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Lithuania Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Lithuania
Official Name: Republic of Lithuania
Capital: Vilnius
Area: 65,200 square kilometres ( 25,174 square miles )
Major cities (Population)
Vilnius 598,000 (1990 estimate)
Kaunas 434,000 (1992 estimate)
Klaipeda 208,000 (1992 estimate)
Population: 3,700,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: -0.1 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of government: Republic
Independence: 6 September 1991 (from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR])
Constitution: Adopted 25 October 1992
Voting Rights: Universal at age 18
Government
A new constitution went into effect in 1992. The president, who is directly elected for a five-year term, is head of state. The unicameral legislature, called the Seimas, consists of 141 members who are directly elected.
Recent History
In World War I Lithuania was occupied by German forces. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Germany allowed Lithuania to elect its own officials, who in February 1918 declared independence. In December that year, Communists in Lithuania established a government, and the Bolsheviks invaded from Russia.
In 1919 the Russian army was driven from most of Lithuania. A peace treaty was signed, and Russia recognized Lithuania’s sovereignty over Vilnius. But Poland, which had been seeking to recover territory lost during the 18th century, seized the city, after which Kaunas became the capital of Lithuania.
From 1920 Lithuania was independent until, as a result of the 1939 pact between the Nazis and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), it was invaded by Soviet forces. During World War II, the USSR lost possession of Lithuania for a short time, but by 1944 it had re-established firm control.
Thousands of armed partisan fighters, known as the “Forest Brothers”, continued their fight for national sovereignty, but during Stalin’s regime Lithuania suffered repression and mass deportations. Relations were less confrontational after the 1950s, but Lithuanians never gave up their goal of independence. In 1990 the country was one of the first republics to declare independence from the USSR, which was by then too unstable to force Lithuania back into the Union. Many countries quickly recognized Lithuania’s sovereignty, as did Russia and other former Soviet republics after the break-up of the USSR in 1991.
The Lithuanian government, led by members of a political coalition called Sajńdis, embarked on a radical programme to reform the economy and other social structures, but progress was slow and painful. In national elections held in 1992, voters rejected the Sajńdis leadership in favour of former Communists, who had formed a new political party advocating slower reform and closer ties with neighbouring countries, especially Russia. The new government pledged to remain committed to democracy, but slowed privatization and other reform measures to soften the impact of political and social change. In August 1993 all remaining Russian troops withdrew from Lithuania, leaving the people free to concentrate on building a stable and prosperous country.
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