Another Country Adopts Euro

Lithuania's lita is about to join the drachma, guilder, and Deutschmark in the pages of history: The country has become the 19th to adopt the euro, despite polls showing around half the population against membership, and the old national currency will no longer be accepted by mid-January, reports Reuters. Despite the euro's problems, the country hopes adopting the currency will boost trade with the other 18 nations using it, although the AP notes that Lithuania is the eurozone's poorest member and integration with the other nations has caused a huge wave of emigration that has left some industries unable to keep workers, even with annual wage increases of 20%. Officials say that beyond the economic gains, the currency switch will shift the country further away from Russia's influence. (More Lithuania stories.)