Lithuania Geography Profile 2009

Location

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

Geographic coordinates

56 00 N, 24 00 E

Map references

Europe

Area

total: 65,300 sq km
land: 62,680 sq km
water: 2,620 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries

total: 1,574 km
border countries: Belarus 680 km, Latvia 576 km, Poland 91 km, Russia (Kaliningrad) 227 km

Coastline

90 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 294 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, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, 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