Vilnius

VilniusThe Capital of Lithuania

Lithuania

• Population: 3,2 mln. (2011)

• At the intersection between North, East and Central Europe

• Member of EU, NATO, UN, OECD and WTO

Vilnius• The South East of Lithuania• 312 km to the Baltic Sea• On the bank of the river Neris• First mentioned in 1323

• Geographical centre of Europe is located 26 km to the North of Vilnius

• 656,700 inhabitants (2010 city municipality and district)

• Continental climate: warm summers (16°C average) and cold winters (- 6°C average)

• Four seasons

Getting here

Flight times to Vilnius:

• London 2 hrs 20 min• Moscow 2 hrs 15 min• Frankfurt 1 hrs 45 min• Berlin 1 hrs 10 min• Copenhagen 1 hrs 10 min• Warsaw 1 hrs 10 min

Competitive Zone 16 mln people within 300 km radius

Vilnius exhibition and fairs city

• LITEXPO is the largest exhibition center in the Baltic

• Access to cultural events all year round• Vilnius is strategically positioned and has a

well developed infrastructure

Shopping

• Vilnius has the biggest shopping mall in the Baltic- AKROPOLIS

• Amber is Lithuania’s national craft, jewellery from amber is a specialty

• Vilnius has typical “turgus”, or markets- a blast to the past!

• Posh shopping street on Gediminas Avenue with the latest fashion

City of Art and Culture• Around 40 churches, most of the architecture is baroque and classicistic• Great variety of cultural events, such as Culture Night, Street Musician Day, Vilnius

Festivals, ArtVilnius, etc.• The Ministry of Fluxus – a unique private contemporary art incubator for young

artists: 200 artists, thousands of visitors

The Republic of Užupis

• Artists district in Vilnius’ old town

• On April Fools Day 1997, proclaimed itself an independent republic with its own constitution

• “The Montmartre of Vilnius”

Cultural diversity

• Ethnic Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, Belarusians, Jews, and other ethnic backgrounds make for a cosmopolitan city with an Eastern flavor

• Once called the “Jerusalem of Lithuania”, Vilnius hosts places of worship of multiple religions

Amazing Lithuanian food• Potato based dishes, black

bread and soups• Cepelinai- potato dumplings

filled with meat• Fried black bread with cheese:

Kepta duona, the national snack, served with beer

• Saltibarsciai, or “pink soup” a cold beetrout soup

Green and Clean• Parks, public gardens, reserves and other

green areas cover over 46 percent of the city’s area.

• Absolutely clean drinking water! Vilnius has one of the best drinking water qualities among European cities.

• 2.1 % of area covered by water in 30 lakes and 16 rivers

Fastest Internet in the World

• According to the Business Insider’s Net Index Vilnius has the fastest internet in the world

• Average internet download speed – 36.37 Mbps, upload speed – 28.51 Mbps

• World’s average speed is 9.43 Mbps, EU average – 12.99 Mbps.

• Fast internet available for free at numerous wi-fi hotspots in the center

• First in Europe to launch electric bike “Rent and Share” system – E-orange

• First in Europe to launch touch-sensitive digital maps at bus stops

Rent & Share: E-Orange

The Strongest Man in The World• Žydrūnas

Savickas is a professional strongman and is usually titled the all-time strongest man.

• Six times in a row he has won the most prestigious contest - “Arnold’s Strongest Man”

• The strongest man in the world not only lives in Vilnius, he is a member of Vilnius city council, too.

Are They Crazy? (1)

• In 1991 tens of thousands of crazy Lithuanians armed only by songs and flags gathered in Vilnius to defend the state’s independence in front of the Soviet army forces

Are They Crazy? (2)• It is widely known that one of the major religions in Vilnius is… basketball

‘Don’t Make Me Get The Tank’

• In 2011 mayor Artūras Zuokas raised the world’s attention to illegal parking by staging the destruction of the car parked  in a city’s bike line with a tank

• He was awarded with Ig Nobel Peace Prize  for ‘demonstrating that the problem of illegally parked luxury cars can be solved by running over them with a tank’

• Vilnius mayor Artūras Zuokas suggested businesses and companies to raise money and buy a Greek Oxia island in the Mediterranean. In Lithuanian the island would be called ‘Dausuva’ and could become a 22nd neighborhood of Vilnius

What About Buying an Island?

Ačiū!Iki!

Thank you!See you in Vilnius!

Pictures in this presentation belong to the Lithuanian Press Photo Agency – www.fotobankas.lt and Vilnius City Municipality.All rights reserved.