Lithuania determined by the fact that drinking water comes from deep layers that are protected from pollution on the surface of the earth. Drilling depth usually reaches 30–50 meters, but in Klaipėda Region it even reaches 250 meters. Consequently, Lithuania is one of very few European countries where groundwater is used for centralized water supply. With a large underground fresh water reserves, Lithuania exports mineral-rich water to other countries. Approved mineral water quantity is about 2.7 million cubic meters per year, while production is only 4–5 percent of all mineral water resources. Vilnius is the only Baltic capital that uses centralized
Russians in Lithuania Russians in Lithuania Russians in Lithuania numbered 140,000 people, according to the Lithuanian estimates of 2015, or 4.8% of the total population of Lithuania. First early settlements of Ruthenians in what is now Lithuania date back to late medieval ages when the first proto-Russian merchants and craftsmen began to permanently reside in several Lithuanian towns. In the late 17th century they were joined by many Russian Old Believers who settled in eastern Lithuania, escaping religious persecution in Russia. The second, larger, influx of Russians followed the annexation of Lithuania by the Russian Empire during the Partitions of Poland in the