Lithuania entered into the annals of European history when it was first mentioned in a medieval German manuscript, the Quedlinburg Chronicle, on February 14, 1009. The Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas in 1236, and neighboring countries referred to it as "the state of Lithuania". The official coronation of Mindaugas as King of Lithuania, on July 6, 1253, marked its recognition by Christendom, and the official recognition of Lithuanian statehood as the Kingdom of Lithuania.

During the early period of the Gediminids (1316-1430), the state occupied the territories of present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia. By the end of the 14th century, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania stretched across a substantial part of Europe, from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Lithuanian nobility, city dwellers and peasants accepted Christianity in 1385, following Poland's offer of its crown to Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Grand Duke Jogaila was crowned King of Poland on February 2, 1386. Lithuania and Poland were joined into a personal union, as both countries were ruled by the same Jagiellon dynasty.

In 1401, the formal union was dissolved as a result of disputes over legal terminology, and Vytautas, the cousin of Jogaila, became the Grand Duke of Lithuania. A royal crown had been bestowed upon Vytautas in 1429 by Sigismund, the Holy Roman Emperor, but Polish magnates prevented the coronation of Vytautas by seizing the crown as it was being brought to him. A new crown was ordered in Germany and a new date set for the coronation, but a month later Vytautas died in an accident.

In 1569, Lithuania and Poland formally united into a single dual state called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. As a member of the Commonwealth, Lithuania retained its sovereignity and its institutions, including a separate army and currency. In 1795, the joint state was dissolved by the third Partition of the Commonwealth, which forfeited its lands to Russia, Prussia and Austria, under duress. Over ninety percent of Lithuania was incorporated into the Russian Empire and the remainder into Prussia.

On February 16, 1918, Lithuania re-established its independence. From July, 1918, until November of that year, Monaco-born King Mindaugas II was pronounced the titular monarch of Lithuania, until the country's parliament opted for a republican form of government. From the outset, territorial disputes with Poland (over the Vilnius region and the Suvalkai region) and with Germany (over the Klaipėda region, German: Memelland) preoccupied the foreign policy of the new nation. During the interwar period, the constitutional capitol was Vilnius, although the city itself was annexed by Poland from 1920 to 1939 (see History of Vilnius for more details). The Lithuanian government at the time was relocated to Kaunas, which officially held the status of temporary capital.

In 1940, at the beginning of World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Lithuania in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. It later came under German occupation, during which around 190,000 or 91% of the Lithuanian Jews were killed, resulting in one of the worst death rates of the Holocaust. After the retreat of the German army, Lithuania was re-occupied by the Soviet Union in 1944.

During the Soviet and Nazi occupations between 1940 and 1954, Lithuania lost over 780,000 residents. An estimated 120,000 to 300,000 of that number were killed or exiled to Siberia by the Soviets, while others chose to emigrate to western countries.



Fifty years of communist rule ended with the advent of perestroika and glasnost in the late 1980s. Lithuania, led by Sąjūdis, an anti-communist and anti-Soviet independence movement, proclaimed its renewed independence on March 11, 1990. Lithuania was the first Soviet republic to do so, though Soviet forces unsuccessfully tried to suppress this secession. The Soviets attacked the Vilnius TV Tower on the night of January 13, 1991, an act that resulted in the death of 13 Lithuanian civilians. The last Russian troops left Lithuania on August 31, 1993 — even earlier than they departed East Germany

On February 4, 1991, Iceland became the first country to recognize Lithuanian independence. Sweden was the first to open an embassy in the country. The United States of America never recognized the Soviet claim to Lithuania or to the other two Baltic republics.

Lithuania joined the United Nations on September 17, 1991. On May 31, 2001, Lithuania became the 141st member of the World Trade Organization. Since 1988, Lithuania has sought closer ties with the West, and so on January 4, 1994, it became the first of the Baltic States to apply for NATO membership. On March 29, 2004, it became a full and equal NATO member and on May 1, 2004, Lithuania joined the European Union.

Lithuania is situated in northern Europe and is the largest and most populous of the Baltic states. It has around 99 kilometres (61.5 mi) of sandy coastline, of which only about 38 kilometres (24 mi) face the open Baltic Sea; the rest of the coast is sheltered by the Curonian sand peninsula. Lithuania's major warm-water port, Klaipėda, lies at the narrow mouth of the Curonian Lagoon (Lithuanian: Kuršių marios), a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad. The main river, the Neman River, and some of its tributaries carry international shipping vessels.

The Lithuanian landscape has been smoothed by glaciers. The highest areas are the moraines in the western uplands and eastern highlands, none of which are taller than 300 metres (1,000 ft) above sea level, with the maximum elevation being Aukštojas Hill at 294 metres (964 feet). The terrain features numerous lakes, Lake Vištytis for example, and wetlands; a mixed forest zone covers 30% of the country. The climate lies between maritime and continental, with wet, moderate winters and summers. According to some geographers, Lithuania's capitol, Vilnius, lies a few kilometres south of the geographical centre of Europe.

Lithuania consists of the following historical and cultural regions:

Aukštaitija — literally, the "Highlands"

Samogitia (Lithuanian: Žemaitija) — literally, the "Lowlands"

Dzūkija (Lithuanian: Dzūkija or Dainava)

Sudovia (Lithuanian: Sūduva or Suvalkija)

Lithuania Minor also known as "Prussian Lithuania" — (Lithuanian: Mažoji Lietuva or Prūsų Lietuva). Most of it is currently controlled by Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast).