Lithuania is one of the countries in the Baltic region of Europe. The most populous of the Baltic states, Lithuania has of coastline consisting of the continental coast and the "Curonian Spit" coast. Lithuania's major warm-water port of Klaipėda lies at the narrow mouth of Curonian Lagoon, a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad and separated from the Baltic sea by Curonian Spit, where Kuršių Nerija National Park was established for its remarkable sand dunes.

The Neman River and some of its tributaries are used for internal shipping (in 2000, 89 inland ships carried 900,000 tons of cargo, which is less than 1% of the total goods traffic).

Situated between 56.27 and 53.53 latitudes and 20.56 and 26.50 longitudes, Lithuania is glacially flat, except for morainic hills in the western uplands and eastern highlands no higher than 300 metres. The terrain is marked by numerous small lakes and swamps, and a mixed forest zone covers over 33% of the country. The growing season lasts 169 days in the east and 202 days in the west, with most farmland consisting of sandy- or clay-loam soils. Limestone, clay, sand, and gravel are Lithuania's primary natural resources, but the coastal shelf offers perhaps of oil deposits, and the southeast could provide high yields of iron ore and granite.

Geographical position

thumb|right|300px|Political map of Lithuaniathumb|Physical map of Lithuania|300x300pxLithuania is situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania's boundaries have changed several times since 1918, but they have been stable since 1945.

Major coordinates

In terms of latitude or climate fifteen degrees (corresponding to the longitude or an hour fifteen degrees, except the polar climate sums being 7°30´ in latitude) Lithuania situates within the 52°30´-N - 67°30´-N latitude, that is northwards from Southend latitude, together with the North Sea major body, the Far North of Germany, Siberia. It situates in the southern quarter of the climate fifteen degrees, stretching northwards from the southern mark of the climate fifteen degrees further than in nearly one tenth or the sum of <1°30´, that is kind of an edge zone of the climate fifteen degrees, being generally boggy in the western Belarus, and on the 54°-N latitude the one tenth zone is marked by the greatest bog in Lithuania the Čepkeliai Marsh.

With the Eastern Hemisphere core longitude on the 67°30´-E, the hour or its longitude fifteen degrees that set on Lithuania are 15°-E - 30°-E (Greenwich, London) longitude, the core of which coming on the 22°30´-E longitude also marks the western one fourth, or the sum of 45° in the West of the Eastern Hemisphere if marking it with the Cape Verde archipelago and the Transantarctic Mountains. The 22°30´-E longitude comes in the West of Lithuania, with the river Jūra (pronounced as in Euro except the ending vowel) meaning sea locally flowing on the mark. Tilsit (Kaliningrad Oblast), Telšiai as the Greek thalassa situate in the western one fourth of the Eastern Hemisphere, although Talsi (Latvia) situate eastwards from the mark. The rivers Šešupė, Šešuvis, Šušvė plus Šyša situate in the sum of approximately 2°30´ longitude or one sixth of an hour fifteen degrees (šeši - six in Lithuanian), in the both sides of the 22°30´-E mark.

Topography and drainage

thumb|300px|Topographical map of Lithuania

Lithuania lies at the edge of the North European Plain. woodlands—primarily pine, spruce, and birch forests. Average temperatures on the coast are in January and in July. are very cold, whereas winters dominated by westerly maritime airflows like 1924–25, 1960–61 and 1988–89 are mild with temperatures above freezing a normal occurrence. occurs almost every winter. Winter extremes are at the coast and in the east of Lithuania. The average annual precipitation is on the coast,

Lithuania experienced a drought in 2002, causing forest and peat bog fires. The country suffered along with the rest of Northwestern Europe during a heatwave in the summer of 2006.

Examples

General averages

Cities

Environment

Concerned with environmental deterioration, Lithuanian governments have created several national parks and reservations. River and lake pollution are other legacies of Soviet carelessness with the environment. The Courland Lagoon, for example, separated from the Baltic Sea by a strip of high dunes and pine forests, is about 85 percent contaminated. Water quality in the country is very high and is 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 metres, but in Klaipėda Region it even reaches 250 metres. 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 metres per year, while production is only 4–5 percent of all mineral water resources.

Lithuania's capital Vilnius is the only Baltic capital city that uses centralized water supplying from deep water springs, which are protected from pollution and has no nitrates or nitrites that are harmful to the human body. Water is cleaned without chemicals in Lithuania. About 20% of the consumed water in the state is a non-filtered very high quality water.

Natural resources:

peat, arable land, amber.

Land use:

  • arable land: 33.48%
  • permanent crops: 0.47%
  • other: 66.05% (2011)

Irrigated land:

13.4&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (2011)

Total renewable water resources:

24.9&nbsp;km<sup>3</sup> (2011)

Area and boundaries

thumb|Lithuanian coastline with the [[Nemunas delta, Curonian lagoon and spit.]]

Area:

  • Total: 65,300&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
  • Land: 62,680&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>
  • Water: 2,620&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>

Comparative area

  • Australia comparative: slightly smaller (5.5%) than Tasmania
  • Canada comparative: about 9% smaller than New Brunswick
  • United Kingdom comparative: about 17% smaller than Scotland
  • United States comparative: slightly larger (4%) than West Virginia

Land boundaries:

  • Total: 1,574&nbsp;km
  • Border countries: Belarus 680&nbsp;km, Latvia 576&nbsp;km, Poland 91&nbsp;km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 227&nbsp;km

Coastline: . The coastline consists of 20 kilometres from Klaipėda, 50 kilometres at Cape Nehrung, and 21 kilometres in the region of Palanga and the mouth of the Šventoji river. Lithuania Minor occupies two-thirds of the Lithuanian coast-line.

Maritime claims:

  • Territorial sea:
  • Exclusive Economic Zone: with

Latitude and longitude

  • Northern point: near former Lemkinė village on the shores of Nemunėlis in the Biržai district municipality
  • Southern point: in the Varėna district municipality, in uninhabitable forest area, cadastrally belonging to village Musteika.
  • Eastern point: near Vosiūnai village in the Ignalina district municipality
  • Western point: Nida

Elevation extremes:

  • Lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m
  • Highest point: Aukštojas Hill

See also

  • List of protected areas of Lithuania
  • Lithuania
  • <small></small>

References

  • Kursiu Nerija National Park