LITHUANIA| Capital: | Vilnius |
| Population: | 3,584,966 |
| Government type: | Parliamentary Democracy |
| Location: | Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia |
| Area: | 65,200 kmē |
| Land boundaries: | Total 1,273 km; Belarus 502 km, Latvia 453 km, Poland 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 227 km |
| Ethnic groups: | Lithuanian (80.6%), Russian (8.7%), Polish (7%), Byelorussian (1.6%), other (2.1%) |
| Religions: | Primarily Roman Catholic, others include Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, Protestant, evangelical Christian Baptist, Islam, Judaism |
| Languages: | Lithuanian (official), Polish, Russian |
General
Lithuania has benefited from its disciplined approach to market reform and its adherence to strict fiscal and monetary policies imposed by the IMF, measures that have helped contrain the growth of the money supply, reduce inflation to 5.1% and support GDP growth of 6% in 1997 and 4.5% in 1998. Foreign direct investment and the privatisation programme maintained their momentum in 1998. However, the current account deficit has hovered around 8% to 10% GDP annually since 1995 - the result of greater demand for consumer goods and falling growth in exports. Reducing this deficit was the immediate economic challenge for 1999.
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