Lithuania at a Glance: Language, Capital, Currency

Lithuania (Lietuva) — Baltic nation, EU/NATO/OECD member, restored independence 1990.

Essential Facts

• Official Language: Lithuanian (lietuvių kalba) — Baltic branch of Indo-European; ~3M native speakers. One of Europe's oldest living languages (conservative grammar, pitch accent).
• Capital: Vilnius — Population ~580K (metro ~850K). UNESCO Old Town (baroque architecture, Gediminas Tower, Gate of Dawn). "Jerusalem of the North" for historic Jewish life.
• Currency: Euro (EUR, €) — Adopted January 1, 2015 (replaced litas, LTL, at 3.4528 LTL/EUR). Eurozone member.

Bonus Context

• Area: 65,300 km² (25,212 sq mi)
• Population: ~2.8M (2024)
• Time Zone: EET (UTC+2) / EEST (UTC+3 DST)
• Calling Code: +370
• TLD: .lt

Lithuanian retains archaic Indo-European features (7 cases, dual number relics, pitch accent) making it a linguistic treasure for historical linguists. English widely spoken in business/tourism; Russian understood by older generations.