Lithuania

The largest of the three Baltic States, Lithuania borders Latvia, Belarus, Poland and the Russian exclave of the Kaliningrad Oblast. Since regaining independence in 1990, Lithuania has developed into a parliamentary republic with a directly elected President with limited powers as head of state and a nationally elected parliamentary body called the Seimas, who between them appoint a prime minister as head of government. Issues with national minorities, inhuman forms of punishment and imprisonment and the prevalence of domestic violence are all of concern to human rights bodies.