LITHUANIA

VILNIUS THE CAPITAL

All along its long history Lithuania was mostly occupied by foreign powers.  The country experiences its third time of freedom when it became independent once more in 1991. Lithuanians have a strong will of survival and it will be good for the country in future.

Lithuania is the largest of the Baltic States. It also lies most southerly. In the north it borders on Latvia, Russia and Poland in the south and Belarus on the east side. It also has a 99km long Baltic coast line.  The country shares the line of latitude with Moscow, Newcastle and Belfast.  However, the weather is more severe than in the British cities.  The country is covered by snow for up to four months. The temperatures drop down to -30oC in the winter and in summer temperature can rise to 29oC. Due to its latitude the days in the summer are long and nights are short which reverse complete in the winter. In the winter there  are only six hours of daylight.

AUKSTAITIJA
 NATIONAL PARK

Lithuania has a damp climate with most of the rains falling in spring and autumn. This created a network of rivers right across the country and most flowing into the main river, the Nemunas. The Nemunas flows into the Baltic Sea. The rivers flow across uplands and plains and flowing down towards the west from the eastern Zemaitija Uplands. The country also has 3000 lakes mostly in the east and many are shallow and swampy. The conditions are ideal for wildlife and the record shows 200 species of birds.  Lithuania has 25 per cent of its country covered with mixed woodlands

TRKAI ISLAND CASTLE

These woodlands again encouraging mammals such as wolf, fox, pine martin, raccoons, a number of species of deer, wild boars, hedgehogs, shrews and 14 species of bat. Ringed and grey seals are living along the coast.  Conservation has a high priority after the Soviet gave independence.

SAND DUNES AT CURONIA SPIT 
 UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

40 per cent of the country is used as arable farming. During the 1940 and ‘50s the land was seized and collectivised during the Soviet occupation. Since the independence the farms are being reorganized and returned to the families. Most of them are dairy and pigs farms. They also grow rye, oats, and wheat, potatoes, flax and sugar beet.  Food processing is the most important industry.  Western Europe and America started to finance industries such a textiles, knitwear, plywood, paper and electrical goods productions.

In Kretinga drilling for oil has started.  Lithuania has now its own electricity supply produced from coal and peat-fired plants.  Some electricity is still imported from Belarus.

Tourism is also encouraged and cafes, food stores, taxis services and art galleries have started up. It is becoming an important industry.

TRADITIONAL DANCE

POPULATION

The people are mostly Lithuanian but the second largest group is Russians who have arrived in the Second World War and were part of the occupation. Another population living in the south are Poles and smaller groups are Ukrainians, Latvians and Tartars.

ST ANNE'S CHURCH
  ST BERNADINE MONASTERY 
IN VILNIUS 

WOODEN CHURCH

The main religion is Roman Catholics and has survived despite of Soviet persecution. 33 per cent of Lithuanian priest were sent to Siberian concentration camps.

Lithuanian’s language was also suppressed and the Russian language was forced onto the people plus the Cyrillic writing. The Russian immigrants were forbidden to learn Lithuanian.  However, it survived and today the people speak their own language again. Lithuanian is an Indo-European language.

The area of Lithuania was first mentioned in a German Chronicle in 1009. The country traded with Kievan Rus and other states nearby. The country was established as such in the 13^th century. 

Their one and only king, Mindaugas, was crowned in 1253.  Even today the 6 July is still celebrated each year.  He brought Catholicism to the country.  He was assassinated and the pagan Lithuanians were blamed. After that a line of Grand Dukes ruled the country and in 1569 it was united with Poland.  Soon this alliance was broken and the country came under the harsh rules of the Tsar of Russia during the 18^th century. The Russian language and Cyrillic’s script were forced onto the people.

 20 ORIGINAL COUNCILLORS 
 SIGNED THE INDEPENDENCE 
TREATY IN 1918.

During the First World War the country was occupied by the Germans but received its independence after they left.  When the Second World War broke out Russia forced the country to establish Soviet military bases on their ground. In 1940 the independence was once more lost and it became a republic under the USSR rules.  Germany conquered Lithuania once more in 1941 and most of the country’s Jews died in concentration camps. 

In 1944 Lithuania became again under the Soviet rules until Mikhail Gorbachev’s liberalisation reforms in mid 1980s. Lithuania was aiming once more for independence and when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 their dreams and wishes came true.

THE GEOGRAPHIC CENTRE OF EUROPE IN LITHUANIA

LATVIA

RIGA THE CAPITAL

RIGA'S TOWN CENTRE

Latvia was under communist rules and suffered under Stalin in power. At long last in 1991 they received independence and now trying hard to build the country up.

Latvia borders on Estonia and has the Gulf of Riga in the north. On the southern border is Lithuania. On the east border is Russia and Belarus. The western coast is the Baltic Sea. Latvia has four geographical regions – Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzene and Latgale.

KURZEME

This region is in the far west and has its coast line on the Baltic Sea.  The northern part is hilly with fertile valleys and has fertile farms. The resort of Jurmala is at the base of the Gulf of Riga and is picturesque with its sandy beaches and pine forests.

ZEMGALE

The region is flat and lies on the eastern side of Kurzeme. It is the country’s major agricultural area. It has a very fertile soil and the river Lielupe flows through it. In the south is a National Park surrounding the town of Terveten. Further to the east is a fast plain with evergreen forests and marshes.

BALTIC SEA AND 
THE RIVER LIELUPE 
FLOWING INTO IT

LATGALE

This region is in the south-east of the country. This area has many lakes and most of them connected by rivers or streams.  It is a large waterway system. Latvia’s largest lake, Rezna, and the deepest, Lake Dridzis, are in this area.

VIDZEME

The Vidzeme region has beautiful alpine scenery. It is in the north-east of Latvia.  The mountainous range reaches a height of 300m. The northern part to this region is on a sandstone plateau with a large plain around. The moraine hill’s ridges and rifts on the plains were created by glaciers of the Ice Age.  This area has also many rivers, lakes, forests of birch, spruce and pine.

LATVIA HAS 40 PER CENT 
COVERED WITH FORESTS 
  THE 4TH LARGEST FORES
 IN EUROPE

Latvia’s largest river is the Daugave.  It flows from the south-eastern tip of Latgate, through Riga and into the Gulf of Riga.

KEMERI NATIONAL PARK
 HAS MINERAL SPRINGS
 AND LAKES WHICH WERE
 FORMER LAGOONS

Due to the variation of Latvia’s landscape the country has a great wildlife as well as a great variety.  There are swamp turtles, red deer, elk, tree frogs and wild boars. Large mammals like wolves, lynx and brown bears do exists but not numerous. Latvia has 40 per cent covered with forests. Inland are various evergreen but on the costal area are tall pines. 

BOATING IN THE
 WILD OF LATVIA 

The climate is in summer 17oC in Riga. Due to the high latitude the summer days are long and the sun won’t set till 11pm. Winter temperatures are around -7C.

CASTLE TURAIDA 
BUILT IN 1214 

POPULATION

The native Latvians has been reduced very much by wars and Russian’s deportation, also emigration. As a result in most cities the Latvians are in a minority. During Russian occupations thousand immigrated to Latvia from all over Russia who stayed there after the country became independent. The main religion is today Lutheran Protestants and other groups are Catholics some Jews, Baptists and Russian Orthodox.  The official language is Latvian.  Latvian and Lithuanian are the only two Baltic languages still spoken.

The Industry was developed during the Russian rules and masterminded to suit the Russian internal market.  Latvia relied almost completely on Russia’s raw materials and labour. After independence it has to be re-structured. The new industry is electronics, furniture, perfumes and manufacture of minibuses and trams. Forestry is also an important part of the country’s economics. Latvia introduced its own currency and is called lat.

Feeling of a national identity started to spread at the beginning of the 20^th century. Germany occupied Kurzeme during the World War 1. This encouraged the people to have a sense of a national identity. In 1918 Latvia declare the country independent.  Like its neighbour Estonia they too had to fight the Baltic Germans and the Bolshevik Russians.  The country became independent in 1920 and it lasted 20 years. During the World War 2 the Soviet marched in again in Latvia. Then the Nazis marched in and occupied it for four years. In 1944 the Red Army returned and under Stalin’s order many thousands of nationalists were deported, never to be seen again. It was a fully fledged Russian republic for five decades. In August 1991 with the radical changes of Russian politics Latvia managed to be free and independent again.

COUNTRY SCENERY

HOLIDAYS

Taking a holiday there will be a big different as you can see on the picture but it will nevertheless be enjoyable. The country has a lot to over with Riga the capital which has a lot of interesting monuments from it s history. The country sceneries have such a variation. The huge forests with its wildlife. The rivers and lakes to swim and boating on it. Various National Parks were you can enjoy wildlife and beautiful country sceneries.

ESTONIA

CAPITAL TALLINN

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the long awaited dream of independence for Estonia became a reality. It is mainly covered by lakes, forests and marches.

In the north is the Gulf of Finland. On the east it has the Baltic Sea. In the south it borders with Latvia and Russia is in the east. Estonia is on the Great Eastern Plain and rivers finding its way through its limestone. It is surprising to learn the country has not only a mainland but also 1500 islands.  The two largest are Saaremaa and Hiiumaa.

CAPITAL TALLINN

Estonia’s geography has two different parts. The eastern part is higher and is 50m above the sea-level. The retreating glaciers’ deposits have enriched the soil and are very fertile.  The lower part of the plain is in the west and coastal regions. The land is flat and marshy. Estonia has 1400 lakes and largest, Lake Peipus, is half on Estonia side and the other in Russia.

Along the costal areas are pine forests. The rest of the country has mixed forests such as spruce, pine and birch. In the North-West of Estonia, including the islands, are mostly meadows mixed with Jupiter forests.  The North-east of the county is marked with huge open cast mines.

The country has a mild climate with summers around 18C and rainfall from 80 to 100 cm per year. In the winter it can reach -20C but it is mostly -5C.

The country has a great wildlife because of the forests, meadows and marches. Mostly there are Elk, wild boars, deer and badges but occasional brown bears or wolves are sighted. The national bird is the barn swallow. Many other birds are at home in Estonia but the most outstanding bird is the golden eagle. The great variety ofplants encourages a great number of insects.

The official language is a Finno-Ugric which is similar to Finnish. However, it also contains a number of words of German, Russian and Baltic origin. To begin with Estonian’s religion was animism but after being conquered by so many national there are now a number of various religions. In the communist era all religion were banned.  Today over 75 percent are not very interesting in religion. The population has a minority of German, Russian and Finnish people.

ALEXANDER NEVSKY
CATHEDRAL IN TALLINN

A great festival is in Estonia is midsummer night eve. At dusk on the longest day of the yea, groups gather around bonfires and sing their traditional songs and dance till the early hours in the morning. A dim twilight lingers through the night at this time of the year.

HISTORY

Overall the native Estonians were described as the people of the land. Till World War 2 most of the people worked on the land. When they were occupied by the Soviet Union the land was confiscated by the government. Today Estonia is very much industrialized and has oil shale exploitation, shipbuilding, manufacturing, fertilizer production and timber industry. Light industry includes textiles (production of linen from flax) electronics and furniture manufactures.  In spite of that agriculture is still widespread across Estonia. Dairy farming is a great contributor the economy.

Estonia has a long history of occupation. They were ruled by Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Russia. The Russian began a textile industry and with the railways built in 1879 industrialization began.

At the end of the 19^th century a national pride began at a time when Russia tried to suppressed patriotic feelings to achieve a total control of the Baltic

During World War 1 the anti-Russian feeling began to increase. Since there was a German and Russian confrontation the Estonians used the opportunity to declare independence on 24 February 1918.

None of the Germans and Russians were willing to recognize the Republic of Estonia and therefore the Estonians had to fight there independence against the Russians and Baltic Germans. Eventually they won and an independent Estonia was recognized in February 1920. They enjoyed their independence for the next 20 year but internal turmoil and the World War 2 breaking out; Estonia was once more under Russian occupation for next 51 year. Apart from the short occupation by the Germans from 1941 till 1944 the Russian oppression resulted in thousands of Estonians being deported.

During the late 1980 the pressure for Estonia’s independence was increasing rapidly and changes in the Russian Government opened the doors for an Estonia’s election in 1990.  The election result was People Front and the party changed the country into western democracy.

However, it was still not fully recognized and after a coupe in Moscow 1991 the Russian withdrew and gave Estonia full independence.

PRESIDENTIAL PALACE IN TALLINN

CASTLE PADISE

RUSSIAN FEDERATION -- PART TWO

MOSCOW

MOSCOW UNDERGROUND

PEOPLE AND REPUBLIC

The great majority of people are Russian. They are of Slavic origin and related to Ukrainians, Bylorussians, Poles and Czech. Their most widely spread religion was Eastern Orthodox Church which communism tried to abolish but after the collapse it has seen a full revival. As communism suppressed the religion they also demanded that the Russian language is adopted across the country. Apparently it is still establish in schools even where the Russian Language is not the first                             language.

Communists’ authority also had a policy to move European Russians into lesser populated area and mostly forcible. Siberia which was far less populated because of its harsh climate was chosen to establish gulags and anyone, rightly or wrongly, was against the regime was banned there with the entire family.

Since the power of communism collapsed and nationalism started to take a pride again, people started to speak their language, revived their ancient customs and have freedom of speech. They managed to keep their language and their ancient tradition alive even during those dark ages of Stalin.

The difference between languages and culture between eastern and western Russia compares to Europe and Asia. It is no doubt a vast country with an enormous population and incredible variations of cultures.

The Christian, Finnic-language-speaking people living in the extreme north-west of the country.  In the Volga valley there are Muslims Tartars, Christian Udmurts, and Buddhists Kalmyks.  In the north-eastern Siberia are Yakuts, Evenks and Buryats . These people are related to the Inuit of Alaska and Greenland.  It is estimated that in Russia are at least over 100 different peoples and languages.

EASTERN  SIBERIA 
 FOLK MUSIC

EASTERN SIBERIA

HISTORY

The history of Russia was ruled by kings, emperors and dictators. They were always most powerful leaders who mostly shed blood of their people.  Genghis Khan, Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great and Catherine the Great all ruled over this huge country. Some of them even expanded it further.  There is no doubt that a country of that size needs a powerful leader but within reason which was not always done.

Even in the 20^th century Lenin with his ideas of a better Russia under communism and Stalin who went power mad and murdered 20million people was like a repeat from the past. Hopefully for the Russian people the time has come that they live in peace and prosperity.

VLADIVOSTOK  HARBOUR

Vladivostok a harbour at the Sea of Japan was a closed military base during the Soviet period, since 1992 it is open to tourism. It is also the eastern end of the Trans-Siberian Railway which starts in Moscow. The full journey takes about seven days and nights and gives an idea how big Russia really is.  

EASTERN SIBERIA - MAGADAN REGION -- FOLK MUSIC

EASTERN SIBERIA --
MAGADAN REGION

The far eastern states of Russia have five time zones to travel through and yet it is only one sixth of the country. People in these vast areas were lucky because the 20th century turmoil never reached them. They lived their lives as centuries ago and their generations before them.

MOSCOW

The Moscow University is in one of the seven buildings in Moscow known as ’Stalin's Wedding Cake’ because of the elaborate style. It was originally planned to build eight of these towers in celebration of the 800^th anniversary of the city. The central towers measures 240m high have 31 floors. The spire on the top measures another 60m.

MOSCOW -- STALIN'S WEDDING CAKE

MOSCOW -- GUM

MOSCOW -- GUM -- INSIDE

The inside of the Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin and is called GUM in short is Russia’s largest department store. However, it looks more like a shopping mail and has 200 small shops within the three story building. Since the collapse of communism the Western capitalism seems move in more and more. It is estimated the at least 200,000 people passing through every day.

TRINITY SERGIO MONASTERY

This beautiful Cathedral of the Dormition in the Trinity Sergius monastery’s domes is especially remarkable because of its beautiful blue and golden colours. It is also remarkable that it survives the Soviet era and is a great pilgrimages site for the Christians’ faithful.  

OLD RUSSIAN STEAM ENGINE -- EASTERN SIBERIA

RUSSIAN FEDERATION -- PART ONE

It is an incredible country mainly of its huge size and also the enormous diversity of cultures. The Russian Federation is the world’s biggest country. Its border is on one side the coast of the Baltic Sea and reaches right across to the Sea of Japan. It covers one ninth of the Earth land surface.  The country has 11 time zones and three different band of vegetation. The people speak a great number of different languages. Russia also lies in Europe and Asia and the Ural Mountains are thought of as the dividing line.

The Urals are not the highest mountains rage and has only up to 2000m. It is the Caucasus and Altai mountains in the east and south which go up to 5633m. However, in the far east the volcanic Kamchatka peninsular would reach a 4750m.

The three longest rivers in the world are the Ob, Lena and Amur. The Ob and Lena flow into the Arctic Ocean. The Amur counts as border between Russia and China. There is another extreme the lake Baikal which is the deepest lake in the world and measures 1620m in places. It is north of the border of Mongolia.

Russia has three different vegetation and climate zone. The extreme north called Tundra hardly melts its solid frozen ground but for two weeks in the year. The sun in the winter barely rises during the day. Further south half of the territory of Russia is covered with forest.  Mostly evergreen and silver birch and is called taiga.

This area begins at the Gulf of Finland and reaches into Asia. The enormously huge area is called Siberia. It is divided into the West Siberian Plain, central Siberia and Eastern Siberia. The Taiga is mostly marshy with shallow lakes and a terrible mosquito problem during summer months. Siberia has the greatest extremes of temperatures.  Some northern Siberian cities summer temperatures measure 37oC in the summer and -69oC in the winter.

NORTH SIBERIA

EASTERN SIBERIA

SIBERIAN POSTING SLEDGE

#

TAIGA

In the south of the taiga is a vast open area called Steppe.  It has short grass growing there. In the winter it is cold and windy and in the summer hot and dusty.  The changes of climates and habitat also tell by the type of animals which vary from small fury animals to big animal in the Arctic. 

This great area has an enormous amount and variation of wildlife. Ermine, mink, squirrel and fox live in the taiga. Larger animals like bears and wolves live further up in the north till the arctic where there are polar bear, seals, and reindeer. Russia also has a great variety of fish the most famous is the sturgeon and well known for its eggs called caviar.

Russia still hunts animals for its fur and has a great export of fur trade. The whole annual fish catch adds up to over 10 per cent of the world total.

LAKE BAIKAL

MINERALS

Since Russia is so large it also has an enormous amount and great variety of minerals deposits. Up till now it hasn’t been exploited fully. There is coal, iron, natural gas and oil. Under communist rules there were many environmental problems.

The huge Lake Baikal which has crystal clear water is in danger of being polluted by industry. These minerals are great deposits are chromium, bauxite, nickel, lead, copper and gold of which are great deposits. Russia dammed several large rivers to produce hydroelectric power and its supply is needed for industries.

There are several nuclear power stations which worries people especially since the explosion at Chernoble in 1996.

LAKE BAIKAL POLLUTION

AGRICULTURE

Farming was a way of life for many centuries. However, it changed dramatically when Stalin came to power in 1928. 

He introduced the collectivisation. The entire small farms which were in the families for generation were taken over by the state and collective farms were created. Huge areas with rich black soil of the steppe were planted with wheat, rye, sugar, beet, maize, potatoes and other vegetables.

These huge areas should have been more than enough to even feed the enormous Russian population. 

The problem lay with the inefficiency of the bureaucracy. The hopelessly arranged transport meant that the harvest went rotten in the fields and people in the cities were starving.

In 1990 the system was turned back and private ownership was allowed again.