Lithuania Geography

by microedu · Published October 7, 2021 · Updated October 7, 2021

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Lithuania – key data

Area: 65,300 km² (of which land: 62,680 km², water: 2,620 km²)

Population: 3.5 million (July 2011 estimate, CIA). Composition: Lithuanians 83.4%,Poland 6.7%, Russians 6.3%, others and no information 3.6% (2001 census).

Population density: 54 people per km²

Population growth: -0.276% per year (2011, CIA).

Capital: Vilnius (553.904 residents, 2006)

Highest point: Juozapines Kalnas, 294 m

Lowest point: Baltic Sea, 0 m

Form of government: Lithuania has been a republic since 1991, the constitution dates from 1992. The Lithuanian houses of Parliament(Seimas) is made up of 141MPs together. After Lithuania was independent between 1918 and 1940, a phase of Soviet occupation followed. On March 11, 1990, Lithuania declared itself independent from the Soviet Union. Lithuania has been a member of the EU since May 1, 2004.

Administrative division: 10 administrative districts (apskritis, plural: apskritys): Alytaus, Kauno, Klaipedos, Marijampoles, Panevezio, Siauliu, Taurages, Telsiu, Utenos and Vilniaus

Head of State: President Dalia Grybauskait ?, since May 17, 2009

Head of Government: Prime Minister Algirdas Butevicius, since December 13, 2012

Language: the official language in Lithuania is Lithuanian (82%). In addition, Russian (8%) and Polish (5.6%) are spoken, other languages make up 4.4% (2001 census).

Religion: Roman Catholic 79%, Russian Orthodox 4.1%, Protestant 1.9%, other and no information 5.5%, no religion 9.5% (2001 census).

Local time: CET + 1 h. Between the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October there is summer time in Lithuania (CET + 2 hours).
The time difference to Central Europe both in winter and in summer 1 hour.

International phone code: +370

Internet identifier:.lt

Mains voltage: 220 V, 50 Hz

The Republic of Lithuania is located in Eastern Europe and forms together with Estonia and Latvia the so-called Baltic States. Lithuania borders Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland and the Kaliningrad region, which belongs to Russia, to the southwest, and the Baltic Sea to the west. With its total area of 65,300 square kilometers, Lithuania is about the size of Bavaria and the largest of the three Baltic States. Visit handbagpicks for Lithuania Overview.

Despite its relatively eastern location, the Lithuanian capital Vilnius is the geographical center of Europe. The length of the Baltic coast is exactly 99 kilometers. The relatively flat land consists of 55% moraines, 21% hill moraines, 18% sandy plains and 4% river valleys. The coast occupies about 2% of the total area of Lithuania. The h öchsten mountains of Lithuania, which owe their origin to the gravel deposits of glacial glacier, barely reach 300 meters. Lithuania is located on the western edge of the Eastern European Plain and extends along the middle and lower courses of the Nemunas River.
Directly behind the coast runs the Pajuris lowlands, which are only 50 meters above sea level and about 15 to 20 kilometers wide, while some regions on the Curonian Lagoon are only just above sea level. The Zemaiciu highlands join further to the east, the “mountains” of which bring it to a height of 234 meters. The interior is characterized by the up to 100 kilometers wide and very fertile Central Lowlands, while the Baltic Highlands are located in the south and east of the country. This region is defined by extensive forests, moors, lakes and mountains up to 282 meters high. On the border with Belarus lies the highlands of Medininku, where the Juozapinés is located, the highest mountain in the country at 294 meters.

Lithuania’s mineral resources are rather small, but there are small deposits of lignite and oil. While some health resorts can offer medicinal mud and mineral springs, the Baltic Sea coast has rich amber stocks. The varied landscape of Lithuania is characterized not only by fertile farmland and meadows but also by extensive forests with swamps and moors as well as many hills, rivers and sand. The Curonian Spit in particular is known for its sand dunes famous, which are among the highest dunes in Europe.
A total of 30,000 rivers, streams and small watercourses cross and drain the rain-rich Lithuania. After all, 758 rivers are longer than ten kilometers, while 18 alone exceed the hundred-kilometer limit. How important the rivers are to the Lithuanians is shown by the plaque on every bridge, no matter how small, with the name of the respective watercourse. The Nemunas, the former Memel, is the longest river in Lithuania with 937 kilometers, but only about 475 run on the Lithuanian national territory. It is followed by the Neris with 510 kilometers. The Venta, the Sventoji, the Minija, the Nevezis and the Merkys are just as important.

Since Lithuania was covered by many glaciers during the Ice Age, a large number of larger and smaller lakes formed after the ice melted, some of which are connected to one another and form lake plateaus. The Aukstaitija highlands are home to most of the lakes that Lithuanian vernacular calls the “blue eyes of nature”. The Drüksciai is the largest at 45 square kilometers, while the Tauragnas is the deepest lake in Lithuania at 60 meters.