Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Lithuania
conventional short form: Lithuania
local long form: Lietuvos Respublika
local short form: Lietuva
former: Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic

Digraph: LT

Type: republic

Capital: Vilnius

Administrative divisions: 10 counties (apskritys, singular - apskritis): Alytaus, Kauno, Klaipedos, Marijampoles, Panevezio, Siauliu, Taurages, Telsiu, Utenos, Vilniaus

Independence: 6 September 1991 (from Soviet Union)

National holiday:
January 1 - New Year's Day
January 13- Defenders of Freedom Day
February 16- Restoration of Lithuania's Statehood (1918)
March 11 - Independence Day
March 30 - Catholic Easter (1997)
May 1 - Labour Day
June 14 - Day of Mourning and Hope
July 6 - Crowning of Mindaugas, Day of Statehood.
August 23 - Black Ribbon Day
September 8 - Crowning of Vytautas the Great.
October 25 - Constitution Day
November 1 - All Saint's Day
December 25 - Christmas Day
December 26 - Boxing Day

Constitution: adopted 25 October 1992

Legal system: based on civil law system; no judicial review of legislative acts

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: President
President - Valdas Adamkus
President's office: Simono Daukanto sq. 3 LT-2008 Vilnius, LITHUANIA
head of government: Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas
cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president on the nomination of the prime minister

Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament or Seimas (141 seats, 71 members are directly elected by popular vote, 70 are elected by proportional representation; members serve four-year terms)
    elections: last held 8 October 2000 (next to be held October 2004)
    election results: percent of vote by party - Social Democratic Coalition 31.1%, New Union/Social Liberals 19.6%, Liberal Union 17.2%, TS 8.6%, remaining parties all less than 5%; seats by party - Social Democratic Coalition 52, Liberal Union 34, New Union/Social Liberals 29, TS 9, Farmer's Party 4, Center Union 2, Poles' Electoral Action 2, Modern Christian Democratic Union 1, independents 3, others 5

List of members of Seimas can be found here

 President of the Republic of Lithuania (Simono Daukanto sq. 3, LT-2008 Vilnius)
 Seimas - Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania (Gedimino ave. 53, 2002 Vilnius)
 Prime Minister (Gedimino ave. 11, 2039 Vilnius)
 Constitutional Court (Gedimino ave. 36, LT-2600 Vilnius)
 Ministry of Agriculture (Gedimino ave. 19, LT-2025 Vilnius)
 Ministry of Economics (Gedimino ave. 38/2, LT-2600 Vilnius)
 Ministry of Environment (Jaksto 4/9, LT-2694 Vilnius)
 Ministry of Finance (J. Tumo-Vaizganto 8a/2, LT-2600 Vilnius)
 Department of Customs (A.Jaksto 1/25, LT-2600 Vilnius)
 Ministry of Foreign Affairs (J.Tumo-Vaizganto 2, LT-2600 Vilnius)
 Ministry of Health (Vilniaus str. 33, LT-2001 Vilnius)
 Office of Public Affairs (Sventaragio 2, Vilnius)
 Court Department (Gedimino ave. 30/1, LT-2600 Vilnius)
 Ministry of National Defence (Totoriu 25/3, LT-2001 Vilnius)
 Ministry of Social Security and Labour Protection (A.Vivulskio str. 11, LT-2693 Vilnius)
 Lithuanian Labour Exchange (Gelezinio Vilko 3A, LT-2600 Vilnius)
 SODRA - State Social Insurance Fund Board (Ukmerges 12, LT-2600 Vilnius)
 Ministry of Transport and Communications (Gedimino ave. 17, LT2679 Vilnius)
 Bank of Lithuania (Gedimino ave. 6, LT-2001 Vilnius)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, Court of Appeals

Other political or pressure groups: Homeland Union; Lithuanian Future Forum; Farmers Union

Member of: ACCT (observer), BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WEU (associate partner), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer)

Foreign relations: Lithuania became a member of the United Nations on September 18, 1991, and is a signatory to a number of its organizations and other international agreements. It also is a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the North Atlantic Coordinating Council, and the Council of Europe. Lithuania gained membership in the World Trade Organization on May 31, 2001, and in November 2002 was invited to join NATO. Lithuania officially became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on March 29, 2004 after depositing its instruments of treaty ratification in Washington, DC. Lithuania joined the European Union on May 1, 2004.

Lithuania maintains foreign diplomatic missions in 60 countries on six continents, a consular post in one country that is not represented by an embassy, consular posts led by Honorary Consuls in 32 countries that are not represented by an embassy, and a special mission in one country without other diplomatic representation. Lithuania's liberal "zero-option" citizenship law has substantially erased tensions with its neighbors. Its suspension of two strongly ethnic Polish district councils on charges of blocking reform or disloyalty during the August 1991 coup had cooled relations with Poland, but bilateral cooperation markedly increased with the holding of elections in those districts and the signing of a bilateral friendship treaty in 1994. Relations with Poland are now among the closest enjoyed by Lithuania. Although a similar bilateral friendship agreement was signed with Belarus in 1995, Lithuania has joined the United States and other European nations in urging the Government of Belarus to adopt democratic and economic reforms. President Adamkus was instrumental in brokering a peaceful resolution to the electoral challenges in Ukraine in 2004, and Lithuania plays an important leadership role in promoting democracy throughout the region.

Defense Lithuania, a relatively new NATO member, fully endorses the concept of "collective defense." National policy recognizes the primacy of NATO as the guarantor of security in Europe. The goal of Lithuania's defense policy is to create a military that can contribute to international missions through the NATO alliance, the UN, and other groups, and to continue to integrate Lithuania into Western defense structures. The defense ministry is responsible for combat forces, search and rescue operations, and intelligence. The government has committed to achieving the goal of dedicating 2% of GDP for defense spending.
Lithuania maintains 8,500 active duty troops and 8,000 reserve troops. The core of the Lithuanian force structure is the Iron Wolf Rapid Reaction Brigade, which consists of five battalions and appropriate support elements. The Lithuanian Air Force operates 17 fixed wing aircraft and nine helicopters. The Home Guard is currently organized into seven districts. Plans call for reorganization into five districts.
The Border Police are under the Interior Ministry and are responsible for border protection, passport and customs duties, and interdiction of smuggling and trafficking activities.

Flag: three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top), green, and red.