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The origin of Lithuania’s name
In the year 2009, 1,000 years will have elapsed since the first mention of Lithuania in a written source, in the annals of the East German city of Kvedlinburg, in reference to the death of a missionary.
The name Lithuania is derived from (one of many theories) the 11 km stream Lietauka. It is believed that the territory of Lithuanian land from where the name comes from, was between the middle of the Nemunas River and the Neris, where today Kernavė, Nemenčinė and Maišiagala are found. There where King Mindaugas ruled, that is where the Lietauka flowed. The guess is that the stream gave the Lithuanian land its name, while the land gave the name Lithuania to the country.
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