68:1 Preface
The Republic of Lithuania is the largest of the three Baltic
States with a territory of 65,300 sq. km (around 25,200 sq. miles).
The country is situated on the Eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. To
the north, the Republic of Lithuania borders Latvia; to the east
and the south, Belarus; and to the southwest, it has common borders
with Poland and the Kaliningrad Region of the Russian
Federation.
The population of the Republic of Lithuania is 2.9
million.1 The official language of the country is
Lithuanian. The main religion is Roman Catholicism. Ethnic
Lithuanians constitute approximately 83.45% of the total
population. The capital is Vilnius, which is also the largest city
in the Republic of Lithuania, with a population of
635,812.2 The other major cities are Kaunas, Siauliai,
and Klaipeda.
