century Lithuania was the largest state in Europe.
An alliance with Poland in 1386 led the two countries into a union
through the person of a common ruler. In 1569, Lithuania and Poland
formally united into a single dual state, the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth. This entity survived until 1795, when its remnants
were partitioned by surrounding countries. Lithuania regained its
independence following World War I but was annexed by the USSR in
1940 - an action never recognized by the US and many other
countries. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first of the
Soviet republics to declare its independence, but Moscow did not
recognize this proclamation until September of 1991 (following the
abortive coup in Moscow). The last Russian troops withdrew in 1993.
Lithuania subsequently restructured its economy for integration into
Western European institutions; it joined both NATO and the EU in the
spring of 2004.

Geography
Lithuania

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: NA sq km
water: NA 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 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, Hazardo