as a constitution and will be presented to the European Council in October 2007, in order to begin the ratification process
Country name	conventional long form: Republic of Lithuania conventional short form: Lithuania local long form: Lietuvos Respublika local short form: Lietuva former: Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic	-
Death rate	11.05 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	10 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external	$16.2 billion (2006 est.)	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador John A. CLOUD embassy: Akmenu Gatve 6, Vilnius, LT-03106 mailing address: American Embassy, Akmenu Gatve 6, Vilnius LT-03106 telephone: [370] (5) 266 5500 FAX: [370] (5) 266 5510	chief of mission: Ambassador C. Boyden GRAY embassy: 13 Zinnerstraat/Rue Zinner, B-1000 Brussels mailing address: same as above telephone: [32] (2) 508-2222 FAX: [32] (2) 512-5720
Diplomatic representation in the US	chief of mission: Ambassador Audrius BRUZGA chancery: 4590 MacArthur Blvd. NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 234-5860 FAX: [1] (202) 328-0466 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York	chief of mission: Ambassador John BRUTON chancery: 2300 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 862-9500 FAX: [1] (202) 429-1766
Disputes - international	Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still conforming, as a EU member state having an external border with a non-EU member, to strict Schengen border rules; the Latvian parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania, primarily due to concerns over potential hydrocarbons; as of January 2007, ground demarcation of the boundary with Belarus was complete and mapped with final ratification documents in preparation	as a political union, the EU has no border disputes with neighboring countries, but Estonia and Latvia have no land boundary agreements with Russia, Slovenia disputes its land and maritime boundaries with Croatia, and Spain has territorial and maritime disputes with Morocco and with the UK over Gibraltar; the EU has set up a Schengen area - consisting of 13 EU member states that have signed the convention implementing the Schengen agreements or "acquis" (1985 and 1990) on the free movement of persons and the harmonization of border controls in Europe; these agreements became incorporated into EU law with the implementation of the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999; in addition, non-EU states Iceland and Norway (as part of the Nordic Union) have been included in the Schengen area since 1996 (full members in 2001), bringing the total current membership to 15; the UK (since 2000) and Ireland (since 2002) take part in only some aspects of the Schengen area, especially with respect to police and criminal matters; the 12 new member states that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 eventually are expected to participate fully in Schengen, following a transition period to upgrade their border controls and procedures
Economic aid - recipient	$249.7 million (2004)	-
Economy - overview	Lithuania, the Baltic state that has conducted the most trade with Russia, has grown rapidly since rebounding from the 1998 Russian financial crisis. Unemployment fell to 3.7% in 2006, while wages grew 17.6%, contributing to rising inflation. Exports and imports continue to grow strongly, and the current account deficit rose to nearly 10% of GDP in 2006. Trade has been increasingly oriented toward the West. Lithuania has gained membership in the World Trade Organization and joined the EU in May 2004. Privatization of the large, state-owned utilities is nearly complete. Foreign government and business support have helped in the transition from the old command economy to a market economy, but foreign direct investment declined in 2006.	Internally, the EU is attempting to lower trade barriers, adopt a common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income among member states (from $7,000 to $69,000) and historic national animosities, the EU faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example, since 2003 Germany and France have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004 and 2007, the EU admitted 10 and two countries, respectively, that are, in general, less advanced technologically and economically than the other 15. Twelve established EU member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999, but the UK, Sweden, and Denmark chose not to participate. Of the 12 most recent member states, only Slovenia has adopted the euro (1 January 2007); the remaining 11 are legally required to adopt the currency upon meeting EU's fiscal and monetary convergence criteria.
Electricity - consumption	9.296 billion kWh (2005)	2.81 trillion kWh (2004 est.)
Electricity - exports	8.607 billion kWh (2005)	NA
Electricity - imports	5.641 billion kWh (2005)	NA
Electricity - production	13.48 billion kWh (2005)	3.007 trillion kWh (2004 est.)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m highest point: Juozapines Kalnas 293.6 m	lowest point: Lammefjord, Denmark -7 m; Zuidplaspolder, Netherlands -7 m highest point: Mont Blanc 4,807 m; note - situated on the border between France and Italy
Environment - current issues	contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products and chemicals at military bases	NA
Environment - international agreements	party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements	party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 82, Tropical Timber 94 signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds
Ethnic groups	Lithuanian 83.4%, Polish 6.7%, Russian 6.3%, other or unspecified 3.6% (2001 census)	-
Exchange rates	litai per US dollar - 2.7498 (2006), 2.774 (2005), 2.7806 (2004), 3.0609 (2003), 3.677 (2002)	euros per US dollar - 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002)
Executive branch	chief of state: President Valdas ADAMKUS (since 12 July 2004) head of government: Prime Minister Gediminas KIRKILAS (since 4 July 2006) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the nomination of the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 13 and 27 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009); prime minister appointed by the president on the approval of the Parliament election results: Valdas ADAMKUS elected president; percent of vote - Valdas ADAMKUS 52.2%, Kazimiera PRUNSKIENE 47.8%; Gediminas KIRKILAS approved by Parliament 85-13, with five abstentions	chief of union: President of the European Commission Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO (since 22 November 2004) cabinet: European Commission (composed of 27 members, one from each member country; each commissioner responsible for one or more policy areas) elections: the president of the European Commission is designated by member governments and is confirmed by the European Parliament; working from member state recommendations, the Commission president then assembles a "college" of Commission members; the European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a five-year term; the last confirmation process was held 18 November 2004 (next to be held in 2009) election results: European Parliament approved the European Commission by an approval vote of 449 to 149 with 82 abstentions note: the European Council brings together heads of state and government and the president of the European Commission and meets at least four times a year; its aim is to provide the impetus for the major political issues relating to European integration and to issue general policy guidelines
Exports	145,100 bbl/day (2004)	NA
Exports - commodities	mineral products 23%, textiles and clothing 16%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 6%, wood and wood products 5%, foodstuffs 5% (2001)	machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.
Exports - partners	Russia 12.8%, Latvia 11.1%, Germany 8.6%, Estonia 6.5%, Poland 6.1%, Netherlands 4.8%, Sweden 4.5%, UK 4.4%, US 4.3%, Denmark 4.2%, France 4.2% (2006)	US 23.3%, Switzerland 7.6%, Russia 5.2%, China 4.8% (2006)
Fiscal year	calendar year	NA
Flag description	three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), green, and red	on a blue field, 12 five-pointed gold stars arranged in a circle, representing the union of the peoples of Europe; the number of stars is fixed
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 5.5% industry: 35% services: 59.6% (2006 est.)	agriculture: 2.1% industry: 27.3% services: 70.5% (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	7.5% (2006 est.)	3.2% (2006 est.)
Geographic coordinates	56 00 N, 24 00 E	-
Geography - note	fertile central plains are separated by hilly uplands that are ancient glacial deposits	-
Heliports	-	100 (2007)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 2.7% highest 10%: 27.7% (2003)	lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 25.1% (2001 est.)
Illicit drugs	transshipment and destination point for cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, and opiates from Southwest Asia, Latin America, Western Europe, and neighboring Baltic countries; growing production of high-quality amphetamines, but limited production of cannabis, methamphetamines; susceptible to money laundering despite changes to banking legislation	-
Imports	187,800 bbl/day (2004)	NA
Imports - commodities	mineral products, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, chemicals, textiles and clothing, metals	machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing
Imports - partners	Russia 24.3%, Germany 14.9%, Poland 9.5%, Latvia 4.8% (2006)	US 13.8%, China 13.4%, Russia 8.2%, Japan 6.2% (2006)
Independence	11 March 1990 (declared); 6 September 1991 (recognized by Soviet Union)	7 February 1992 (Maastricht Treaty signed establishing the EU); 1 November 1993 (Maastricht Treaty entered into force)
Industrial production growth rate	7% (2006 est.)	2.6% (2006 est.)
Industries	metal-cutting machine tools, electric motors, television sets, refrigerators and freezers, petroleum refining, shipbuilding (small ships), furniture making, textiles, food processing, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, optical equipment, electronic components, computers, amber jewelry	among the world's largest and most technologically advanced, the European Union industrial base includes: ferrous and non-ferrous metal production and processing, metal products, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, construction equipment, industrial equipment, shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools and automated manufacturing systems, electronics and telecommunications equipment, fishing, food and beverage processing, furniture, paper, textiles, tourism
Infant mortality rate	total: 6.68 deaths/1,000 live births male: 7.99 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	total: 4.8 deaths/1,000 live births male: 5.3 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	3.8% (2006 est.)	1.8% (2006 est.)
International organization participation	ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BA, BIS, CBSS, CE, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NIB, NSG, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate partner), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO	European Union: ARF (dialogue member), ASEAN (dialogue member), IDA, OAS (observer), UN (observer) European Community: Australian Group, CBSS, CERN, FAO, EBRD, G-10, NAM (observer), NSG (observer), OECD, UNRWA, WTO, ZC (observer) European Central Bank: BIS European Investment Bank: EBRD, WADB (nonregional member)
Irrigated land	70 sq km (2003)	168,050 sq km (2003 est.)
Judicial branch	Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; judges for all courts appointed by the President	Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the treaties are interpreted and applied uniformly throughout the EU; resolve constitutional issues among the EU institutions) - 27 justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can sit with 13 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 27 justices appointed for a six-year term
Labor force	1.588 million (2006 est.)	220.9 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 15.8% industry: 28.2% services: 56% (2004)	agriculture: 4.4% industry: 27.2% services: 67.1% note: the remainder is in miscellaneous public and private sector industries and services (2002 est.)
Land boundaries	total: 1,613 km border countries: Belarus 653.5 km, Latvia 588 km, Poland 103.7 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 267.8 km	total: 12,440.8 km border countries: Albania 282 km, Andorra 120.3 km, Belarus 1,050 km, Croatia 999 km, Holy See 3.2 km, Liechtenstein 34.9 km, Macedonia 394 km, Moldova 450 km, Monaco 4.4 km, Norway 2,348 km, Russia 2,257 km, San Marino 39 km, Serbia 945 km, Switzerland 1,811 km, Turkey 446 km, Ukraine 1,257 km note: data for European Continent only
Land use	arable land: 44.81% permanent crops: 0.9% other: 54.29% (2005)	arable land: NA% permanent crops: NA% other: NA%
Languages	Lithuanian (official) 82%, Russian 8%, Polish 5.6%, other and unspecified 4.4% (2001 census)	Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish; note - only official languages are listed
Legal system	based on civil law system; legislative acts can be appealed to the constitutional court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction	comparable to the legal systems of member states; first supranational law system
Legislative branch	unicameral Parliament or Seimas (141 seats; 71 members are elected by popular vote, 70 are elected by proportional representation; to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 10 and 24 October 2004 (next to be held in October 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - Labor 28.6%, Working for Lithuania (Social Democrats and Social Liberals) 20.7%, TS 14.6%, For Order and Justice (Liberal Democrats and Lithuanian People's Union) 11.4%, Liberal and Center Union 9.1%, Farmers and New Democracy Union 6.6%, other 9%; seats by faction - Labor 29, Homeland Union 26, Social Democrats 23, Civil Democracy (split from Labor) 11, Liberal Movement (formerly Liberal Political Group) 11, National Farmer's Union (formerly Farmers and New Democracy Union) 11, Social Liberal 10, Liberal Democrats 9, Liberal and Center Union 8, independents 3 (as of late-July 2006)	two legislative bodies consists of the Council of the European Union (27 member-state ministers having 345 votes; the number of votes is roughly proportional to member-states' population; note - the Council is the main decision-making body of the EU) and the European Parliament (785 seats, as of 1 January 2007; seats allocated among member states by proportion to population; members elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term) elections: last held 10-13 June 2004 (next to be held June 2009) election results: percent of vote - NA; seats by party - EPP-ED 268, PES 202, ALDE 88, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 36, UEN 27, independents 28; note - seats by party as of 1 December 2007 - EPP-ED 275, PES 217, ALDE 104, UEN 44, Greens/EFA 42, EUL/NGL 41, IND/DEM 24, independents 34, 4 unaccounted for
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 74.44 years male: 69.46 years female: 79.69 years (2007 est.)	total population: 78.7 years male: 75.6 years female: 82 years (2007 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 99.6% male: 99.6% female: 99.6% (2001 census)	-
Location	Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia	Europe between the North Atlantic Ocean in the west and Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to the east
Map references	Europe	Europe
Maritime claims	territorial sea: 12 nm	NA
Merchant marine	total: 50 ships (1000 GRT or over) 363,795 GRT/366,624 DWT by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 22, chemical tanker 1, container 1, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 16 foreign-owned: 9 (Denmark 9) registered in other countries: 20 (Antigua and Barbuda 6, North Korea 1, Norway 1, Panama 5, St Vincent and The Grenadines 7, unknown 3) (2007)	-
Military - note	-	In November 2004, the EU heads of government signed a "Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe" that offers possibilities for increased defense and security cooperation. If ratified, this treaty will give operational effect to the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP), approved in the 2000 Nice Treaty. Despite limits of cooperation for some EU members, development of a EU military planning unit is likely to continue. The planning unit will support the EU Rapid Reaction Force, which EU ministers have said will deploy 2 "battle groups" in January 2007. France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy continue to press for wider coordination. The 5-nation Eurocorps - created in 1992 by France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and Luxembourg - has already deployed troops and police on peacekeeping missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and assumed command of the ISAF in Afghanistan in August 2004. Eurocorps directly commands the 5,000-man Franco-German Brigade, the Multinational Command Support Brigade, and EUFOR, which took over from SFOR in Bosnia in December 2004. Individual EU nations made commitments to provide 67,100 troops following the December 1999 EU summit in Helsinki. Some 56,000 troops from EU member states were actually deployed on various international operations in 2003. In August 2004, the new European Defense Agency, tasked with promoting cooperative European defense capabilities, began operations. In November 2004, the EU Council of Ministers formally committed to creating 13 1,500-man battle groups by the end of 2007, to respond to international crises on a rotating basis. Twenty-two of the EU's 25 nations have agreed to supply troops. France, Italy, and the UK formed the first of 3 battle groups in 2005. In May 2005, Norway, Sweden and Finland agreed to establish one of the battle groups, possibly to include Estonia forces. The remaining 9 groups are to be formed in 2007. A rapid-reaction naval EU Maritime Task Group was stood up in March 2007. (2005)
Military branches	Ground Forces, Naval Force, Lithuanian Military Air Forces, National Defense Volunteer Forces (2005)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	1.2% (2006; 1.23% 2007 est.)	-
National holiday	Independence Day, 16 February (1918); note - 16 February 1918 was the date Lithuania declared its independence from Soviet Russia and established its statehood; 11 March 1990 was the date it declared its independence from the Soviet Union	Europe Day 9 May (1950); note - a Union-wide holiday, the day that Robert SCHUMAN proposed the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community to achieve an organized Europe
Nationality	noun: Lithuanian(s) adjective: Lithuanian	-
Natural hazards	NA	flooding along coasts; avalanches in mountainous area; earthquakes in the south; volcanic eruptions in Italy; periodic droughts in Spain; ice floes in the Baltic
Natural resources	peat, arable land, amber	iron ore, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, bauxite, uranium, potash, salt, hydropower, arable land, timber, fish
Net migration rate	-0.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	1.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Pipelines	gas 1,696 km; oil 228 km; refined products 121 km (2006)	-
Political parties and leaders	Civil Democracy Party [Viktor MUNTIANAS]; Electoral Action of Lithuanian Poles [Valdemar TOMASZEVSKI]; National Farmer's Union [Kazimiera PRUNSKIENE]; Homeland Union/Conservative Party or TS [Andrius KUBILIUS]; Labor Party [Kestutis DAUKSYS]; Liberal and Center Union [Arturas ZUOKAS]; Liberal Democratic Party [Rolandas PAKSAS]; Liberal Movement [Petras AUSTREVICIUS]; Lithuanian Christian Democrats or LKD [Valentinas STUNDYS]; Lithuanian People's Union for a Fair Lithuania [Julius VESELKA]; Lithuanian Social Democratic Party [Algirdas BRAZAUSKAS]; Social Liberal/New Union [Arturas PAULAUSKAS]; Social Union of Christian Conservatives [Gediminas VAGNORIUS]; Young Lithuania and New Nationalists [Stanislovas BUSKEVICIUS]	Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left or EUL/NGL [Francis WURTZ]; European People's Party-European Democrats or EPP-ED [Joseph DAUL]; Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe or ALDE [Graham R. WATSON]; Group of Greens/European Free Alliance or Greens/EFA [Monica FRASSONI and Daniel Marc COHN-BENDIT]; Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty Group or ITS [Bruno GOLLNISCH]; Independence/Democracy Group or IND/DEM [Jens-Peter BONDE and Nigel FARAGE]; Socialist Group in the European Parliament or PES [Martin SCHULZ]; Union for Europe of the Nations Group or UEN [Brian CROWLEY and Cristiana MUSCARDINI]
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	-
Population	3,575,439 (July 2007 est.)	490,426,060 (July 2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	4% (2003)	see individual country listings
Population growth rate	-0.289% (2007 est.)	0.16% (2007 est.)
Radio broadcast stations	AM 29, FM 142, shortwave 1 (2001)	AM 930, FM 13,655, shortwave 71 (1998); note - sum of individual country radio broadcast stations; there is also a European-wide station (Euroradio)
Railways	total: 1,771 km broad gauge: 1,749 km 1.524-m gauge (122 km electrified) standard gauge: 22 km 1.435-m gauge (2006)	total: 236,656 km broad gauge: 28,240 km standard gauge: 200,532 km narrow gauge: 7,861 km other: 23 km (2006)
Religions	Roman Catholic 79%, Russian Orthodox 4.1%, Protestant (including Lutheran and Evangelical Christian Baptist) 1.9%, other or unspecified 5.5%, none 9.5% (2001 census)	Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.054 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.959 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.526 male(s)/female total population: 0.887 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	at birth: NA under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	18 years of age; universal
Telephone system	general assessment: inadequate, but is being modernized to provide an improved international capability and better residential access domestic: a national, fiber-optic cable, interurban, trunk system is nearing completion; rural exchanges are being improved and expanded; mobile cellular systems are being installed; access to the Internet is available; still many unsatisfied telephone subscriber applications international: country code - 370; landline connections to Latvia and Poland; major international connections to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway by submarine cable for further transmission by satellite	note - see individual country entries of member states
Telephones - main lines in use	792,400 (2006)	238 million (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular	4.718 million (2006)	466 million (2005)
Television broadcast stations	27 (may have as many as 100 transmitters, including repeater stations) (2001)	2,700 (1995); note - sum of individual country television broadcast stations excluding repeaters; there is also a European-wide station (Eurovision)
Terrain	lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil	fairly flat along the Baltic and Atlantic coast; mountainous in the central and southern areas
Total fertility rate	1.21 children born/woman (2007 est.)	1.5 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate	3.7% note: based on survey data, official registered unemployment of 5.7% (2006 est.)	8.5% (2006 est.)
Waterways	425 km (2005)	52,332 km (2006)

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