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Lithuania: Lithuania Geography Profile 2012

2010/07/07

 

 

Lithuania Geography Profile 2012

Lithuania covers an area of 65 300 km2. The country borders on Latvia in the north, Belarus and Poland in the east and south, the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation in the northwest, and the Baltic Sea in the west. In 1989, cartographers of the French National Geographic Institute determined that the geographical centre of Europe is located in Lithuania (geographical coordinates: 54°54'N, 25°19'E).

The relief of Lithuania is flat, except for the undulating plains in the east and west that do not exceed 300 m above sea level. Lithuania’s highest point is Aukštojo Hill (293.84 m above sea level). Lakes cover about 1.5 % of the territory. The major of them is Lake Drūkšiai (44.8 km2). Lithuania lies in the zone of excess humidity and, subsequently, has a dense network of rivers. The longest river in Lithuania is the Nemunas which measures 475 km.

The Lithuanian climate is dependent on the dominating air mass transport from the west. The climate of the better part of the country is moderately cold with snowy winters. The average temperature of the coldest month is below -3 °C, while that of the warmest month does not exceed 22 °C. The number of sunny hours a year is the highest on the Curonian Spit and the seacoast, amounting to about 1 860 hours, and drops to 1 690 hours moving eastwards. Compared to the period 1961–1990, the number of sunny hours has increased by 80–200 hours. The average annual temperature in Lithuania has climbed by 0.7-1 °C as compared with the period 1991–2006. Annual precipitation averages 675 mm. Each summer occasional heavy rainstorms hit Lithuania with 20–30 mm or additional of rain falling within 24 hours. As a result of world warming, the number of days with a snow cover is decreasing. A comparison of the periods 1961–1990 and 1991–2006 has shown that the average number of days with a snow cover declined by to ten days. In autumn and winter southern, south-western and western winds and in summer western and north-western winds prevail in Lithuania.

The Neman (Nemunas or) is the principal river of the country. It follows from Belarus and flows into the bay Kurskiy. The lower part of the river is navigable

Glaciers form most of the physical characteristics of Lithuania. The surface is generally flat and low. glacial hills increase gradually, reaching over 900 feet (270 m) altitude in the east. Bogs and small glacial lakes dot parts of the earth. Sand dunes are common along the coast.

Through the influence of hardening of the sea, the climate of Lithuania is moderately continental. The winters are cold and summers are cooler than average temperatures are near 19 ° F (-7 ° C) in January and 63 ° F. (17 ° C) in July. Rainfall varies from 20 to 24 inches (510 to 610 mm) per year.

Location: 

Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Latvia and Russia

Geographic coordinates: 

56 00 N, 24 00 E

Map references: 

Europe

Area comparative: 

slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries Total: 

1,574 km

Land boundaries Note: 

Climate: 

transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers

Terrain: 

lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil

Natural resources: 

peat, arable land, amber

Natural hazards: 

NA

Environment - current issues: 

contamination of soil and groundwater with petroleum products and chemicals at military bases

Geography note: 

fertile central plains are separated by hilly uplands that are ancient glacial deposits