Lithuania

Description of Lithuania

Lithuania is a country in north-eastern Europe, situated on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The capital of Lithuania is Vilnius. Lithuania is a member of the United Nations, the NATO and the European Union. It is the largest in area and population country among the other Baltic countries. The boundaries of the Republic of Lithuania, after its proclamation in 1918, have changed many times and have been recorded in its present form since the end of World War II and the final annexation of the USSR in 1945 as the administrative boundaries of Lithuanian SSR. After the actual restoration of the Lithuanian Republic in 1988 and the final exit from the USSR in 1991, the borders of the Lithuanian SSR were saved. According to the estimates of some modern geographers, the geographical center of Europe is located in the Lithuanian village Purnuskes.

Lithuania is a small and almost homogeneous country, but it can be divided into four ethnographic regions with some of the differences in traditions, dialects and landscape. Aukstaitija is the largest of the regions, occupying a large area in the north-east of the country along the Neman River, between the borders with Latvia, Belarus, and the capital of Vilnius. Samogitia is a region in the northwest along the Neman River. Suvalkija is a traditionally rich region in the south-west around Marijampole. Dzukija is a traditionally poor wooded land in the south of Lithuania, along the border with Belarus. The fifth region, which is now often referred to Samogitia, is Lithuania Minor, or as it is also called the Klaipėda region - the Lithuania’s region in the far west of the country, which, together with the city of Klaipeda, in 1918 belonged to East Prussia and was part of the German Empire. The largest cities, Vilnius and Kaunas, traditionally don’t belong to any of the regions, because they are located on their boundaries.

Lithuania is situated on the spurs of the East European Plain. Today's landscape of the country was formed in the last Ice Age and has a flat origin with low moraines. The highest point of Lithuania is in the south-east of the country, 23.5 km from Vilnius – the Aukstojo Hill. Although Lithuania is not a big country, among its plains there are four landscape zones – the Middle Lithuanian lowland and the Seaside lowland, the Samogitian plain, and the Vilnius plain.

The typical landscape of the Baltic coast of Lithuania is the sand dunes. The greatest natural attraction is the Curonian Spit - a sandy peninsula, stretching for 98 kilometers from Zelenogradsk of the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation to the Lithuanian Klaipeda. The width of the spit at its narrowest point is of 400 m, and in the widest one - 3.8 km. In 2000, a unique natural complex of the Curonian Spit was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. There are 2830 lakes in Lithuania, with areas less than 0.5 hectares. 30% of the country is covered with forests. Most of lakes and forests are located in the east and south of the country in Aukstaitija (the famous national park “Aukstaitija”) and in Dzūkija regions. The largest lake is Druksiai, located on the border of Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus. The deepest one is Lake Tauragnas. Through Lithuania flow about 750 rivers of more than 10 km. The largest rivers of Lithuania are Neman - total length of 937 km, originates in neighboring Belarus, Lithuanian segment is of 475 km; the Neris River - 510 km, the Venta River - 346 km, and the Sesupe River - 298 km.

Lithuania is not rich in natural resources. The country has large deposits of limestone, dolomites, gypseous sand, clay, silica sand, which makes it possible to produce high quality cement for construction. The country has strong mineral springs; but small energy reserves and important raw materials for industry. Deposits of oil were discovered in Lithuania in 1950, but currently, only a few oil-producing plants in western Lithuania are in use. According to estimates, in the Baltic Sea shelf and in the western part of Lithuania oil reserves can be found, the amount of which will enable the country to twenty percent of the annual demand for petroleum products for 20 years. Furthermore, Lithuania has considerable potential of thermal energy on the Baltic coast, which can warm the hundreds of thousands of homes like the example of Iceland. The south of the country is known for deposits of iron ore, the operation of which may have a negative impact on the nature of Lithuania. The prospect of iron ore mining depends on the Lithuanian ability of involving foreign investment and technology.

Some facts about Lithuania

Gallery of Lithuania

Lithuania video guide

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