Vilnius (also known under its Polish and Yiddish name, Wilno and its German name, Wilna) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania. It lies on the bank of the Neris river and has approximately 560,000 inhabitants. Vilnius was the European Capital of Culture in 2009, along with Linz in Austria.
Inhabited since the Middle Ages, Vilnius has always been a multinational city with Polish, German, Jewish, Russian and Belorussian people making up a substantial share of its population. According to the last census of 2011, the population included 63.2% Lithuanians, 16.5% Poles, 12% Russians, 3.5% Belarusians, and 1.0% Ukrainians. During World War II, 80,000 Jews from Vilnius were murdered by the Nazis and their Lithuanian collaborators at the forest of Paneriai and other nearby places. After the war, most of the urban Polish population was moved to Poland, while during 1950–1970 they were replaced by people from parts of Lithuania, neighbouring parts of Belarus, as well as Russia, Ukraine and other Soviet republics.
Vilnius International Airport (IATA: VNO), Rodunios kelias 10a, +370 5 273 9305, is the largest civil airport in Lithuania and is 6km south of the city center. There are flights to most major airports in the northern half of Europe and a few destinations nearby former CIS countries and some regular and charter flights to Mediterranean destinations. Over half of the destinations are served by either budget or charter airlines. A list of airlines can be found here.
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