Vilnius is the capital of which country?

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania. It is the country’s largest city and serves as the seat of Lithuania’s president, parliament, government and Supreme Court.

The city’s first well-known written reference dates to 1323, when Grand Duke Gediminas sent letters from Vilnius inviting merchants and craftspeople to settle in his realm. A popular foundation legend says Gediminas dreamed of an iron wolf and was told that the site would become the location of a great capital. The story is cultural tradition rather than a literal historical record.

Vilnius was a major centre of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later formed part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Its Old Town contains Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical buildings and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. It is sometimes confused with Riga or Tallinn, the capitals of Latvia and Estonia; all three are Baltic capitals, but only Vilnius is Lithuania’s.