Lithuania is the centre of Europe. It’s located near the Baltic sea which you can see on the photos which are in my profile. The territory of the country covers 65.300 km. Approximately ¾ of the country’s territory consists of lowlands and plains. But in my opinion the landscape is attractive with undulating terrain in the northeast and west. From ancient times, Lithuania was alluded to as the land of lakes and forests. The average mean temperature in July is about +17C and in January it’s only about -4C. So we always have some snow on our Christmas day.
Talking about people Lithuania is the most ethnically compact Baltic State. About 90% of all inhabitants are Lithuanians. We all talk in our native Lithuanian language but not in Russian as a lot of foreigners think. Hearing our language for the first time, foreigners frequently say it sounds as if it were being chanted, not spoken.
Even today, Lithuania has a proportionately large percentage of rural population: 33% of the population lives in the rural areas. A lot of Lithuanians emigrate to other countries because of a pretty bad economy. Salaries are very little and the cost of living very high comparing with salaries. Lithuanians are not ethnographically uniform. The nation is comprised of four major ethnic groups, who historically had existed within their own areas. Talking about characters, most of Lithuanians are inclined towards reserve, the family hearth and stubborn labour. As I said Lithuania has 4 major ethnic groups. Each of them differs in its customs, clothing and songs, and in character as well. One of those major groups people are very expressive, others the most reserved and archaic. Most Lithuanians are very rude to each other.
Lithuania is a country dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. Over 80% of the population consider themselves Catholics.
Talking about culture I need to mention that our national customs and traditions are reflected through rural architecture, clothing, dances, songs, legends and tales. The unique method of Lithuanian singing is known all over the world. We have a carnival – type religious holiday, Shrove Tuesday, which is very popular here. It’s very similar with Halloween. This day marks the start of lent, 40 days before Easter. We deck ourselves out with various masks, burn the More, an effigy of winter, and knock on the door and are treated to pancakes and candies.
If I need to be your guide first I’d like to take you to one of our national parks with a very scenic surroundings and I’d show you some unique museums. It will be also interesting to see our beautiful sand beaches with a huge dunes and pines. We also have a great museum of Amber. Of course I’ll show you the one and only hill of crosses in the world which is not far from my city. The reputation of the hill of crosses spread all over the world. All the hill is covered by thousands of crosses. In 1993 the hill was visited by Pope John Paul II. This hill is the sign of hope, love, belief and sacrifice. I’ll recommend you to visit some of my countries castles which are located on the islands of the lake.