Lithuania:
Geography

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Other pages in this profile of Lithuania:
People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.


Background	Definition Lithuanian lands were united under MINDAUGAS in 1236; over the next century, through alliances and conquest, Lithuania extended its territory to include most of present-day Belarus and Ukraine. By the end of the 14th century Lithuania was the largest state in Europe. An alliance with Poland in 1386 led the two countries into a union through the person of a common ruler. In 1569, Lithuania and Poland formally united into a single dual state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This entity survived until 1795, when its remnants were partitioned by surrounding countries. Lithuania regained its independence following World War I but was annexed by the USSR in 1940 - an action never recognized by the US and many other countries. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first of the Soviet republics to declare its independence, but Moscow did not recognize this proclamation until September of 1991 (following the abortive coup in Moscow). The last Russian troops withdrew in 1993. Lithuania subsequently restructured its economy for integration into Western European institutions; it joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.

Location	Definition Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia
Geographic coordinates	Definition 56 00 N, 24 00 E
Map references	Definition Europe
Area	Definition - World rank and map total: 65,300 sq km land: NA sq km water: NA sq km
Area - comparative	Definition slightly larger than West Virginia
Land boundaries	Definition total: 1,644 km border countries: Belarus 679 km, Latvia 588 km, Poland 104 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 273 km
Coastline	Definition 90 km
Maritime claims	Definition territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate	Definition transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers
Terrain	Definition lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil
Elevation extremes	Definition lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m highest point: Juozapines Kalnas 293.6 m
Natural resources	Definition peat, arable land, amber
Land use	Definition - World rank and map arable land: 44.81% permanent crops: 0.9% other: 54.29% (2005)
Irrigated land	Definition 70 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources	Definition 24.5 cu km (2005)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	Definition total: 3.33 cu km/yr (78%/15%/7%) per capita: 971 cu m/yr (2003)
Natural hazards	Definition NA
Environment - current issues	Definition contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products and chemicals at military bases
Environment - international agreements	Definition party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note	Definition fertile central plains are separated by hilly uplands that are ancient glacial deposits

Lithuania: Geography

Lithuania:
Geography