Lithuania Geography Profile 2008

Location

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

Geographic coordinates

56 00 N, 24 00 E

Map references

Europe

Area

total: 65,200 sq km
land: NA sq km
water: NA sq km

Area - comparative

slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries

total: 1,613 km
border countries: Belarus 653.5 km, Latvia 588 km, Poland 103.7 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 267.8 km

Coastline

99 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate

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

Terrain

lowland, many scattered small lakes, fertile soil

Elevation extremes

lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m
highest point: Juozapines Kalnas 293.6 m

Natural resources

peat, arable land, amber

Land use

arable land: 44.81%
permanent crops: 0.9%
other: 54.29% (2005)

Irrigated land

70 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources

24.5 cu km (2005)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)

total: 3.33 cu km/yr (78%/15%/7%)
per capita: 971 cu m/yr (2003)

Natural hazards

NA

Environment - current issues

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

Environment - international agreements

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

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