35 years ago today, on March 1, 1990 (February 5, 1990 lunar calendar), Lithuania became independent from the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union began to disintegrate. Old Communist Party members held a statue of Lenin in a demonstration. On March 1, 1990, Lithuania became independent from the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union began to disintegrate. Lithuania, on the Baltic Sea, borders Poland in the southwest. It covers an area of 65,200 square kilometers. About four-fifths of the population are Lithuanians, and the rest are Russians and Poles. The administrative center is in Vilnius. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was established in the mid-13th century. It was annexed by Poland in 1569-1791 and incorporated into Russia at the end of the 18th century. Independence in 1919 and incorporation into the Soviet Union in 1940.