Mr P's Top Ten Lithuanian Tips

Cepelinai

One of the most famous Lithuanian dishes, so named because of its oval shape which resembles a Zeppelin airship.

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The European state that lasted from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and Austria. The state was founded by the Lithuanians from several united Baltic tribes and expanded to include large portions of the other neighbouring states, including what is now Belarus and parts of Ukraine, Latvia, Poland and Russia. At its greatest extent, in the 15th century, it was the largest state in Europe with great diversity in languages, religion, and cultural heritage.

Purnuskes

The Lithuanian village which, according to a study made by a French scientist in 1989, is the geographical centre of Europe, when the boundaries of the continental Europe in 1989 were measured by the French National Geographic Institute. The method used was based on the centre of gravity of the geometrical figure of Europe.

Baltic Sea

The arm of the Atlantic Ocean, enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, northeast Germany, Poland, Russia and the North and Central European Plain, and borders Lithuania to its west.

Vilnius

The capital of Lithuania and its largest city, with a population of 587,581 as of 2019. The city is in southeastern Lithuania and is the second-largest city in the Baltic states. It is the seat of Lithuania's national government and the Vilnius District Municipality.

Baltic States

The geopolitical term used to describe the three sovereign states in Northern Europe on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The term is not used in the context of cultural areas, national identity, or language, because the majority of people in Latvia and Lithuania are Baltic people.

Neman River

The largest river in Lithuania, and the third-largest in Belarus, it is navigable for most of its length and starts from two small headwaters merging about 9 miles southwest of Uzda, southwest of the capital city Minsk.

Basketball

The most popular sport in Lithuania, said to be the second religion. Lithuania has the fourth best basketball team in the World, and has won three bronze medals at the Olympics. Several Lithuanian basketball players have featured in the NBA's Hall of Fame, its greatest star being Arvydas Sabonis.

Stemelze oak

The oldest tree in Europe, having survived The Crusades. It is 23 metres high, more than 1,500 years old and requires 8-9 people just to hug its trunk.

Lithuanian language

Whilst Greek, Latin, German, Celtic, and the Slavic are some of the oldest languages in the world, they are not even nearly as old as this one, which is the most ancient one from them all, belonging to an Indo-European language group and of all the tongues spoken today - Lithuanian is the closest one to the ancient Sanskrit.