Lithuania Geography

By | December 22, 2021

Lithuania, resurrected to new life among the states of Europe at the end of the world war, now embraces, including the Territory of Memel (lit. Klaip ė da), an area of ​​55,670 sq km. (54,780 if we exclude the stretches of water with a surface greater than 0.5 sq. Km.), Equal to that of Piedmont united with Sardinia. It thus ranks 22nd among the states of Europe, of which it occupies 0.6% of the territory, slightly larger than Estonia, somewhat smaller than Latvia.

Before the war the region belonged for the most part to Russia, of which it constituted the governorate of Kovno, some parts of those of Vilna and Suvalki: territories to which the USSR renounced in favor of Lithuania following the Moscow peace of 12 July 1920. Lithuania also includes a coastal strip of Courland (with the port of Palanga), ceded by Latvia, and the Territory of Memel (surface 2848 km., including 412 occupied by Kurisches Haff), which was part of East Prussia and which for art. 99 of the Treaty of Versailles was ceded by Germany to the Allies with the reservation of reuniting it later to Lithuania (which was assigned by the Allies with the Paris Convention of 8 May 1924). Within the current borders Lithuania now extends between 53 ° 53 ′ 5 ″ and 56 ° 27 ′ 0 ″ of N latitude and between 20 ° 57 ′ 5 ″ and 26 ° 26 ′ 0 ″ of long. E. Between the northern and southern limits the distance is 295 km., Between the eastern and the western limit 348. With Latvia the border, which is 570 km long, generally follows the linguistic limits and largely follows the ancient subdivision between the governorate of Kovno and Courland; the border with Poland (which Lithuanians consider provisional) is 525 km long. and it generally rests on the hills of the Baltic Hill; the one with Germany, which is 272 km long. and in part it still corresponds to the border established in 1422, it follows for a long distance the Nemunas (Russian and Polish the border with Poland (which Lithuanians consider provisional) is 525 km long. and it generally rests on the hills of the Baltic Hill; the one with Germany, which is 272 km long. and in part it still corresponds to the border established in 1422, it follows for a long distance the Nemunas (Russian and Polish the border with Poland (which Lithuanians consider provisional) is 525 km long. and it generally rests on the hills of the Baltic Hill; the one with Germany, which is 272 km long. and in part it still corresponds to the border established in 1422, it follows for a long distance the Nemunas (Russian and Polish Niemen ; ted. Memel), then cuts the Kurisches Haff and the Kurische Nehrung. Finally for 90 km. (of which 70 belong to the Memel Territory) Lithuania is bordered by the Baltic so that its maritimeity is rather scarce. The shape of the state resembles a rectangle (northern part), on the lower side of which rests a triangle with the vertex down. The state, which does not correspond to a well-defined geographical region, but is a peripheral strip of the greater plain of Europe, is based on the ethnic-linguistic characteristics of the residents, which are distinct from those of the Latvians with precise limits, rather mixed instead to S. with the Poles, to SE. with the White-Russians, in SW. and to O. with the Germans. For Lithuania travel information, please check zipcodesexplorer.com.

Geology and relief. – The Russian lowland, of which Lithuania occupies a small part, constitutes an almost flat platform, scarcely subject to modifications and displacements, in which lands of decreasing antiquity follow one another from N. to S. (from the upper Devonico to the upper Jurassic and the Paleogenic). However, the rocks in place only exceptionally come to light, being covered by a powerful layer of moraine materials, which reach their maximum height in the hills of Pavištyciai (m. 284) and in Aukštakalnis (m. 281), in the district of Vilkaviškis (Lithuania of SO). The Quaternary glaciers, which in a first phase expanded from Scandinavia and in a second from Finland, gave the country an aspect of freshness, resulting from the chaotic arrangement of sediments and the youthful characteristics of the hydrographic network. A series of hills, running NE.-SO., occupies the Lithuania of SE. and traces the current border with Poland roughly; these hills constitute a part of the Baltic Ridge, a relief due to the maximum glacial phase, the trend of which can be reconstructed from Schleswig to the heights of the Valdai, 30 to 50 km wide, with hills from 200 to 300 meters high, with abundant lakes, wooded areas, protruding boulders, formed by erratic material. A different and less well-defined character has in western Lithuania (called Samogizia, “low land”) a series of minor hills, the trend of which can be established by examining the origin of the rocks (devonic and siluric dolomites of Estonia, somewhat fossiliferous). These are mostly bottom moraines, deposited during the withdrawal phases; L’ trend of the main mass of ice (from NE. to SW.) is shown by the hills that from Skuodas go towards E. up to Siauliai then towards S. up to Kaunas, then turning east, to rejoin the Baltic Ridge. The major hills are located in the places of intersection and overlapping of moraines having different centers of origin. The region has an average height of 100-200 meters and the convex areas mix with the flat areas, which originated during the withdrawal phases from the deposition of less coarse materials; marls and clays abound, due to the decomposition of Jurassic or Cretaceous materials. Between the Baltic Ridge and the other minor reliefs there is a lower area, 50-80 meters above sea level, which forms the continuation of the Gulf of Riga (lowlands of Lavena-Nevėžis); asar (cordons similar to elevated roads) and drumlin (elongated hills of elliptical shape).

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