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Litauen | Lithuania

Historical, political and economical context

Lithuania is one of the three independent Baltic States and belongs to the region, which is referred to as Central and Eastern Europe. Total population of the country in September 1999 was 3,699,500 (similar to Ireland); there are 2.5 million urban residents and 1.2 million rural residents in Lithuania. Ethnic composition of Lithuania's population today is:

• 81.3% Lithuanians
• 8.4% Russians
• 7% Poles
• 1.5% Belorussians
• 1% Ukrainians
• 0.7% others.

Lithuania has ancient and dramatic history that was often determined by its geographical situation - on the crossroads between the East and the West. As a politically active state Lithuania appeared in the history of Europe in the 13^th century. The first Lithuanian book was printed in 1547 in Koenigsberg and it witnessed the determination of Lithuanian culture to look rather West than East and marked Lithuania's decision to build its own culture distinct from and resistant to the overwhelming Polish and German influence. In 1570 the first academic library - nine years before the academy itself! - was established in Vilnius. Today Vilnius University Library is one of the richest in the region.

Picture 1. Lithuania in Europe: a map

The 17^th-18^th centuries are the period of disintegration of Lithuania's state. In the 19^th century Lithuania lost its independence completely and was included into Russian Empire. Several uprisings marked the fight for national independence. After the uprising in 1832 Vilnius University was closed, part of its library's collections was taken to Russia. After the uprising in 1864 the Czarist authorities prohibited printing, publication and dissemination of the books in Latin characters, i. e. Lithuanians were allowed to use books in their own language only if printed in Cyrillic. The ban lasted for 40 years and was taken away because of the tough resistance.

Lithuania was able to restore its independence in the period between the two World Wars and lost it again in 1940 after the Soviet occupation. In 1990, after half a century of occupation and international isolation, Lithuania has re-joined the world community as a sovereign country.

Since 1990, Lithuania has embarked on radical social, political, economical reforms. In a short time, Lithuania has introduced the main prerequisites of a democratic society, such as multi-party system, free elections, free media and freedom of expression. Emergence of independent mass media has considerably widened people's choice of, and access to information.

Lithuania as all three Baltic states are considered the most economically advanced among the 15 former Soviet republics. After implementing market reforms in the early 1990s, Lithuania experienced strong growth until early 1998. Lithuania's economy could be undoubtedly called a ‘market economy': 68,2% of GDP was produced in the private sector. During the last decade Lithuania opened itself to the world and strengthened ties with developed countries. It was marked by a growing tide of foreign investment, the swift orientation of trade towards the EU, rising standards of living, the harmonization of laws and judicial reforms, and active participation in wide variety of international organizations. The growth in GDP has had a positive effect on the income of population: the gross average wage was 1 152 LTL (288 UD$), following a growth of 12,7% during 1998. At the end of 1998, Lithuania had the highest minimum wage in the Baltic States. Between 1996 and 1998, consumer expenditure grew by 23%. The real rate of economic growth slowed from 7,3% in 1997 to 5,1% in 1998, and unemployment grew by 2,2% during the year (all figures from UNDP Report 1999 ¹ ) due to economic crisis in Russia and other reasons. In January 2000 Lithuania reported a 10 percent jobless rate, its highest figure since it broke with Moscow in 1991.

Transition on such a scale, although it eventually leads to democracy and market economy, has brought drastic changes to the live of all citizens and to performance of all institutions. Alongside with the remarkable positive features of democratic and independent state development, difficult economic situation, imperfect laws, and permanent shortage of funds mark the years of independence.

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