When an container is created (last updated with Ubuntu 16.04.1) it is tiny,

Attribute	Size	Comment
Disk Space	337 MB	That's the entire operating system because it can mount shared core kernel files from the Host. Better yet as Read-Only
Memory (externally viewing Container)	12.96 MiB ~ 1.7 MB	Using lxc-info which excludes the shared kernal memory
Memory (Inside Container)	5.6 MB	Smaller hence because the container leverages the host OS. Note, need to speak to LXC guys to understandy why external versus internal difference.
Processes (Inside Container)	15	Container leverages the host OS.

Limitations

Kernel functionality list that cannot be used inside of a container,

...

Note, this article was last tested with LXC 1.x.

Tip
Best to use your own Linux machine, but if in a pinch, you can try it out on the Linux Containers website for free.

Create Regular Privileged Container

...

Note
If your host is mounting another folder (ie a network share). You must mount in your host first then start your container.

...