Lithuania is one of Europe’s youngest nations and home to
Vilnius, Eastern Europe’s oldest town. Situated on the eastern
side of the Baltic Sea, it borders Latvia on the north, Belarus
on the east and Poland on the west. Lithuania was originally
founded back in the 13th Century when two military and religious
orders, the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Brothers of the
Sword, began to invade the area. In order to protect themselves
against the Knights, the Lithuanians had to form a unified
state. It was only until the 1990’s that Lithuania finally
started to become a fully independent state from Russia. The
process began with the parliament finally declaring independence
from the Soviet Union in March 1990. Then in February 1991 a
referendum was passed on independence, which was recognised by
the Soviet the following September. The following year the last
Russian troops left. Lithuanians make up 80% of the population,
with Russians, Belarusians and Polish making up most of the
remaining 20%. Its strongest in