LIETUVA

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by Austėja Akinskaitė and Austėja Kazinec,Vidiskes gymnasium

What needs to know every European about Lithuania...

Lithuania is the largest country of the three Baltic States in northern Europe. Lithuania has been a member state of the European Union and part of the Schengen Area since 2004, making it possible to enter and exit the country freely when crossing internal EU borders.

Good afternoon! - Laba diena!

See you! - Iki susitikimo!

Thank you! - Ačiū!

Hello! - Labas!

There are 2.8 million people living in Lithuania. The country's capital city is Vilnius and the national language is Lithuanian. Lithuanian is one of the oldest language in the world today. This language is one of the oldest living Indo-European language of Europe.

Lithuania uses the euro as its currency. An image of the country's coat of arms, 'Vytis', appears on its euro coins. Lithuania adopted the Euro in 2015.

Lithuania was the first Soviet republic to declare independence from the USSR in March 1990. Lithuania has two celebrations merely a month apart that people casually refer to as “independence day” – and have a day off work.The celebration on February 16 is actually called the State Restoration Day.On March 11, Lithuania celebrates the Restoration of Independence Day.

Trakai Island Castle

The country has lush forests and many lakes and rivers. There are several natural reserves where wild animals can roam freely in a protected environment.

NEMUNAS / Nioman, Neman or Memel

There are about 6,000 lakes in Lithuania, covering 950 km², or 1.5% of the territory of Lithuania.The longest Lithuanian river is Nemunas, called the father of rivers.

Curonian Spit (2000)

Old Town of Vilnius (1994)

When you come to Lithuania be sure not to miss the country’s four UNESCO World Heritage Sites – the historic Old Town of Vilnius; the breathtakingly beautiful Curonian Spit, a 50 km stretch of white sand and pines extending into the Baltic Sea; the mystical hill forts of the Kernavė archeological and cultural reserve; Struve Geodetic Arc (it is a chain of survey triangulations, composed of 258 triangles with special marks at the vertexes).

Struve Geodetic Arc (2005)

Kernavė Archaeological Site (2004)

Sunset at Baltic Sea

The Baltic coast of Lithuania extends to 91,6 kilometres, and it is one of the shortest national coastlines in Europe.

Lithuania is famous for amber which gets washed up onto the Baltic coastline. We treat Lithuanian Amber as our gold. Amber is formed when sap (the liquid inside coniferous trees trunks) drips out of the tree’s bark.

Traditional Lithuanian dessert is the šakotis (tree cake) (large circular branching structure similar in taste to German Baumkuchen).

Cepelinai

Cepelinai or potato dumplings is the national dish of Lithuania.

Lithuanian cuisine is known for its naturalness, for ancient cooking traditions served up in new ways. Potatoes and rye bread are the staple foods and pork are the favorite meat, followed by beef and chicken.

In Ignalina, we have one of the biggest and well-known Tree Baking company in Lithuania. On 30th May 2015, this company baked the biggest tree cake in the world, which was included in Guinness Records. The Tree Cake was 3, 72 m tall and weighed 85, 8 kilos.

Considered almost as a religion in Lithuania, basketball is the most popular sport there. Several Lithuanian basketball players are stars of the USA's National Basketball Association (NBA); Domantas Sabonis, for example.

Some famous artists are of Lithuanian descent. Would you have guessed, for example, that this is the case for the pop singer Pink or the lead singers of the bands Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the Killers?

Monika Marija

Sel

Donatas Montvydas(Donny Montell)

Monika Liu

There are also a lot of other famous Lithuanian soloists like Donatas Montvydas, Monika Marija, Monika Liu, Sel.

Recently, there is a very popular group the roop in Lithuania. They got known from their performances in Eurovision with songs „on fire“ and „discoteque“.

Thank you for your attention!

• https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C4%85ra%C5%A1as:Lietuvos_%C5%BEinduoliai
• https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemunas
• http://www.romnesa.lt/druskininkai/gineso-rekordas/
• https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euras
• https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lietuva
• https://europa.eu/learning-corner/the-eu-whats-it-all-about_lt

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