Geography

The largest and most populous of the Baltic states, Lithuania covers 65,200 sq km, making it the 123rd largest country in the world, after Sri Lanka, and just slightly smaller than the Republic of Ireland. It has 99 km (60 miles) of sandy coastline, of which only 38 km (24 miles) face the open Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia; the rest of the coast is sheltered by the Curonian sand peninsula. Lithuania's major warm-water port of Klaipeda 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 Kursiu Nerija National Park was established for its remarkable sand dunes.

According to some geographers, the Geographical Centre of Europe is just north of Lithuania's capital, Vilnius.

Physical Environment

Lithuania 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.

Lithuania's northern neighbour is Latvia. The two countries share a border that extends 453 kilometres. Lithuania's eastern border with Belarus is longer, stretching 502 kilometres. The border with Poland on the south is relatively short, only 91 kilometres, but is very busy because of international traffic. Lithuania also has a 227-kilometer border with Russia. Russian territory adjacent to Lithuania is Kaliningrad Oblast, which is the northern part of the former German East Prussia, including the city of Kaliningrad. Finally, Lithuania has 108 kilometres of Baltic seashore with an ice-free harbour at Klaipeda. The Baltic coast offers sandy beaches and pine forests and attracts thousands of vacationers.

Topography

Lithuania lies at the edge of the East European Plain. Its landscape was shaped by the glaciers of the last Ice Age, which retreated about 25,000-22,000 years ago. Lithuania's terrain is an alternation of moderate lowlands and highlands. The highest elevation is 297 metres above sea level, found in the eastern part of the republic and separated from the uplands of the western region of Samogitia by the very fertile plains of the southwestern and central regions.

Once a heavily forested land, Lithuania's territory today consists of only 28 percent woodlands--primarily pine, spruce, and birch forests. Ash and oak are very scarce. The forests are rich in mushrooms and berries, as well as a variety of plants.

Drainage

The landscape is punctuated by 2,833 lakes larger than 10,000 sq m and 1,600 smaller ponds. The majority of the lakes are found in the eastern part of the country. Lithuania also has 758 rivers longer than 10 km. The largest river is the Nemunas (total length 917 km), which originates in Belarus. The other larger waterways are the Neris (510 km), Venta (346 km), and Sesupe (298 km) rivers. However, only 600 kilometres of Lithuania's rivers are navigable.

The Environment

Concerned with environmental deterioration, Lithuanian governments have created several national parks and reservations. The country's flora and fauna have suffered, however, from an almost fanatical drainage of land for agricultural use. Environmental problems of a different nature were created by the development of environmentally unsafe industries, including the Ignalina nuclear power plant, which still operates two reactors similar to those at Chernobyl, and the chemical and other industries that pollute the air and empty wastes into rivers and lakes. According to calculations by experts, about one-third of Lithuanian territory is covered by polluted air at any given time. Problems exist mainly in the cities, such as Vilnius, Kaunas, Jonava, Mazeikiai, Elektrenai and Naujoji Akmene - the sites of fertilizer and other chemical plants, an oil refinery, power station, and a cement factory.

Water quality has also been an issue. The city of Kaunas, with a population of about 400,000, had no water purification plant until 1999; sewage was sent directly into the Neman River. Tertiary wastewater treatment is scheduled to come on-line in 2007. 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. Beaches in the Baltic resorts, such as the well-known vacation area of Palanga, are frequently closed for swimming because of contamination. Forests affected by acid rain are found in the vicinity of Jonava, Mazeikiai, and Elektrenai, which are the chemical, oil, and power-generation centres.

As a Soviet republic, Lithuania was among the first to introduce environmental regulations. However, because of Moscow's emphasis on increasing production and because of numerous local violations, technological backwardness, and political apathy, serious environmental problems now exist.

Natural hazards include hurricane-force storms, blizzards, droughts and floods.

Natural Resources

Lithuania's landscape is pleasing to the eye but modest in natural resources. The republic has an abundance of limestone, clay, quartz sand, gypsum sand, and dolomite, which are suitable for making high-quality cement, glass, and ceramics. There also is an ample supply of mineral water, but energy sources and industrial materials are all in short supply.

Oil was discovered in Lithuania in the 1950s, but only a few wells operate, and all that do are located in the western part of the country. It is estimated that the Baltic Sea shelf and the western region of Lithuania hold commercially viable amounts of oil, but if exploited this oil would satisfy only about 20 percent of Lithuania's annual need for petroleum products for the next twenty years. Lithuania has a large amount of thermal energy along the Baltic Sea coast, however, which could be used to heat hundreds of thousands of homes, as is done in Iceland.

In addition, iron ore deposits have been found in the southern region of Lithuania. But commercial exploitation of these deposits probably would require strip mining, which is environmentally unsound. Moreover, exploitation of these resources will depend on Lithuania's ability to attract capital and technology from abroad.