LITHUANIA / Lietuvos Respublika

Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuva), officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Lithuania is considered to be one of the Baltic states.^[11] The country is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.8 million people as of 2019, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. Other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians are Baltic people. The official language, Lithuanian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, the other being Latvian.

For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas and the Kingdom of Lithuania was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania 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 Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state personal union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory. 

As World War I neared its end, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to declare itself independent, resulting in the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania.

Lithuanian ecosystems include natural and semi-natural (forests, bogs, wetlands and meadows), and anthropogenic (agrarian and urban) ecosystems. Among natural ecosystems, forests are particularly important to Lithuania, covering 33% of the country's territory. Wetlands (raised bogs, fens, transitional mires, etc.) The wildlife populations have rebounded as the hunting became more restricted and urbanization allowed replanting forests (forests already tripled in size since their lows). Currently, Lithuania has approximately 250,000 larger wild animals or 5 per each square kilometer. The most prolific large wild animal in every part of Lithuania is the roe deer, with 120,000 of them. They are followed by boars (55,000). Other ungulates are the deer (~22,000), fallow-deer (~21,000) and the largest one: moose (~7,000). Among the Lithuanian predators, foxes are the most common (~27,000). Wolves are, however, more ingrained into the mythology as there are just 800 in Lithuania. Even rarer are the lynxes (~200). The large animals mentioned above exclude the rabbit, ~200,000 of which may live in the Lithuanian forests.

The postal history of Lithuania started around the 10th or 12th century or even earlier, with a pre-Christian messaging system known as krivūlė. The first mail service was introduced in 1562, connecting Vilnius with Kraków, and Venice. Lithuania was under the rule of the Russian Empire until the 20th century. After the outbreak of World War I, Germany occupied Lithuania and Courland in 1915. The civil administration of the Oberbefehlhaber Ost was created in the German-occupated territory of the Russian Empire. Stamps of Germany overprinted "Postgebiet Ob. Ost" were issued in 1916. The Act of Independence of Lithuania was adopted on 16 February 1918, proclaiming Lithuania as an independent republic. The first Lithuanian postage stamps ("Baltukai" issue) were issued in Vilnius in 1918. A total of 768 stamps of different designs were issued by the Republic of Lithuania between 1918 and 1940, with more than 2,000 variations due to errors, misprints or perforations. 

The first airmail stamps were issued in 1921. After the 1940 occupation by the Soviet Union, Lithuanian postage stamps were overprinted "LTSR" (Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika, Lithuanian for Lithuanian Socialist Soviet Republic). These were then replaced by Soviet stamps. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Following the German occupation, Soviet stamps were overprinted "Nepriklausoma Lietuva 1941-VI-23" (Independent Lithuania 1941-VI-23) in 1941. Lithuania became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland, the German occupation administration. Stamps were issued for use in the Reichskommissariat Ostland by overprinting "Ostland" on stamps of Germany. After the war, the Soviet Union reestablished occupation over Lithuania and Soviet stamps came into use again. After Lithuania declared the restoration of independence on 11 March 1990, Lithuania again issued own stamps. Lithuania's independence was recognized by the Soviet Union on September 6, 1991.

There were also several local issues, including the Raseiniai local issue (1919), Telšiai Postmaster's provisional issue (1920), Grodno issue (1919), and others. In the course of the Polish–Soviet War, pro-Polish separatists proclaimed the creation of the Republic of Central Lithuania (Litwa Środkowa) centered around Vilnius in October 1920. Central Lithuania issued stamps from 1920 until annexation by Poland in 1922. In 1920, according to the Treaty of Versailles, the German area north of the Memel river was given the status of Territoire de Memel under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors, and French troops were sent for protection. On 9 January 1923, Lithuania occupied the territory during the Klaipėda Revolt and the territory was annexed by Lithuania.