Lithuania Geography, Climate, Areas, Cities

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Lithuania Geography


The information below contains geography information for Lithuania, including climate, weather, cities, and area information. You can also check out the Lithuania Country Page for additional resources.

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    Geography
    Area: 65,200 sq. km. (26,080 sq. mi.); about the size of West Virginia.
    Cities: Capital--Vilnius (pop. 553,373); Kaunas (376,575); Klaipeda (192,498); Siauliai (133,528); Panevezys (119,417).
    Terrain: Lithuania's fertile, central lowland plains are separated by hilly uplands created by glacial drift. A total of 758 rivers, many are navigable, and 2,833 lakes cover the landscape. The coastline is 90 km. (56 mi.) long. Land use--53% arable land, 30% forest and woodland, 4% water, 13% other.
    Climate: With four distinct seasons, the climate is humid continental, with a moderating maritime influence from the Baltic Sea. January temperatures average -5oC (23oF); July, 17oC (63oF). Annual precipitation averages 62 centimeters (24.4 in.).

    Geography of Lithuania
    The largest and most populous of the Baltic states, Lithuania is a generally maritime country with 60 miles of sandy coastline, of which only 24 miles face the open Baltic Sea. Lithuania's major warm-water port of Klaipeda lies at the narrow mouth of Kursiu Gulf, a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad. The Nemunas River and some of its tributaries are used for internal shipping (In 2000, 89 inland ships carried 900,000 tons of cargo, which is less than 1% of the total goods traffic). Between 56.27 and 53.53 latitude and 20.56 and 26.50 longitude, Lithuania is glacially flat, except for morainic hills in the western uplands and eastern highlands no higher than 300 meters. The terrain is marked by numerous small lakes and swamps, and a mixed forest zone covers 30% of the country.

    The growing season lasts 169 days in the east and 202 days in the west, with most farmland consisting of sandy- or clay-loam soils. Limestone, clay, sand, and gravel are Lithuania's primary natural resources, but the coastal shelf offers perhaps 10 million barrels' worth of oil deposits, and the southeast could provide high yields of iron ore and granite. According to some geographers, Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, lies at the geographical center of Europe.
    source: http://www.state.gov