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<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Lithuania" class="extiw" title="w:en:Lithuania">Lithuania</a>, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Baltic_region" class="extiw" title="w:en:Baltic region">Baltic region</a> of Europe and is considered to be one of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Baltic_states" class="extiw" title="w:en:Baltic states"> Baltic states</a>. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Baltic_Sea" class="extiw" title="w:en:Baltic Sea">Baltic Sea</a>, to the east of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Sweden" class="extiw" title="w:en:Sweden">Sweden</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Denmark" class="extiw" title="w:en:Denmark">Denmark</a>. It is bordered by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Latvia" class="extiw" title="w:en:Latvia">Latvia</a> to the north, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Belarus" class="extiw" title="w:en:Belarus">Belarus</a> to the east and south, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Poland" class="extiw" title="w:en:Poland">Poland</a> to the south, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Kaliningrad_Oblast" class="extiw" title="w:en:Kaliningrad Oblast">Kaliningrad Region</a> (a Russian enclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.8 million people (as of 2019), and its capital and largest city is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Vilnius" class="extiw" title="w:en:Vilnius">Vilnius</a>. Other major cities are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Kaunas" class="extiw" title="w:en:Kaunas">Kaunas</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Klaip%C4%97da" class="extiw" title="w:en:Klaipėda">Klaipėda</a>. Lithuanians are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Balts" class="extiw" title="w:en:Balts">Baltic people</a>. 
For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en_Mindaugas" class="extiw" title="w:en Mindaugas">Mindaugas</a>, the King of Lithuania, and the first unified Lithuanian state, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Kingdom_of_Lithuania" class="extiw" title="w:en:Kingdom of Lithuania">Kingdom of Lithuania</a>, was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Grand_Duchy_of_Lithuania" class="extiw" title="w:en:Grand Duchy of Lithuania">Grand Duchy of Lithuania</a> was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. With the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Lublin_Union" class="extiw" title="w:en:Lublin Union">Lublin Union</a> of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:personal_union" class="extiw" title="w:en:personal union">’personal union’</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian_Commonwealth" class="extiw" title="w:en:Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth">Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth</a>. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Russian_Empire" class="extiw" title="w:en:Russian Empire">Russian Empire</a> annexing most of Lithuania's territory.
As <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:WW1" class="extiw" title="w:en:WW1">World War I (WWI)</a> neared its end, Lithuania's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Act_of_Independence_of_Lithuania" class="extiw" title="w:en:Act of Independence of Lithuania">Act of Independence</a> was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:WW2" class="extiw" title="w:en:WW2">Second World War (WWII)</a>, Lithuania was first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Soviet_occupation_of_the_Baltic_states_(1940)" class="extiw" title="w:en:Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)">occupied by the Soviet Union</a> and then by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:German_occupation_of_Lithuania_during_World_War_II" class="extiw" title="w:en:German occupation of Lithuania during World War II">Nazi Germany</a>. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Soviet_occupation_of_the_Baltic_states_(1944)" class="extiw" title="w:en:Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1944)">Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania</a>. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union" class="extiw" title="w:en:Dissolution of the Soviet Union">Dissolution of the Soviet Union</a>, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to declare itself independent, resulting in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Act_of_the_Re-Establishment_of_the_State_of_Lithuania" class="extiw" title="w:en:Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania">restoration of an independent State of Lithuania</a>.
</p><p><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Vilnius" class="extiw" title="w:en:Vilnius">Vilnius</a></b> is in the southeast part of Lithuania and is the second largest city in the Baltic states. Vilnius is the seat of the main government institutions of Lithuania and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Vilnius_District_Municipality" class="extiw" title="w:en:Vilnius District Municipality">Vilnius District Municipality</a>. Vilnius is known for the architecture in its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Vilnius_Old_Town" class="extiw" title="w:en:Vilnius Old Town">Old Town</a>, declared a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:World_Heritage_Site" class="extiw" title="w:en:World Heritage Site">UNESCO World Heritage Site</a> in 1994. Before WWII, Vilnius was one of the largest Jewish centres in Europe. Its Jewish influence has led to it being described as the "Jerusalem of Lithuania" and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Napoleon" class="extiw" title="w:en:Napoleon">Napoleon</a> named it "the Jerusalem of the North” when he passed through in 1812. In 2009, Vilnius was the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:European_Capital_of_Culture" class="extiw" title="w:en:European Capital of Culture">European Capital of Culture</a>, together with the Austrian city of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Linz" class="extiw" title="w:en:Linz">Linz</a>.
During the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Vilnius underwent a period of expansion. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Wall_of_Vilnius" class="extiw" title="w:en:Wall of Vilnius">Vilnius city walls</a> were built for protection between 1503 and 1522, comprising nine city gates and three towers, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Sigismund_II_Augustus" class="extiw" title="w:en:Sigismund II Augustus">Sigismund August</a> moved his court there in 1544. Its growth was due in part to the establishment of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Vilnius_University" class="extiw" title="w:en:Vilnius University">Vilnius University</a> by the Polish King and Grand Duke of Lithuania <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Stephen_B%C3%A1thory" class="extiw" title="w:en:Stephen Báthory">Stefan Batory</a> in 1579. During its rapid development, the city was open to migrants from the territories of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Crown_of_the_Kingdom_of_Poland" class="extiw" title="w:en:Crown of the Kingdom of Poland">Crown of the Kingdom of Poland</a>, Grand Duchy and from further away. A variety of languages were spoken:  Polish, German, Yiddish, Ruthenian, Lithuanian, Russian, Old Church Slavonic, Latin, Hebrew, and Turkic languages; the city was compared to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Babylon" class="extiw" title="w:en:Babylon">Babylon</a>. Each group made its unique contribution to the life of the city, and crafts, trade, and science prospered.
The 17th century brought a number of setbacks. The Commonwealth was involved in a series of wars, collectively known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Deluge_(history)" class="extiw" title="w:en:Deluge (history)">The Deluge</a>. During the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Russo-Polish_War_(1654%E2%80%931667)" class="extiw" title="w:en:Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)">Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)</a>, Vilnius was occupied by Russian forces; it was pillaged and burned, and its population was massacred. During the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:_Great_Northern_War" class="extiw" title="w:en: Great Northern War">Great Northern War</a> it was looted by the Swedish army. Due to an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Great_Northern_War_plague_outbreak" class="extiw" title="w:en:Great Northern War plague outbreak">outbreak of bubonic plague in 1710</a> and a succession of devastating fires the city's growth lost its momentum for many years, but even despite this fact, at the end of the 18th century and before the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Napoleonic_Wars" class="extiw" title="w:en:Napoleonic Wars">Napoleonic wars</a>, Vilnius, entered the Russian Empire as its third largest city.
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<br><span style="color:blue;"><i>The <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Scotch_Mist/Poland" class="mw-redirect" title="User:Scotch Mist/Poland">Scotch Mist Gallery</a> contains many photographs of historic buildings, monuments and memorials of Poland and countries that previously comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.</i></span></div>
<bdi><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:19th-century_portrait_paintings_of_men,_artist,_location_and_year_missing" title="Category:19th-century portrait paintings of men, artist, location and year missing">Unidentified painter</a>
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<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.lnm.lt/muziejaus-istorija/">Lietuvos nacionalinis muziejus</a>/<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Scotch_Mist" title="User:Scotch Mist">Scotch Mist</a>