Lithuania+Geography

=Geography=



Physical System
Lithuania is located in Northeastern Europe on the on the Eastern shore of the Baltic Sea.It has an area of about twenty-five square miles which is slightly larger than the state of West Virginia.Latvia borders Lithuania to the north, while Belarus surrounds it on the east and southeast sides. Lithuania is also bordered by Poland to the southwest and Kaliningrad, a territory of Russia, is to the west.The capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, is located at the geographical center of Europe and Lithuania is the most populated and largest of the Baltic states.There is almost sixty miles of coastline that faces the Baltic Sea (Lithuania U.S. Department of State, 2011).

Due to its location between the 54th and 56th latitudes and the 20th and 27th longitudes, Lithuania is glacially flat but very fertile. The lowest point in Lithuania can be found at the Baltic Sea. It has hills that do not exceed 300 meters in height but these hills are located in the western and eastern highlands. The highest point in Lithuania is known as Aukstojas which is a hill located to the east of Vilnius that is 294 meters high. Lithuania is considered to have a lowland terrain marked by many small lakes and swamps that are scattered throughout the state (Lithuania CIA Fact Book, 2011).

Lithuania has a very transitional climate depending on what location of Lithuania you are referring to. In reference to the Baltic Sea, the areas surrounding this location reflect a maritime climate. Further into the state is a more continental climate that is relatively humid. The temperature varies slightly in Lithuania with the average temperature of 23ºF in January and 63ºF in July. The amount of precipitation also varies with an annual average of about twenty-four inches in the central plains and thirty-three inches in the far west (Lithuania U.S. Department of State, 2011).

A little over one square mile of Lithuania is covered with water. There is a total of 758 rivers and 2,833 lakes. At the mouth of the Kursiu Gulf is Lithuania's major warm-water port known as Klaipeda which is used for shipping and extends to Kaliningrad. Lithuania also uses the Nemunas River along with some of its tributaries for internal shipping. The Nemunas River extends 295 miles, making it the longest river in Lithuania. One of the tributaries from the Nemunas River that leads to the capital of Lithuania is the Neris River and it is 146 miles in length (Lithuania U.S. Department of State, 2011). .

Biological System
Almost forty-five percent of the land in Lithuania is arable and about 6 cubic miles is dedicated to renewable water resources. Lithuania has many different natural resources that include peat, arable land, amber, limestone, clay, sand, gravel, iron ore, and granite. One of the current environmental issues that Lithuania is facing deals with contamination of the groundwater and soil. The contamination includes traces of petroleum products and chemicals found at military bases (Lithuania CIA Fact Book, 2011).

The people of Lithuania, also known as Lithuanians, have made many impacts on the country that they live in. One way that this can be seen is through an image of Lithuania that was taken at night. The image below shows the lights that are on during the night in Lithuania as seen from space. These areas are illuminated and are heavily urbanized and also heavily populated. Vilnius, the capital city, is responsible for the most amount of light at night and is also the most populated area of Lithuania with over 550,000 inhabitants. The other most populated cities include Kaunas, Klaipeda, Siauliai, Panevezys, and Alytus and they can be seen with a large amount of illumination in the map below. These areas have been the most affected by the "human footprint" where development and progress made by humans has permanently changed ecosystems throughout the world (Lithuania MapMaker Interactive, 2011).