It's great to have some Klaipeda Practical Information in order to explore this picturesque city in its full brilliance. Here are some interesting facts about the city (and the country) to sate your curiosity.

Population

Klaipeda is a beautiful seaport city, home to almost 250,000 people. It is the third largest city in Lithuania. The local population has a colorful ethnic composition - it consists of 63% Lithuanians, 28% Russians, 5% Poles and 1% Belarusians, with the remaining 3% of the people belonging to other ethnic groups. This has a direct relation with the country's rich historical past, being a former Soviet country.

Language

The official language spoken in the country is Lithuanian - a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian. It is written using a modified version of the Latin alphabet (with about nine new letters added). The dialect spoken in Klaipeda is Western Samogitian (also called Lowland Lithuanian) and has slight differences in phonetics, lexicon, syntax and morphology, compared to standard Lithuanian. However, many people speak Russian, German or English as secondary languages.

Currency

The local currency is Lithuanian Litas (or Litai). It is divided into 100 Centai, and $1 is worth almost 3 Litas. Unfortunately, it is not possible to buy Litas prior to arriving at Lithuania, so you have two options available. You can either take your money in cash and change them in local banks and exchange bureaus (which are pretty reliable), or you can just use your credit card, since all major credit and debit cards are widely accepted in Lithuania.

Education

The city is home to the University of Klaipeda - the newest university in Lithuania. It meets all the educational requirements of renowned American and European universities. The university is very popular with its art department and its maritime research facility. An interesting fact is that Lithuania is one of the most literate countries in the world, with a literacy rating of 99.6%. In addition, the education in Lithuania up to high school level is free of charge.

Religion

Half of the people are religious and either Orthodox Christians or Roman Catholics (with the latter dominating). The rest say either that they don't believe in God or spirit, or that they believe in some sort of spirit, but don't have a particular religion (which is very typical for the modern European society).