The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency (ebook reader 8 inch .txt) 📕

Order and Justice
Party or TT [Rolandas PAKSAS]; Social Democratic Party or LSDP
[Gediminas KIRKILAS]; Young Lithuania and New Nationalists
[Stanislovas BUSKEVICIUS]

Political pressure groups and leaders:

Europe House (promotes the EU); European Movement (promotes the EU);
Lithuanian Future Forum (promotes the EU)

International organization participation:

Australia Group, BA, BIS, CBSS, CE, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NATO, NIB, NSG, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Audrius BRUZGA chancery: temporary address: 2300 Clarendon Boulevard, Suite 302, Arlington, VA 22201 telephone: [1] (202) 234-5860 FAX: [1] (202) 328-0466 consulate(s) general: Chicago, New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador John A. CLOUD embassy: Akmenu gatve 6, Vilnius, LT-03106 mailing address: American Embassy, Akmenu Gatve 6, Vilnius LT-03106 telephone: [370] (5) 266 5500 FAX: [370] (5) 266 5510

Flag description:

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

Economy
Lithuania

Economy - overview:

Lithuania, the Baltic state that has conducted the most trade with Russia, has grown rapidly since rebounding from the 1998 Russian financial crisis. Unemployment fell to 3.2% in 2007 while wages continued to grow at double digit rates, contributing to rising inflation. Exports and imports also grew strongly, and the current account deficit rose to nearly 15% of GDP in 2007. Trade has been increasingly oriented toward the West. Lithuania has gained membership in the World Trade Organization and joined the EU in May 2004. Privatization of the large, state-owned utilities is nearly complete. Foreign government and business support have helped in the transition from the old command economy to a market economy.

GDP (purchasing power parity):

$59.98 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):

$38.35 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

8.8% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

$16,800 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:

agriculture: 5.3% industry: 33.3% services: 61.4% (2007 est.)

Labor force:

1.603 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:

agriculture: 15.8% industry: 28.2% services: 56% (2004)

Unemployment rate:

3.5% note: based on survey data, official registered unemployment of 5.7% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:

4% (2003)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

lowest 10%: 2.7% highest 10%: 27.7% (2003)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:

36 (2005)

Investment (gross fixed):

26.6% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:

revenues: $13.28 billion expenditures: $13.75 billion (2007 est.)

Fiscal year:

calendar year

Public debt:

17.3% of GDP (2007 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

5.7% (2007 est.)

Central bank discount rate:

4.85% (31 December 2007)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:

6.86% (31 December 2007)

Stock of money:

$11.84 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of quasi money:

$6.917 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of domestic credit:

$25.05 billion (31 December 2007)

Agriculture - products:

grain, potatoes, sugar beets, flax, vegetables; beef, milk, eggs; fish

Industries:

metal-cutting machine tools, electric motors, television sets, refrigerators and freezers, petroleum refining, shipbuilding (small ships), furniture making, textiles, food processing, fertilizers, agricultural machinery, optical equipment, electronic components, computers, amber jewelry

Industrial production growth rate:

7.4% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:

11.91 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - consumption:

10.4 billion kWh (2006 est.)

Electricity - exports:

7.217 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - imports:

5.846 billion kWh (2007 est.)

Electricity - production by source:

fossil fuel: 16.5% hydro: 5.7% nuclear: 77.7% other: 0% (2001)

Oil - production:

8,250 bbl/day (2007 est.)

Oil - consumption:

57,170 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:

148,400 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - imports:

206,700 bbl/day (2005)

Oil - proved reserves:

12 million bbl (1 January 2008 est.)

Natural gas - production:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:

3.44 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - exports:

0 cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - imports:

3.44 billion cu m (2007 est.)

Natural gas - proved reserves:

0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:

-$5.26 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:

$17.18 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

mineral products 23%, textiles and clothing 16%, machinery and equipment 11%, chemicals 6%, wood and wood products 5%, foodstuffs 5% (2001)

Exports - partners:

Russia 15%, Latvia 12.9%, Germany 10.5%, Poland 6.3%, Estonia 5.8%,
UK 4.6%, Denmark 4.1%, Belarus 4% (2007)

Imports:

$22.8 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

mineral products, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, chemicals, textiles and clothing, metals

Imports - partners:

Russia 18%, Germany 15%, Poland 10.6%, Latvia 5.5%, Netherlands 4.3% (2007)

Economic aid - recipient:

$249.7 million (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$7.721 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$27.19 billion (31 December 2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$14.63 billion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$1.642 billion (2007 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$10.19 billion (2006)

Currency (code):

litas (LTL)

Currency code:

LTL

Exchange rates:

litai (LTL) per US dollar - 2.5362 (2007), 2.7498 (2006), 2.774 (2005), 2.7806 (2004), 3.0609 (2003)

Communications
Lithuania

Telephones - main lines in use:

799,400 (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

4.912 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: adequate; being modernized to provide improved international capability and better residential access domestic: rapid expansion of mobile-cellular services has resulted in a steady decline in the number of main line subscriptions; mobile-cellular teledensity has increased to about 135 per 100 persons while fixed-line teledensity has dropped to 22 per 100 persons international: country code - 370; major international connections to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway by submarine cable for further transmission by satellite; landline connections to Latvia and Poland (2007)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 29, FM 142, shortwave 1 (2001)

Radios:

1.9 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

27 (may have as many as 100 transmitters, including repeater stations) (2001)

Televisions:

1.7 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.lt

Internet hosts:

812,083 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

32 (2001)

Internet users:

1.333 million (2007)

Transportation
Lithuania

Airports:

87 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 30 over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 17 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 57 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 53 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 1,695 km; oil 228 km; refined products 121 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 1,771 km broad gauge: 1,749 km 1.524-m gauge (122 km electrified) standard gauge: 22 km 1.435-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 79,984 km paved: 70,997 km (includes 309 km of expressways) unpaved: 8,987 km (2006)

Waterways:

441 km (2006)

Merchant marine:

total: 45 by type: cargo 23, container 2, passenger/cargo 6, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 13 foreign-owned: 6 (Denmark 5, Ukraine 1) registered in other countries: 28 (Antigua and Barbuda 5, Cook Islands 1, North Korea 1, Malta 1, Norway 1, Panama 7, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 9, unknown 3) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Klaipeda

Military
Lithuania

Military branches:

Ground Forces, Naval Force, Lithuanian Military Air Forces, National
Defense Volunteer Forces (2005)

Military service age and obligation:

19-45 years of age for compulsory military service; 18 years of age for volunteers; 12-month conscript service obligation (2006)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 915,187 females age 16-49: 906,097 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 678,434 females age 16-49: 749,483 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 25,907 female: 24,735 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

1.2% of GDP (2006; 1.23% 2007 est.)

Transnational Issues
Lithuania

Disputes - international:

Lithuania and Russia committed to demarcating their boundary in 2006 in accordance with the land and maritime treaty ratified by Russia in May 2003 and by Lithuania in 1999; Lithuania operates a simplified transit regime for Russian nationals traveling from the Kaliningrad coastal exclave into Russia, while still conforming, as a EU member state having an external border with a non-EU member, to strict Schengen border rules; the Latvian parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty with Lithuania, primarily due to concerns over potential hydrocarbons; as of January 2007, ground demarcation of the boundary with Belarus was complete and mapped with final ratification documents in preparation

Illicit drugs:

transshipment and destination point for cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, and opiates from Southwest Asia, Latin America, Western Europe, and neighboring Baltic countries; growing production of high-quality amphetamines, but limited production of cannabis, methamphetamines; susceptible to money laundering despite changes to banking legislation

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@Luxembourg

Introduction
Luxembourg

Background:

Founded in 963, Luxembourg became a grand duchy in 1815 and an independent state under the Netherlands. It lost more than half of its territory to Belgium in 1839, but gained a larger measure of autonomy. Full independence was attained in 1867. Overrun by Germany in both World Wars, it ended its neutrality in 1948 when it entered into the Benelux Customs Union and when it joined NATO the following year. In 1957, Luxembourg became one of the six founding countries of the European Economic Community (later the European Union), and in 1999 it joined the euro currency area.

Geography
Luxembourg

Location:

Western Europe, between France and Germany

Geographic coordinates:

49 45 N, 6 10 E

Map references:

Europe

Area:

total: 2,586 sq km land: 2,586 sq km water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Rhode Island

Land boundaries:

total: 359 km border countries: Belgium 148 km, France 73 km, Germany 138 km

Coastline:

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims:

none (landlocked)

Climate:

modified continental with mild winters, cool summers

Terrain:

mostly gently rolling uplands with broad, shallow valleys; uplands to slightly mountainous in the north; steep slope down to Moselle flood plain in the southeast

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Moselle River 133 m highest point: Buurgplaatz 559 m

Natural resources:

iron ore (no longer exploited), arable land

Land use:

arable land: 27.42% permanent crops: 0.69% other: 71.89% (includes Belgium) (2005)

Irrigated land:

NA

Total renewable water resources:

1.6 cu km (2005)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 0.06 cu km/yr (42%/45%/13%) per capita: 121 cu m/yr (1999)

Natural hazards:

NA

Environment - current issues:

air and water pollution in urban areas, soil pollution of farmland

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85,
Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification

Geography - note:

landlocked; the only Grand Duchy in the world

People
Luxembourg

Population:

486,006 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 18.6% (male 46,729/female 43,889) 15-64 years: 66.6% (male 163,356/female 160,425) 65 years and over: 14.7% (male 29,206/female 42,401) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 39 years male: 38 years female: 40 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

1.188% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

11.77 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

8.43 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

8.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant