A/HRC/7/19/Add.4 page 8 which is of Lithuanian origin. Other large ethnic groups are Poles (6.7 per cent), Russians (6.3 per cent) and Belarusians (1.2 per cent) and Ukrainians (0.7 per cent). A number of smaller communities are also present, including Jews, Latvians, Tatars, Germans and Roma.1 12. Lithuania has historically been a country with high levels of emigration. In the first half of the twentieth century, migration to North and South America made Lithuania one of the European countries with the highest percentage of its population having emigrated. Forceful deportations during the Soviet occupation also led to the establishment of Lithuanian communities in Siberia and Central Asia. Following accession to the EU, important outward migratory dynamics started to emerge, as Lithuanians move to higher-wage markets in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain and other EU member States. At present, an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Lithuanians are believed to live abroad. 13. Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion in Lithuania, as 2.7 million Lithuanians (79 per cent of the population) identify themselves with this religious denomination. During communist rule, Catholicism was severely persecuted and became a symbol of national identity. Other sizeable religious groups are Russian Orthodox (4.1 per cent) and Protestants (1.9 per cent). Atheists amount to 9.5 per cent of the population. The Jewish and Muslim communities are numbered in the low thousands. A small but active community of Karaïtes, a group of ethnic Turkic adherents of Karaïte Judaism, is located in the city of Trakai.2 C. Political and administrative structure 14. Lithuania is a parliamentary democracy whose head of government is the Prime Minister. Legislative power is unicameral and exercised by a Parliament (Seimas) composed of 141 members, 71 of whom are directly elected, while the other 70 are elected on a proportional basis. To be represented in Parliament, parties need to obtain 5 per cent of the national vote. However, parties representing national minorities are exempt from this threshold. A multiparty system is in place and the Government is traditionally composed of coalitions. The higher instances of the judiciary are composed of a Supreme Court and a Court of Appeals as well as, for administrative matters, a High Administrative Court. Issues relating to conformity with the Constitution are dealt with by the Constitutional Court. 15. The larger subnational administrative divisions are the counties (apskritis), which are ruled by governors (apskrites viršininkas) appointed by the national Government. The counties are further subdivided into municipalities (savivaldybės). Municipalities are governed by municipal councils that are elected through direct suffrage and are responsible for appointing mayors. D. International human rights instruments 16. Lithuania is party to most of the major international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols, the 1 National Census, 2001. 2 Ibid.