Tourism has grown in importance, and popular attractions in Lithuania include the Baroque-, Renaissance-, and Gothic-style mansions and castles in the historic centres of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, and Kėdainiai, as well as in the former capitals of Kernavė and Trakai.

Since 1991, the official language of Lithuania is the Baltic language of Lithuanian, a language closely related to Latvian. More than 80% of the country's 3.8m population speaks Lithuanian as their first language. Minority languages include Belarusian (1.5%), Polish (7.7%), Russian (8%).

The most commonly spoken foreign language in Lithuania is Russian – spoken by 60,6 per cent of inhabitants, followed by English language speakers of 31,1 per cent of the population. However, a constantly expanding group of Lithuanians (especially young people) know French, German and Spanish.

The country is also known for the high quality of education and teaching level. Lithuania consistently ranks high in quality of life as it boasts low pollution, excellent healthcare, and high standards of living at a lower cost than most Western European countries.