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Lietuva,
Tėvyne mūsų,Tu didvyrių žeme, Iš praeities Tavo sūnūs Te stiprybę semia.

Tegul Tavo vaikai eina Vien takais dorybės,Tegul dirba Tavo naudai Ir žmonių gėrybei.

Tegul saulė Lietuvoj Tamsumas prašalina, Ir šviesa, ir tiesa Mūs žingsnius telydi.

Tegul meilė Lietuvos Dega mūsų širdyse, Vardan tos Lietuvos

Vienybė težydi!

Lithuania, our homeland, Land of heroes! Let your sons draw their strength. From our past experience.

Let your children always follow Only roads of virtue, may your own, mankind’s well-being be the goals they work for

May the sun above our land banish darkening clouds around Light and truth all along guide our steps forever

May the love of Lithuania brightly burn in our hearts. For the sake of this land

Let unity blossom!

During the 14th century, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe: present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the Lublin Union of 1569 Poland and Lithuania formed a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory. In the wake of the First World War, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on February 16, 1918, declaring the re-establishment of a sovereign state. Starting in 1940, Lithuania was occupied first by the Soviet Union then Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end in 1944 and the Nazis retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On March 11, 1990, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare its renewed independence.