Lithuania is one beautiful and amazing country that doesn't seem to get too much attention
around the world. However, it is one interesting place nestled within Europe, that has some very
majestic surprises that many will enjoy. It is home to a people who have had a history that
dates back to even the early days of Europe's beginning, and has a culture and identity that
has its own unique heartbeat. And today, we are going to learn about it. Welcome to Lithuania. Hey
everybody how's it going? Welcome to FTDFacts, the channel where I look at people, cultures, and places,
from all around the world. Oh yeah, by the way, my name is Dave Walpole. And yeah, today we're gonna
be looking at Lithuania. I'm really excited to be talking about this country because it's one that
actually, I've had a friend go to before. And he was like, "man it's just a beautiful place," so it's
cool to actually learn about it. So, we're gonna get right started into this episode, but before we do,
how it works here on FTD Facts - if you haven't been to this channel before and you like learning about
different places, hit that subscribe button, because that's what we do. And on top of that, if you're
liking this video and you want more Lithuanian videos or content, be sure to hit the like buttons
because, hey! We get over 5,000 likes, we know to do part twos. Now, officially, the country is known
as the Republic of Lithuania and because of its location, although within Europe, it's actually
considered one of the Baltic States which actually consists of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, and are
classified as high-income countries. But how many people live in this country? Well, let's take a
quick little peek so according to a 2017 estimate, the country ranks one 137th
in the world when it comes to population, with a population estimate of approximately 2,800,667
people. And because the amount of people within
this country, it has a population density of 43 people per square kilometer, ranking
173rd in the world. And of course, the density is easily calculated with the population and
the land size. And as for Lithuania, it has a land size of approximately 65, 300
kilometers squared, which makes this country ranked 121st when it comes to the land sizes of
all countries. And, it has a water percentage of 1.35%. Now, considering we're talking about population,
let's talk about the type of people that actually live within the country. So, as of 2015 it's
estimated that 86.7% of the people classify as Lithuanians. There's about
5.6% identify as Polish, 4.8% identify as Russian, 1.3% identify as Belarusian,
while 0.7% identified as Ukrainian, and 0.9% identify as other. And
actually, I'm gonna talk about Russia and Poland in a little bit because it's actually rather
important why the Polish and the Russians are in Lithuania. Because right now while I'm on the
topic of people, I want to also look at religion , because for this nation, its majorly are Catholic
country in which 77.2% of the people identify as Catholic. However, there
is also Orthodox modern and old believers, but it's interesting enough to know that 10% of the
population also didn't specify what their religion was, while 6.1% of the population
identified as non-religious. Now, of course, while we're on the topic of people and we're on the
topic of religion, I also got to mention language, because for Lithuania, they got their own language
called Lithuanian. And it is one of the oldest languages in the entire world. This is because
Lithuanian is identified as an Indo-European language, and of course for this video, I can't
go into details of how this whole language evolved because that is a lengthy process. But however, it
should be mentioned that Indo-European languages actually come from Sanskrit. And as a matter of
fact, the oldest written piece of the Lithuanian text dates back to around 1503 to approximately
1525, in which is a translation of the Lord's Prayer. However, historians do have a major
indication that the language itself existed way long before that. Now moving right along, let's talk
about government and economy. Now the government of Lithuania is known as a Unitary Semi-Presidential
Republic - meaning that it has a President and a Prime Minister in which currently, the President
of the country is Dalia Grybauskaitė, who's actually the first woman in history for Lithuania to
be President, being elected in 2014. As well, she's the first person in Lithuanian history to ever
be reelected as well. I guess they really like her over there! So, for an economy, Lithuania has been a
member of the EU since it became a full-fledged member in May of 2004. It's interesting to know
that although Lithuania joined the EU during that time it took a while for the country to
actually adopt the Euro, which was actually very recent, happening in July of 2015. But before that
they had used what is known as the Lithuanian Lita which were first introduced on October 2nd
of 1922. But in today's world, we should probably take a look at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Now, we
use the Purchasing Power Parity because that is a really good way to compare nations. So for the GDP
of the country, for Purchasing Power Parity, it sits at 96.910 billion dollars,
and that is based off of a 2017 number. Now the per capita ranked 41st in the world, being 34, 829.
Which actually makes this country the largest country in terms of economy in the Baltic states
with the highest GDP per capita out of all those regions. Now for this, we're gonna dive a little
bit into the exports and imports of the country because that's very important. It's interesting
to know what this country gives out and what this country takes. Because, for exports Lithuania sits
at 22.1 billion dollars ranking 68th in the world. The biggest things that it
actually exports are refined petroleum which is approximately 14% of those exports. 5% of
that is furniture or other, 3.5% of that is oddly enough, rolled tobacco. And 2.9%
of that is wheat. Also, if you've ever shopped at IKEA before, believe it or not you might actually
have some wood or furniture that was made in Lithuania, because for IKEA, it actually owns
the biggest wood processing companies in all of Lithuania. And because of that, Lithuania is one of
the biggest suppliers of furniture to the company known as IKEA, and actually, it comes in 4th when
it comes to wood suppliers and furniture suppliers. And if you think about it, IKEA has been designated
the largest company to produce furniture. So, you could say that Lithuania is almost the 4th
largest country for producing furniture in the world. Maybe? Jumping over to imports though, let's
take a quick peek. They have approximately 26.7 billion dollars in goods for imports,
ranking 66th in the world. Their biggest imports are refined petroleum at 9.2% and cars at
3.2%. And of course, much more. Because of that, it should be mentioned that Lithuania
is considered a very prosperous country being ranked 14th in the world when it comes to the Ease
of Doing Business Index. Now let's take a little break from the numbers and let's just look at some
really interesting facts about the country itself. For example, the Lithuania itself is not considered
a very mountainous country, but is considered a country that has a combination of lowlands and
highlands. For example, the highest spot in the country is known as Aukštojas Hill which has
a height of 293.84 ft high, and believe it or not, this hill is kind of important that in
2005 it was actually baptized. I didn't know that. It might be the only baptized hill in the world.
Not sure about that. And considering we're talking about land and all those facts we should probably
mention that Lithuania boasts having over 6,000 lakes within the country of its size,
with the largest of this being Lake Drūkšiai, coming in at a total of 44.8 kilometers
squared. And it's also important not just because of its maximum depth of 33.3 meters deep
with an average depth of 7.6 meters deep. But it's also home to the Ignalina Nuclear
Power Plant, which was the only nuclear power plant in Lithuania that was shut down officially in 2009,
due to the fact that it had a very similar build to the Chernobyl Power Plant, and also didn't have
a sufficient containment unit. That being said, let's also take a quick peek at the energy within
Lithuania because this is really interesting. Because, did you know that Lithuania generates
27.9% of its power using renewable energy sources? Of course, one of the
biggest renewable source is Bio Matter, but it's interesting enough that although Lithuania had the
plan to get to 23% by 2020, they actually beat that in 2004 when they achieved 23.9% and
still to this day, the renewable energy sources are consistently growing. And as well, for the rest of
the power about 70% of that comes from Sweden, which is connected through the NordBalt Cable
which is a submarine cable that is 450 kilometres long and lays on the floor of the Baltic Sea. Now
earlier on in this episode, I did mention that there were a lot of Polish and Russian people
within the country now. I'm bringing it back now because it's rather important to the history of
Lithuania. Because for this fact, we're going to talk about how Lithuania has had a very turbulent
history when it comes to its independence. As a matter of fact, the country boasts of having two
independence days, but you could say it almost really has three, because the first mention of
Lithuania as a country was on March 9th, 1009. But then after that, on February 2nd, 1386 it became a
union with Poland until they were separated on February 6th, 1918 which actually makes February
16th they're one of two independence days. After that, unfortunately on June 15th, 1940, the Soviets
occupied the country, and then a year later on June 22nd, 1941, it was then occupied by the
Germans until July of 1944, when it was occupied by the Russians again. However, it wasn't until March
11th, of 1990 that independence was restored and therefore March 11th is the second Independence
Day of the country. However, you could theoretically say that September 6th could also be an actual day
of Independence, because on September 6th, 1991, it was officially recognized by the Soviet Union
for its independence. With that, I also want to mention the fact that although Estonia was the
first ex-soviet country to join the EU, Lithuania was the first country to actually break off from
the Soviet Union. Mm-hmm. And before we get out of here, one last fact just for the heck of it.
Did you know that Lithuania is home to what is said to be the oldest oak tree in all of Europe?
Known as the Stelmužė Oak, it's rumored to be anywhere between 1,500 to 2,000 years old. And
although not a tall tree, only being 23 meters tall, it has definitely seen better days as the inside
of this tree was removed, with only the outside branches still alive. But however, it does make
you wonder how many people have actually walked by that tree, because it's been around since the
Crusades. Interesting. But there you have it guys. That is a brief look at Lithuania and the great
things that are within this country and what it has to offer. Of course, we missed a lot of great
facts within this episode such as culture and a lot of history. Which reminds me guys, if you
guys really really like this video and you want a part two to us talking about Lithuania, well hit
the like button because if we get over like 5,000 likes, then I will do more Lithuanian topics. And
I just like learning about new places and I know you guys are probably loving it too. On top of that,
don't forget to hit the subscribe button and check out the rest of the videos that we got at the end
of this video or in the description box below. And with that, you and I learned today about the
great country of Lithuania - a beautiful and elegant place that although has had a major struggle for
independence throughout its history, it stands today as one of the strongest countries in the
world. A country that is continuing to contribute to the world in its own unique and fascinating
ways. It is home to a people and a culture that is in touch with its roots, while being
hard workers, and enjoying life for its small and large moments. This is the people, the culture, and
the country of Lithuania, who know that success can be found at home and outside its very own borders.
Alright, so if you guys liked this video and you want some more FTD Facts videos learning about
different countries, well here's some great country videos that you guys can check out. I
really do strongly recommend these because it's always good to just impress your friends with
just some basic knowledge about other places around the world. Who knows, you just may travel
there one day. But thanks for watching. Hit the subscribe button, and we'll see you later! Bye.