Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: When was Lithuania founded?
On February 16, 1918, Lithuania was re-established as a democratic state. It remained independent until the outset of World War II, when it was occupied by the Soviet Union under the terms of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Following a brief occupation by Nazi Germany after the Nazis waged war on the Soviet Union, Lithuania was again absorbed into the Soviet Union for nearly 50 years. In 1990–1991, Lithuania restored its sovereignty with the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. Lithuania joined the NATO alliance in 2004 and the European Union as part of its enlargement in 2004.
Invest Lithuania (Lithuanian: Investuok Lietuvoje) is a non-profit organization founded in 2010 and owned by the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania. Its mission is the attraction of foreign investment.
As World War I neared its end, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to declare itself independent, resulting in the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania.
The state of Lithuania formed in the 1230s, when threatened by the Livonian Order in the north and the Teutonic Knights in the west, the Baltic tribes united under the leadership of Mindaugas. He became the only crowned king of Lithuania. His state became known as Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After Grand Duke Jogaila became also king of Poland in 1386, the two states became closer connected and since 1440 both were ruled by a common ruler. In 1569 Union of Lublin was signed and a new entity—the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—emerged. The commonwealth was partitioned in 1795 and Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire till 16 February 1918. The Council of Lithuania was able to establish the sovereignty only in 1919, after Germany lost World War I. The first republic of Lithuania existed until 1940 when it was occupied by the Soviet Union. During the Soviet-German War, Lithuania was occupied by Nazi Germany. In 1944, as Germany was losing the war, Russia re-occupied Lithuania and established the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare independence. The restored Republic of Lithuania is a democratic republic, a member of both the European Union and NATO.
Bulgarians in Lithuania refers to ethnic Bulgarians living in Lithuania. It is a very small minority; according to the 2001 Census, only 171 people identified themselves as Bulgarians. The number has decreased since 1989, when Soviet 1989 census identified 237 Bulgarians in Lithuania.
In 2017, Lithuanian businessman Darius Mockus offered a 1-million-Euro reward to anyone who could find the original document and give it to the State of Lithuania. The offer's deadline was set to 16 February 2018, when Lithuania will commemorate the 100th anniversary of its declaration of independence. On 29 March 2017, Vytautas Magnus University professor Liudas Mažylis announced he had found the original document in the Federal Foreign Office Political Archive in Berlin, Germany, hand-written in the Lithuanian language and signed by the twenty. He also announced that he had found the German-language version of the 16 February 1918 document and the Act of 11 December 1917. The latter displays nineteen signatures (without that of Pranas Dovydaitis). Germany confirmed the documents' authenticity on the following day and they were displayed publicly by two officials — Michael Roth, the German Minister of State for Europe, and Deividas Matulionis, Lithuania ambassador in Germany. On 5 October 2017, Lithuania Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius and Germany Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigmar Gabriel signed an agreement that the original Act of Independence will be displayed for five years in the House of the Signatories where it was originally signed, making it the main symbol of the Lithuania's Centenary of the Restoration of the State celebrations. On 22 December 2017, experts from the Lithuanian Police Forensic Research Center after a thorough analysis announced that the hand-written act was written by one of the signatories Jurgis Šaulys hand.
The Lithuanian Nationalist and Republican Union (, LTS), also known as the Nationalists (), is a nationalist, right-wing political party in Lithuania, founded in 1924 when the Party of National Progress merged with the Lithuanian Farmers' Association. It was the ruling party of Lithuania from the 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état in December 1926 to the Soviet occupation in June 1940. The party was re-established when Lithuania declared independence in 1990.
Sixty-four species of plant, eight species of fungus and 48 species of bird found in the park are included in Lithuania's Red book. The park is famous for its biodiversity: 59% of all plant species in Lithuania can be found in the park, which covers less than 1% of Lithuania.
The sudden death of Sigismund Kęstutaitis left the office of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania empty. The Voivode of Trakai, Jonas Goštautas, and other magnates of Lithuania, supported Casimir as a candidate to the throne. However many Polish noblemen hoped that the thirteen-year-old boy would become a Vice-regent for the Polish King in Lithuania. Casimir was invited by the Lithuanian magnates to Lithuania, and when he arrived in Vilnius in 1440, he was proclaimed as the Grand Duke of Lithuania on 29 June 1440 by the Council of Lords, contrary to the wishes of the Polish noble lords—an act supported and coordinated by Jonas Goštautas. When the news arrived in the Kingdom of Poland concerning the proclamation of Casimir as the Grand Duke of Lithuania, it was met with hostility, even to the point of military threats against Lithuania. Since the young Grand Duke was underage, the supreme control over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was in the hands of the Council of Lords, presided by Jonas Goštautas. Casimir had been taught Lithuanian language and the customs of Lithuania by appointed court officials.
When Germany launched its military campaign in Western Europe in May 1940, the USSR invaded the Baltic states. On 14 June 1940, an ultimatum was served to Lithuania on the alleged grounds of abduction of Red Army troops. The ultimatum said Lithuania should remove officials that were the USSR found unsuitable (the Minister of the Interior and the Head of the Security Department); replace the government; allow an unlimited number of Red Army troops to enter the country. The acceptance of the ultimatum meant the loss of the statehood, yet V. Molotov declared to J. Urbšys that, whatever the reply may be, "the troops will enter Lithuania tomorrow nonetheless". This document was a violation of every prior agreement between Lithuania and the USSR and of the international law governing the relations of sovereign states. The last session of the government of the Republic of Lithuania was called to discuss the ultimatum, with most of the members in favour of accepting the ultimatum. On 15 June, President Smetona left Lithuania for the West, leaving Prime Minister Antanas Merkys in his stead and expecting to come back when the geopolitical situation changes, while the 8th and 11th armies of the USSR (a total of 15 divisions) crossed the borders of the Republic of Lithuania. Flying squads took over the airports of Kaunas, Radviliškis, Šiauliai. Regiments of the Red Army put a stop to possible resistance, disarmed the Lithuanian military, took over its assets, and supported local communists. Under pressure from Moscow, on 17 June 1940 A. Merkys appointed Justas Paleckis Prime Minister and resigned soon after. J. Paleckis then assumed presidential duties, and Vincas Krėvė was appointed Prime Minister The Communist Party was legalised again and began publication of its papers and staging meetings to support the new government. At the same time, the opposition, its newspapers, organisations were outlawed, and ties with abroad cut short. On July 14–15, elections to the People's Parliament took place. The only contender was the Union of Working People of Lithuania, which had been founded by far-left radicals and their supporters. Citizens were mandated to attend the elections, and the results of the elections were likely falsified. At its first meeting on 21 July, the new Parliament declared that Lithuania had expressed its will to become part of the USSR. Resolutions to effectuate the country's sovietisation were made the very same day. On 3 August, a Lithuanian delegation of prominent public figures was dispatched to Moscow to sign the document of Lithuania's accession to the USSR. After the document had been signed, Lithuania was annexed to become part of the USSR. On 25 August 1940, an extraordinary session of the People's Parliament ratified the Constitution of the LSSR (in form and substance similar to the USSR Constitution of 5 December 1936).
Department of Statistics, full name is "Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania", is an institution in Lithuania which is managed by the government. It was founded in 1990 by a resolution during the process of Lithuanian re-establishment of independence and codified by the Law on Statistics of the Republic of Lithuania. The institution became a member of the European Statistical System in 2004.
There are passing mentions of Lida in chronicles from 1180. Until the early 14th century the settlement at Lida was a wooden fortress in Lithuania proper. In 1323, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas built a brick fortress there. 1380 is generally considered the founding year of the city of Lida. The fortress withstood Crusader attacks from Prussia in 1392 and 1394 but it was burned to the ground in 1710. Following the death of Gediminas, when Lithuania was divided into principalities, Lida became the capital of one of them, the seat of Algirdas.
Gediminas and Mindaugas are generally regarded as the founding fathers of Lithuania. Gediminas was said to have had a dream which led to the founding of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania; in this dream, an iron wolf howled all night near the site of the present-day Gediminas Tower. A seer interpreted this as meaning that a great city should be built there.
"What is destined for the ruler and the state of Lithuania, let it be: the iron wolf means a castle and a town which will be established by the ruler on this site. The town will be the capital of the Lithuanian lands and the dwelling of rulers and the glory of their deeds shall echo throughout the world". Mindaugas was the first king of Lithuania, crowned in 1253.
The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (, LSDP) is a social-democratic political party in Lithuania. founded as an underground Marxist organization in 1896, it is the oldest extant party in Lithuania. During the period of Soviet occupation, the party was forced into exile, emerging once again in Lithuania in 1989.
The General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania ("Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija") is a state-sponsored institution of higher learning based in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was founded in 1994 by the Lithuanian Seimas, and is overseen by the Ministry of National Defense. Originally known as the Military Academy of Lithuania, it was renamed in 1998 in honor of General Jonas Žemaitis, a commander of the armed anti-Soviet resistance in Lithuania.
The Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (, LSDDP) is a social-democratic political party in Lithuania. It is the newest party in Lithuania, having been founded in 2018. 
According to the Lithuanian census of 2011, the Polish minority in Lithuania numbered 200,317 persons, or 6.6% of the population of Lithuania. It is the largest ethnic minority in modern Lithuania, the second largest being the Russian minority. Poles are concentrated in the Vilnius region. The vast majority of Poles live in Vilnius county (185,912 people, or 24% of the county's population); Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, has 88,408 Poles, or 16.5% of the city's population. Especially large Polish communities are found in Vilnius district municipality (52% of the population) and Šalčininkai district municipality (77.75%).
Scouting first came to Lithuania in 1909, as part of the Russian Empire. The indigenous Lithuanian Scout movement began in 1918, when the first Scout patrol and then troop was founded in Vilnius by Scouter Petras Jurgėla. In 1922, the first Scout General Assembly united the Lithuanian Scout Movement into the Scout Association of Lithuania. In 1924, the Scout Association of Lithuania was registered as a member of the World Bureau. Lithuania was a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1923 to 1940. Scouting prospered until 1940, when occupation forces banned Scouting.
During the 14th century, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe, as present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the Lublin Union of 1569 Poland and Lithuania formed a new state: the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was finally destroyed by its neighboring countries in 1795. Most of Lithuania's territory was annexed by the Russian Empire, until the Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, which declared re-establishment of a sovereign state. Between 1940 and 1945 Lithuania was occupied by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany at different times. When World War II was near its end in 1944 and the Nazis retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first Baltic republic to declare its restored independence after 50 years of Soviet occupation.
Lithuania became a full member of the Schengen Agreement on 21 December 2007. In 2009, Lithuania celebrated the millennium of its name.Geography of Lithuania
Rokiškis was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania (Rzeczpospolita) until 1795, when Lithuania was annexed by the Russian Empire. Rokiškis was included in the Vilna Governorate until 1843, when the Novo-Alexandrovsk district (uyezd) was transferred to the newly established Kovno Governorate.
Vilnius Cricket Club was the first cricket club in Lithuania. The club was founded in 2007 by Darius Miksys with the aim of bringing cricket into Lithuanian schools, while attracting members from many different countries living in Lithuania. The club benefits from close ties with the British Embassy, the British Chamber of Commerce Lithuania, and support from the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Lithuania proper (, literally: "Genuine Lithuania"; ; , "Lite") refers to a region which existed within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and where the Lithuanian language was spoken. The primary meaning is identical to the Duchy of Lithuania, a land around which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania evolved. The territory can be traced by Catholic Christian parishes established in pagan Baltic lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania subsequent to the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387. They were quite distinguishable, since Ruthenian parts of the Duchy have been already baptised in an orthodox manner. The term in Latin was widely used during the Middle Ages and can be found in numerous historical maps until World War I.
Despite these measures, the issue of police corruption in Lithuania continues to be prevalent. The Special Eurobarometer 397 report on corruption found that 63% of Lithuanian respondents believed corruption within the police or customs to be widespread. Lithuania's levels of police force corruption can be deemed particularly high when compared to other European Union states. The police force was considered to be the most trusted of all institutions in the majority of European Union member states; however, Lithuania was one of three exemptions to this (along with Latvia and Croatia).
The history of Lithuania dates back to settlements founded many thousands of years ago, but the first written record of the name for the country dates back to 1009 AD.[1] Lithuanians, one of the Baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring lands and established the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th century (and also a short-lived Kingdom of Lithuania). The Grand Duchy was a successful and lasting warrior state. It remained fiercely independent and was one of the last areas of Europe to adopt Christianity (beginning in the 14th century). A formidable power, it became the largest state in Europe in the 15th century through the conquest of large groups of East Slavs who resided in Ruthenia.[2] In 1385, the Grand Duchy formed a dynastic union with Poland through the Union of Krewo. Later, the Union of Lublin (1569) created the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that lasted until 1795, when the last of the Partitions of Poland erased both Lithuania and Poland from the political map. Afterward, the Lithuanians lived under the rule of the Russian Empire until the 20th century.
The Lithuanian law has a long history. The origins are traced back to the first written source, the Casimir Code (), published in 1468 by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir Jagiellon with the Lithuanian Council of Lords. It is considered to be the first codified law of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Statutes of Lithuania, published three times (in 1529, 1566 and 1588) were the most influent legal codes of Lithuania. The third variant of the Statute was in force in the territory of Lithuania until 1840 when it got replaced by the Russian laws. However, under the rule of the Russian Empire, there were three separate civil law systems in force in Lithuania: in Suvalkija the Napoleonic Code was still applied, whereas the German law was in force in Klaipėda Region.