ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Lithuania. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Lithuania. Lithuania merged with Poland in the sixteenth century and was subsequently absorbed by Russia in the eighteenth century. Lithuanians can change their government democratically. The 1992 constitution established a 141-member parliament, in which 71 seats are selected in single-mandate constituencies and 70 seats are chosen by proportional representation, all for four-year terms. In 1992, Lithuania extended citizenship to all those born within its borders, and more than 90 percent of non-ethnic Lithuanians, mostly Russians and Poles, became citizens. Women are underrepresented in upper-level management positions and earn lower average wages than men.
