TOEFL Test Centers in Lithuania

EDU February 16, 2019

Lithuania Overview

Lithuania, Lithuanian Lietuva, officially Lietuvos Respublika, German Republic of Lithuania, state in northeastern Europe, the largest and most populous of the three Baltic republics with (2018) 2.8 million residents; The capital is Vilnius.

Country facts

• Official name: Republic of Lithuania
• License plate: LT
• ISO-3166: LT, LTU (440)
• Internet domain:.lt
• Currency: 1 euro (€) = 100 cents
• Area: 65,286 km²
• Population (2018): 2.8 million
• Capital: Vilnius
• Official language (s): Lithuanian
• Form of government: Parliamentary republic
• Administrative division: 60 municipalities
• Head of State: President Gitanas Nauseda
• Head of Government: Saulius Skvernelis
• Religion (s) (2011): Christians (77.2% Catholics, 4.1% Orthodox), 12.5% ​​other / n / a, 6.1% non-denominational
• Time zone: Central European Time +1 hour
• National Day: February 16

Location and infrastructure

• Location (geographical): Eastern Europe
• Position (coordinates): between 53 ° 54 ‘and 56 ° 24’ north latitude and 21 ° 06 ‘and 26 ° 54’ east longitude
• Climate: Winter damp and cool climate
• Highest mountain: Aukštojas (294 m)
• Road network (2012): 72 297 km (paved), 11 869 km (unpaved)
• Railway network (2014): 1,768 km

Population

• Annual population growth (2020): -1.1%
• Birth rate (2020): 9.5 per 1000 inh.
• Death rate (2020): 15 per 1000 pop.
• Average age (2020): 44.5 years
• Average life expectancy (2020): 75.5 years (men 70.3; women 81.1)
• Age structure (2020): 15.3% younger than 15 years, 20.5% older than 65 years
• Literacy rate (15 year olds and older) (2015): 99.8%
• Mobile phone contracts (pre-paid and post-paid) (2017): 151 per 100 residents
• Internet users (2017): 78 per 100 residents

Economy

• GDP per capita (2018): US $ 19,143
• Total GDP (2018): US $ 53 billion
• GNI per capita (2018): US $ 17,430
• Education expenditure (2015): 4.2% of GDP
• Military expenditure (2019): 2.0% of GDP
• Unemployment rate (15 years and older) (2017): 7.1%

Population

The population consists of Lithuanians (86.7%), Poles (5.6%), Russians (4.8%), Belarusians (1.3%) and Ukrainians (0.5%); 1.1% belong to other ethnic groups. The Polish minority mainly lives in the south-east of the country; the Russian in Klaipeda, Memel Land and Vilnius. The proportion of foreign nationals is only 0.71% (2017); there are also 670 asylum seekers in Lithuania.

The central and southern areas are most densely populated, especially the urban areas around Vilnius and Kaunas, while the southeast is least populated. Overall, the average population density is 45 residents / km ². The proportion of the urban population is 67%. The largest cities are Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda and Šiauliai.

Social: About 1 million Lithuanians live abroad; the net migration rate (2017) is very high at –6.1 per 1000 residents. The state social security system, which is mainly financed by contributions, includes, inter alia. Sickness benefits, old-age pensions, unemployment benefits and family allowances. The health system is financed by both taxes and contributions. In 2015 there were 7.3 hospital beds and 4.4 doctors per 1,000 residents.

The biggest cities in Lithuania

Religion

The constitution guarantees religious freedom, places all religious communities on an equal footing and expressly excludes the establishment of a state religion. The religious communities are subject to state registration. According to different data, between 77 and 80% of the population belong to the Catholic Church (two archdioceses with five suffragan bishops), almost 5% to the Orthodox Church (including the Old Believers) and 1–2% to Protestant churches and faith groups (mainly Lutherans and Reformed).

Small non-Christian religious communities form the Muslims and the Jews as well as a small Karaite community. The history of the Jewish community (now synagogues in Vilnius and Kaunas) began at the end of the 14th century and peaked at the beginning of the 20th century. The Tatars living in Lithuania profess Sunni Islam (four mosques). The Karaites live in Trakai and Panevėžys.

Parties

Lithuania has a wide range of parties. Important parties are the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP; formed in 2001 through the merger of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party [LSDP; founded in 1896, newly constituted in 1989] and the Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party [LDDP; founded in 1990 as a successor to the Communist Party of Lithuania]), the social-populist labor party (DP; founded in 2003), the Liberal Movement of the Republic of Lithuania (LRLS; created in 2006 as a split from the Liberal and Center Union [LiCS; founded in 2003]), the centrist Lithuanian Union of Peasants and Greens (LVŽS; created in 2001 through party merger as Union of the Peasant and New Democracy Party [VNDS], renamed the Lithuanian Peasant People’s Union [LVLS] in 2006, today’s name since 2012),̧ jūdis emerged, 2008 merger with the Lithuanian Christian Democrats [LKD]), the national-conservative grouping Order and Justice (TT; founded in 2002 as the Liberal Democratic Party [LDP], today’s name since 2006), the Christian Democratic Electoral Action of the Poles of Lithuania (AWPL or LLRA; founded 1994) and the populist group Weg des Mutes (DK; founded 2012).