Vilnius, Lithuania — Modern Lithuania has a number of distinctions of which its 3 million people are proud.
It was the first of the former Soviet socialist republics to break away, declaring independence in March 1990.
It “grows” basketball players: Lithuania has won medals in both European basketball championships and the Olympics despite its small population.
It boasts a UNESCO-listed world heritage site in Vilnius, with its historic old center and an impressive melange of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical buildings
But the otherwise upbeat modern narrative has a darker strand – that of Europe’s suicide leader. The most recent available government statistics illustrate the country’s dilemma: in 2013, there were 36 suicides per 100,000 people, and in 2014, there were 31 per 100,000, the fourth-highest rate in the world and the highest in Europe. The next European country to appear on the list, according to the World Health Organization, is Russia, at 14th, with 19.5 suicides per 100,000.
In numerical terms, this means that approximately 1,000 Lithuanians, or about one out of every 2,000 citizens, kill themselves every year.
Skaityti daugiau