Sport in Lithuania - Essay Example

Introduction The republic of Lithuania is a country that is located in the northern part of Europe. It is situated along the Baltic Sea on the south eastern shore and it shares its borders with countries such as Belarus, Poland, Latvia, Russian exclave as well as the kilingrad Oblast. The country got its independence in 1918 and the current president to this country is Valdas Adamkus. Characteristics of the Countries People Economic. Prior to the country joining the European Union in the year 2003 Lithuania has had the highest economic growth rate in its economy amongst all the other member countries candidates. The countries growth domestic product is reflected its economic development that is very impressive. However most of the trade transactions in this country are conducted within the European Union and the country has been enjoying very high economic growth because of entering the European Union. (Klimas, V. & Baublyte, M. 1997) The country's economy is based on a free market that has capitalistic principles. The government of Lithuania pursues a flat rate tax and the rate of unemployment in this country is very low and this has further led into the notion of the Baltic tiger. However the country has been in transition fro an economy that is communistically planned but it has also faced crisis in its financial sector partly because of the financial crisis in Russia. The country's GDP has grown by a rate of 7.5% since the year 2005 whereas the rate of inflation grew by 3%. Source; Paul M. (1996): History of the Lithuania. University of Toronto Press, The country's purchasing power parity is approximately $48.49 billion and the per capita income is estimated to be $15, 858. On the other hand the industrial composition of this country is estimated to be 33% the countries industries are inclusive of machine tools and metal cutting, television sets, food processing computers, optical equipment amongst others. In relation to sports the country highly supports its spots groups such as the national basketball and also football team in their participation in the regional as well as the global competitions. Racial and ethnic characteristics. The earliest inhabitants in Lithuania date back to 10,000 BC. The Lithuanians are neither Germanic nor Slavic even though the country's union with Germanic, Poland and Russian colonization as well as settlement left the religious and cultural influences. (K. Dawisha, B. Parrott 997) In the country of Lithuania the homogeneous population is the Lithuania and according to census that was conducted in the year 2001 84% of the population positively identified themselves as Lithuanians, 7% as the poles, 6% as the Russians, and 1.5% as the Belarusian's and 2% as the members of the other ethnic groups. The high percentage of the Lithuanians in the country could be highly influenced by the fact that in the 1990s the Lithuanian government embarked on granting citizenship to any person who lived in the country and also wished to have the country's citizenship. (Kaunas medical academy 1998) In the country's Vilnius region there is a higher concentration of the Poles. On the other hand the Russians in the country even though they are not very numerous such as the poles they are more evenly scattered even though they lack strong political parties. The ethnic composition in Lithuania has however undergone very dramatic changes with the most prominent changes being the extermination of the Jewish population during the holocaust. It is easier to obtain citizenship in this country than in the many other European countries. All the citizens in this country have had the liberty to freely participate in any sporting activity that exists in the country. However some of the sporting events have either marginalized the males or the females. For instance the country's football teams consist of only male parties whereas the majority participants in the cycling sport are the females. Religion. Majority of the Lithuanians belong to the Roman Catholic Church which has been the denomination for the majority since Christianization of the country in 1387. However there are some catholic priests who led a resistance against the regime of the communists that continued even after the country's independence. The resistance was against liberalism and also socialism that was based on ethical queries. In this country the eastern orthodoxy further claims 4.9 % of the population majority of who are the Russian minorities. The Protestants make up to 1.9 % of the total population and these are mainly from the evangelical Lutheran church. However other minor protestant communities are distributed through out the western and northern parts of the country but since 1945 the Lutheran Protestantism has further declined. The country also has some other non-Christian religions such as Karaites and Romuvu. In relation to sports there are no major disparities which exist when it comes to sports and religion since all the people from all the religious backgrounds have the rights to participate in ay sporting event that they may prefer. Health. The birthrate in this country has been on the decline since late 1980s whereas the natural population in the country was below zero in the mid 1990s and it has further remained at the same level since then. The country's general life expectancy and the rate of mortality have greatly improved especially in the 1990s. (Kaunas medical academy 1998) The ethnic minorities in this country have had specific diseases and health needs patterns and this is due to the behavioral factors in the in the in the social economic and cultural aspects. The life expectancy in this country has reached 72.4 and it is the third highest amongst Lithuania's reference countries. (Lithuanian health information centre 1999-2000) The life expectancy in the rural population is shorter than in the urban population. The leading causes of death in this country are the cardiovascular ailments and also cancers. The country's life expectancy at birth was 66years for the males and 78 years for the females in the year 2004 and the infant mortality rate was 8.0 as per 1000 births. Less than 2% of the country's population live under the poverty line and the literacy rate is 99.6%. (Kaunas University of medicine 1998) In relation to sports there are very few people in this country who do a lot of body exercises for the benefit of their health except for the few individuals who know the importance of exercises and they that are in the country's national teams. Geography of the country Lithuania is the most populous states in the Baltic region and it is endowed with a 60 miles sandy coastline which also has very remarkable sand dunes and also lagoons. The country has a river named Neman with some of its tributaries very useful in the shipment of the cargo goods. The country is also glacially flat with an exception in the morainic hills that are in the country's western and eastern highlands whose height is less than three hundred meters. Water and land access. The landscape of this country was shaped in the last ice age by the glaciers. The country's landscape is covered by 2833 lakes and also smaller ponds whereas the majority of the lakes are located in the eastern part of the country. The country also has more than 700 rivers which are longer than 10 kilometers with the longest river being Nemunas that originates in Belarus. There are also other larger waterways in this country and they are inclusive of the Venta, Neris and Sesupe Rivers. There are only 600 kilometers of the country's rivers which are navigable. Land use 12% permanent crops 31% woodlands and forests 7% permanent pastures 35% arable land 15% others. Terrain The country's terrain marked by various plentiful small lakes and also swamps and it also has a zone that is covered with a mixed forest that takes up to 30% of the country's relief. On the other hand the terrain has various alterations of highlands and lowlands that are moderate in nature. The country's highest point above sea level is 297 meters high and it is located in the eastern part of the country that is separated from the western region uplands by the very fertile plains in the central and south western regions. The country's growing seasons on the other hand lasts for about 169 days in the eastern part of the country and it lasts 202 days in the western part f the country with most of the farm land consisting of clay loam soils or sandy soils. The primary natural resources of this country are sand, gravel clay and also limestone. However in the country's coastline shelf there are numerous oil deposits and similarly in the south eastern part of the country there could be a provision of very high yields of granite and iron ore. The country of Lithuania lies at the edge of the plains in Eastern Europe. In the recent past the country had land that was heavily forested but today the country consists of only 28 % of woodlands where the ash and oak trees are very scarce. However the country's forests are very rich in berries and mushrooms and also with a variety of other plantations. The country's terrain further favors the athletics especially the long distance runners. (I. iemele 2002) Gender relations The country has been putting major emphasis on combating the issues of gender relations in the country. It is very evident that there exist some gender inequalities especially among the women who are denied many opportunities in many sectors unlike the men. (L. Donskis 2002) One of the gender inequalities is based on the country's employment opportunities whereby the men are given more preference than the women. Regarding the gender relations in this country the government has further embraced a positive action in the gender mainstreaming. However equality in this country on a daily basis is undermined by the unequal access to the rights by the women and also men in practice. The country's approach on gender issues confronts various national welfare systems with respect to the gendered welfare paths that are diverging. In relation to sports there exists equality in participation and there are no preferences when it comes to choosing a sport. On the other hand some sporting activities are dominated by one gender such as football whereby only the men mostly participate. Government The country is headed by the president who servers for a period of five year term and he is also the commander in chief who approves the parliament and also appoint the prime minister and the cabinet. The parliament in this country is unicameral. The current administrative division in this country was established in the year 1994 but some modifications were made in the year 2000 according to the European Union standards. The country is further divide into ten counties and a further 60 municipalities that consist of about 500 elderates. (Stone 2001) Local sports arrangements In Lithuania among the most popular sports are; the football, basketball, cycling as well as athletics. The country also has almost 80 Olympic and also non-Olympic sports federations and the country union of sports federation that was founded so as to unite the other sports federations. The country's basketball team won the Europe championship in the years 1939, 1937 and 2003 and it also won the summer Olympics in the year 2000. The junior basketball team also has had great performances especially in the world championships as well as in the European championship. In the country some of the basketball players have successfully played in the NBA team that is based in the United States of America. Currently the country is ranked the 5th globally in the in the men's basketball game. The country also has a very strong football team that has been participating in the FIFA world cup in the recent past. (Robert 1998) In Lithuania the football players were the first sportsmen to [participate in the international competitions and the only problem with these country's football is that it lacks the football training grounds as well as the football stadiums. There are key football players in Lithuania who play in very strong football leagues in Europe. Similarly the top most division of the professional football in this country is known as the A Lyaga. The Lithuanians are fan in many sports jus like the rest of Europe and they also like watching the UEFA champion's league, the world championships as well as global class football tournaments. The country is also very active in athletics and it has further won itself some gold medals in the world and European championships. The country also has cycling which is a sport that has made it achieve many prestigious cycling tours in the global championships. Women cyclists in this country are leading in the cycling and they have further made their mark internationally since 1991. Other sports in the country are inclusive of orienteering, the armature radio direction finding as well as the alpine skiing. (Paul 1996) Types of sports in the country Winter sports and summer sports The country has winter and also summer sports that it participates in and the winter sports are inclusive of skiing where the majority of the participants are females and especially the young girls. Conclusion In conclusion the country has made various advances in the area of sports and it is working even, are harder so as to achieve better results in sports in the future. The country's government has also played a very significant role in ensuring that the sports participants regionally as well as globally have all the support that they need especially on the financial funding. Reference: Dawisha, K. B. Parrott. (1997): The Consolidation of Democracy in East-Central Europe. Pgs 56-78 Donskis, L. (2002): Identity and Freedom, mapping nationalism and social criticism in twentieth-century Lithuania. Rutledge (UK), pgs 345-366 Kaunas medical academy (1998): Health behavior among Lithuanian adult population, spring1996. Kaunas.pp 77-89 Kaunas University of medicine (1998): Equity in health and health care in Lithuania - a situation analysis. Kaunas.pp 34-45 Klimas, V. & Baublyte, M. (1997): Fertility regulation in Lithuania, situation and attitudes. Vilnius, Lithuanian Institute of Philosophy and Sociology pp. 77-89 Paul M. (1996): History of the Lithuania. University of Toronto Press pgs 67-89, Robert B. (1998): A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change. Rutledge pgs 25-55 Stone, D. (2001): The Polish-Lithuanian state. University of Washington Press, pages 45-67 I. iemele. (2002): Baltic Yearbook of International Law, 2001. 2002, Vol.1 pgs 89-93 Lithuanian health information centre (1999-2000): Health statistics of Lithuania. Vilnius. Read More