Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika) is a democratic republic that lies on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. In the north, the country borders on Latvia, in the east on Belarus, in the south on Poland and Kaliningrad Region of the Russian Federation, the Baltic Sea lies in the north-west. Lithuania has been a member state of the European Union since 1 May 2004. The most important cities are the state capital Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys.

Lithuania's terrain is lowlands, the maximum elevation being Aukštojas Hill at 294 metres. Nearly one third of the territory is covered by forests. The landscape is punctuated by many lakes, the majority of the lakes are found in the eastern part of the country. The largest river is the Nemunas (total length 917 kilometers), which originates in Belarus.