# Lithuania and Poland compared Lithuania and Poland side by side: 42 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 7 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/ltu-vs-pol Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Lithuania: 6 July 1253 — Mindaugas is crowned King of Lithuania - Poland: 966 — Mieszko I is baptised and the first unified Polish state enters Latin Christendom ## Economy | Metric | Lithuania | Observed | Poland | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $85 B | 2024 | $918 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $29,384 | 2024 | $25,104 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 2.8% | 2024 | 3.0% | 2024 | | Inflation | 0.7% | 2024 | 3.8% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 143.0% | 2024 | 100.4% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Lithuania | Observed | Poland | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 2.9 m | 2024 | 37 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 77.2 yrs | 2024 | 78.4 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 68.8% | 2024 | 60.0% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 1.1 | 2024 | 1.1 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Lithuania | Observed | Poland | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 78.2 | 2024 | 70.0 | 2024 | | Political stability | 81.9 | 2024 | 74.4 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 74.7 | 2024 | 64.4 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 75.2 | 2024 | 65.7 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 80.6 | 2024 | 66.9 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 68.0 | 2024 | 63.9 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Lithuania | Observed | Poland | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 7.6% | 2024 | 8.1% | 2024 | | Physicians | 4.47 | 2022 | 4.03 | 2023 | | Under-5 mortality | 3.4 | 2024 | 4.2 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 86.0% | 2024 | 92.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 96.7% | 2024 | 88.7% | 2024 | ## Education | Metric | Lithuania | Observed | Poland | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 99.8% | 2011 | — | — | | Education spending | 4.3% | 2022 | 4.3% | 2022 | | Primary enrolment | 100.5% | 2024 | 105.4% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 104.9% | 2024 | 107.9% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 75.6% | 2024 | 80.9% | 2024 | ## Technology | Metric | Lithuania | Observed | Poland | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 1.0% | 2023 | 1.6% | 2023 | | Researchers (per million) | 3,704 | 2023 | 3,675 | 2023 | | Internet users | 89.2% | 2024 | 88.6% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 139 | 2024 | 138 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 17.3% | 2024 | 13.5% | 2024 | ## Geography | Metric | Lithuania | Observed | Poland | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 62,600 km² | 2023 | 306,270 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 35.2% | 2023 | 31.1% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 45.9% | 2023 | 47.6% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 4.5 | 2024 | 7.6 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 33.2% | 2021 | 15.2% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Lithuania | Observed | Poland | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 0.3% | 2021 | 1.0% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.5% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.3% | 2021 | 0.2% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 | | Copper (mined) | — | — | 410 kt | 2025 | ## Military | Metric | Lithuania | Observed | Poland | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 3.1% | 2024 | 4.2% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $2.6 B | 2024 | $38 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 37,000 | 2020 | 189,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/LTU.md and https://terralore.co/country/POL.md. ## Entangled histories (7 events) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - 1385: **Union of Krewo** — Grand Duke Jogaila agreed to marry Queen Jadwiga of Poland, convert to Christianity and unite the two realms; baptised as Wladyslaw II Jagiello, he founded the Jagiellonian dynasty. (from the Lithuania chronicle; sources: Grand Duchy of Lithuania; Union of Lublin) - 1385: **Union of Krewo and the Jagiellonian dynasty** — The agreement at Krewo arranged the marriage of Queen Jadwiga to Jogaila of Lithuania, who was baptised as Wladyslaw II Jagiello, joining Poland and Lithuania under a new dynasty. (from the Poland chronicle; sources: Poland: History; Union of Lublin) - 1387: **Christianization of Lithuania** — A bishopric was founded at Vilnius and Lithuania, the last major pagan state in Europe, formally accepted Latin Christianity following the union with Poland. (from the Lithuania chronicle; sources: Grand Duchy of Lithuania) - 15 Jul 1410: **Battle of Grunwald (Zalgiris)** — Polish and Lithuanian forces under Wladyslaw II Jagiello and Grand Duke Vytautas annihilated the army of the Teutonic Knights, ending the Order's expansion in the Baltic. (from the Lithuania chronicle; sources: Battle of Grunwald (1410); Vytautas the Great) - 1 Jul 1569: **Union of Lublin** — Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania united into the federal Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ruled by an elected monarch and a common Sejm, with Lithuania keeping its own laws and institutions. (from the Lithuania chronicle; sources: Union of Lublin; History of Lithuania) - 1 Jul 1569: **Union of Lublin** — Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania united into a single federal state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ruled by an elected monarch and a common Sejm, one of Europe's largest powers. (from the Poland chronicle; sources: Union of Lublin; The Act of the Union of Lublin document) - Oct 1920: **Zeligowski's Mutiny and the seizure of Vilnius** — Polish forces under General Zeligowski, secretly directed by Pilsudski, seized Vilnius and its region; a 'Republic of Central Lithuania' was created and annexed by Poland in 1922. (from the Lithuania chronicle; sources: Vilnius dispute) ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex - Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/LTU/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/POL/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Lithuania and Poland compared", terralore.co/compare/ltu-vs-pol, retrieved .