GEOGRAPHY of Lithuania

Updated: 9/1/04           

Lithuania is the southernmost and the largest of the three Baltic States.   On the West it is bordered by the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and the Baltic Sea.  To the North lies Latvia, to the East and Southeast the “Newly Independent State” of Belarus and to the South – Poland.

 

Territorial Area:                     65,300 Sq. kilometers

General Topography:            Generally flat plains interspaced with rolling hills

Highest elevation:                 293.6 meters (above sea level) (Juozapine hill)

Average elevation:                99 meters (above sea level)

60.65 % of total land is agricultural land and 30.1% are forests.   57.59 % of agricultural land and 23.6% of forest land is privately owned.

 

Climate:              

 

COASTAL REGION

CENTRAL & EASTERN REGIONS

Ave. precipitation

717-840 mm

458-595 mm

Ave. temperature in January

(-1.6)-(-0.9) Deg. C.

(-2.1)-(-.0.1) Deg. C.

Ave. temperature in July

17.5-17.8 Deg. C.

17.8-18.1 Deg C.

Coldest recorded temperature

-17 Deg. C.

-25 Deg. C.

 

  Rivers:                                    Total of 738 more than 10 kilometers in length

NAME

TOTAL LENGTH

Nemunas

937 km

Neris

510 km

Venta

350 km

Sesupe

289 km

Sventoji

246 km

Minija

213 km

Nevezis

209 km

  Lakes:       

Over 3,000 lakes cover about 1.5% of the total territory.  The majority of the lakes are in the eastern portion of the country known as the Eastern Highlands.

The largest are:                                   

NAME

AREA

Druksiai

44.8 sq. km

Dysnai

24.0 sq. km

Dusia

23.3 sq. km

Vistytis

17.9 sq. km

Luodis

13.2 sq. km

Sartai

13.2 sq. km

 Other Bodies of Water:

  • Curonian lagoon, a 900 sq. km bay of water separated from the sea by a narrow spir of land known as Curonian spit.  25 rivers outflow into this lagoon, which in turn empties into the Baltic sea through a single narrow (2 km wide) opening at the port of Klaipeda.
  • Kauno marios, a 63.5 sq. km reservoir formed by a dam across river Nemunas at Pazaisliai.

Forests:                   

Forests cover almost a third of the land (30.1%).  The largest forests are found in the South and the Southeast regions. Pine, fir and birch constitute majority of the forest vegetation.  

Wild life:                       

Moose, Wolves, Deer, Wild Boars, Foxes, Beavers and Hares are the main forest denizens. 

Natural resources:    

Sand, limestone, dolomite, peat and some oil in the coastal and off-shore areas.

 

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