One of the new member states of the European Union is Lithuania, one of the three Baltic States at the eastern boarder of the EU. Lithuania ("Litouwen" in Dutch language) is a nice small country with 3.4 million inhabitants on an area 1.5 times that of The Netherlands. The country looks clean and well maintained. People dress up well. Youngsters are modern and fashionable. Most of them speak quite well English. The Lithuanians have an own culture and language ("We are Balts, no Slaves") and a long history of suppression of their country and identity by Russia, Germany and Austria. Most Lithuanians are catholics and Western oriented.