The total area of Lithuania and other facts about the country

Lithuania is a relatively small state located in the northwestern part of the East European Plain. The name of the country comes from the name of the river "Letava", which reached the present day from ancient times. In Lithuanian, this word means "pouring". The capital of the country is the city of Vilnius. What is the area of this state? What geographic, climatic and economic features does Lithuania have?

Geographical position of the country

From the south-eastern side, Lithuania borders Belarus, with part of the border running through the land, and the other part along the Neman River. From the southwest Lithuania borders on Russia, as well as Poland. From the north Lithuania borders with Latvia. Virtually the entire area of Lithuania is occupied by extensive clay plains. They are divided into two large categories: glacial-lacustrine, and moraine. Closer to the Baltic Sea is an increasing number of moraine plains covered with uneven sand deposits. Sometimes you can find other types - for example, sandy plains or hilly-morainic hills.

Territory of the state

The area of Lithuania in thousand km2 is 65.3 km ² . Despite the fact that Lithuania is not a big country, the nature in it is extremely diverse. There are plains and lakes, forests and swamps, sand dunes and the Baltic Sea. But the most important thing in this small state is that it has preserved the purity of nature, of air. Lithuanians are very careful about nature - there are a lot of national parks on the territory of the country. In Little Lithuania there are as many as five of them. The largest forest - Dainava - covers 1450 square meters. Km. The area of Lithuania in thousand km2 is 580 square kilometers. Km. The total area of forests is constantly changing. In 1940, it accounted for 20% of the total territory, by 1990 it increased to 30%. Now the forest cover is relatively stable and is about 33% of the entire country.

Climate of Lithuania

Almost throughout the entire area of Lithuania, a moderate type of climate predominates. On the territory of the eastern and central parts there are areas where the continental type of climate prevails, and on the coast of the Baltic Sea - regions with a marine climate. The continental type of climate in Lithuania differs from the moderate one in that in the first case a little more precipitation falls. The hottest month in Lithuania is July. The temperature in July reaches +22 ^o C in the daytime, and at night falls to +13 ^o C. In the hottest summer days in areas dominated by the continental type of climate, the temperature can rise to +32 ^o C. Winters are usually not very cold - The column of the thermometer seldom drops below 0 ° C in the daytime, and at night the minimum temperature is -9 ° C. Most of the precipitation in Lithuania falls at the end of summer. The water temperature in the Baltic Sea is almost independent of air temperature, much more influenced by underwater currents and wind direction. The maximum indicator of water temperature in the sea is 22 ^o C.

Ethnic Help

Ethnographers divide the modern area of Lithuania into four historical regions. These are Zemaitija, Dzukija, Suwalkiya and Aukstaitija. Sometimes only the Samogitian group of Lithuanians is singled out, and the other three are united into one - the Auskuttian group. The state language in Lithuania is Lithuanian, which refers to the Baltic group of the Indo-European linguistic tree. Ancestors of Lithuanians, as well as Latvians, are the ancient Baltic ethnoses. They inhabited not only the area of Lithuania, but also territories from the Baltic coast and the Nemunas up to the Western Dvina and even the shores of the Oka. Historically, in the Baltic countries, there have been no large-scale resettlements that could affect the ethnic composition of the peoples inhabiting these territories. The only exception is the spread of the Slavic tribes, which could affect the southern and eastern parts of the then Baltic range.

Population of the country

The population of Lithuania is approximately 2.91 million people. And the number of people is declining. In 2004 it was 3.61 million. The birth rate in Lithuania is lower than the death rate. For one thousand people, the birth rate is 8.49, and the death rate is 11.03. The ethnic composition in Lithuania is as follows: the majority of the population are Lithuanians (80.6%); Russians - 8.7%; Poles of the order of 7%; And representatives of other nationalities are about 2.1%. The most densely populated cities are Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda, Siauliai. The total area of Lithuania per 1000 inhabitants is 20 km ² . Lithuania is divided into 10 counties - administrative units. In the counties there are self-government territories from 9 cities, as well as 43 regions. If we compare the area of Lithuania in square meters. Km and the population, it turns out that the population density will be 49 people. On the km ² .

Decrease in population

Researchers have long paid attention to the fact that the population of Lithuania is rapidly declining. According to some estimates, it becomes less by 2% each year. Analysts believe that by the year 2040, less than 2 million Lithuanians will live here, despite the low unemployment rate and the extensive total area of Lithuania. This should pay attention not only to politicians, but to health care workers. In Lithuania, the average life expectancy is the lowest in the whole of the European Union - it is only 66 years old. The aging of the population, a large number of emigrants, as well as low-quality medical care can seriously affect the further economic competitiveness of Lithuania.