Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky set the Lithuanian political elite on the ears with his remark that "if you already live by the Constitution of 1939, then live by it in everything." Therefore, return Vilnius and Klaipeda, which in 1939 were not part of Lithuania. The reaction was lightning fast: the Russian Federation was accused of encroaching on the territorial integrity of Lithuania. Not there, look for the guilty, gentlemen. Look at yourself.
Zhirinovsky was accused of wanting to "take away Vilnius and Klaipeda". MEP Valentinas Mazuronis, Interior Minister Saulius Skvernelis, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius were filled with noble indignation. EU Ambassador to Russia Vygaudas Usackas immediately requested his government to declare Zhirinovsky persona non grata and demand that the Kremlin evaluate the words of the LDPR leader.
“Of course, in a hybrid war, everything is possible,” Usackas said. “I think that he (Zhirinovsky) did not express the position of the Kremlin, but such provocative statements of his that instill aggression and hatred, no doubt, should wait, I hope, for a reaction. I hope that after watching and evaluating this program, the leaders of Lithuania will also pay attention to this.I think this is a broader issue that needs to be raised.
But Vladimir Volfovich is not a Russian official, so the Kremlin will not evaluate his opinion. The Lithuanian authorities, represented by Prime Minister Algridas Butkevičius, advised Usackas to "not pay attention" to Vladimir Volfovich's "emotions".
On the merits of the issue under discussion, the following can be noted. Firstly, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party did not say a word about the fact that Russia would "take" some land from Lithuania.
Let us remind the reader that in the First Channel program "The Structure of the Moment" the same Usackas said that Lithuania had returned to the Constitution of 1939. But in 1939, Vilnius and Klaipeda did not belong to Lithuania, the leader of the LDPR noted. So, if you returned the Constitution, then return everything else, do everything as it was under it, Zhirinovsky said.
Map of Lithuania 1939-40
Secondly, Zhirinovsky is actually right, in 1939 Vilnius was within the borders of Poland - Polish units on October 8-9, 1920 occupied Vilna (Vilnius) and adjacent territories. And only under the Mutual Assistance Treaty between Soviet Union and Lithuania on October 10, 1939, the city of Vilna and the Vilna region, as well as part of southeastern Lithuania, were transferred to the Republic of Lithuania. The territory of Klaipeda belonged to the northern part of the Lithuanian Department of East Prussia.
In March 1939, Germany annexed Memel (Klaipeda) and signed a protectorate treaty with the Lithuanian government. Klaipeda was transferred to Lithuania in 1945 after the liberation of the city by the Red Army, as well as the Neman delta adjoining the city with the port of Rusne, and almost half of the Curonian Spit. But the Soviet authorities could attach these lands to the Kaliningrad region.
The absence of a legally formalized act on the transfer of the Klaipeda region to Lithuania was also recognized by the former President of Lithuania Brazauskas, who signed the 1997 border treaty. He stated in 1990 that "after the war there are no official documents on the accession of the Klaipeda region to the territory of Lithuania."
Thus, the Klaipeda region de jure is currently under the temporary administrative control of Lithuania, which is confirmed, in particular, by the decision of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation adopted on November 4, 1992, according to which the Russian-Lithuanian border was given a temporary status until the conclusion of the corresponding border contracts.
The 1997 border treaty with Lithuania, "forgiving" it, in particular, Memel-Klaipeda, has not yet been ratified by the Russian parliament, therefore the Russian Federation, as the legal successor of the Soviet Union, retains sovereign rights to Klaipeda and has full legal grounds to raise the question of initiating the procedure for the return of the Klaipeda region to Lithuania.
Thirdly, Zhirinovsky, as it were, hints to the Lithuanian elite about double standards and says - do not spit in the well from which they drank. Indeed, Lithuania became a state only thanks to the Bolshevik revolution. In 1918, the Lithuanian-Belarusian SSR (LBSSR) was created, the post of president was established in it, which was taken by Antanas Smetona.
After the collapse of the LBSSR, he became the President of Lithuania. Anti-Russian sentiments dominated in the state circles of the Baltic countries in the 1920s, writes Vytautas Sasnauskas in the article "Lakeyshchina". And Smetona was no exception. At the same time, quarreling with Russia, Lithuania had no defenders in the West, the author points out.
"On March 15, 1923, the conference of the ambassadors of England, France, Italy and Japan recognized Poland's right to Vilnius and the Vilnius region. A month later, the Entente authorized the secession of Vilnius from Lithuania. And after the Vatican recognized Vilnius for Poland. Only the Soviet Union declared Lithuania's rights to Vilnius, causing the joy of the Lithuanian people."
VILNIUS - the capital of Lithuania
After the annexation of part of Lithuania and the establishment of a protectorate over the other part under the Ribbentrop-Skirp pact (and not Molotov-Ribbentrop), Sasnauskas points out, Germany occupied Lithuania in 1941. "During the period of occupation on the territory of Lithuania, the Nazis killed 370,000 Lithuanian citizens. 200,000 able-bodied Lithuanians were sent to Germany for forced labor."
Soviet troops were brought into Lithuania on the basis of legally executed agreements with the government of Justas Paleckis and strictly observed the established order, the author notes. During the period of being a part of the USSR, Lithuania, according to Sasnauskas, "for the first time in the history of the twentieth century, brought together its lands, grew territorially by 30 percent, broke out of poverty and in its economic growth reached the level of European states, and in some areas surpassed - became highly developed nuclear state, a nuclear power plant appeared on its territory.
But "with what Lithuania entered the USSR, it must leave with that," the author notes. "It is necessary to return back: to the Poles - the Vilnius region with the capital Vilnius, Belarus - the lands that went to Lithuania under the agreement of August 3, 1940, Germany - Klaipeda and the Klaipeda region, as a trophy of the Red Army, transferred to Lithuania in 1945."
"If this had been presented to Lithuanians by Russian diplomacy, then there would have been no 'trepalogy' about 'non-recognition' of the Soviet period, about 'occupation' or 'annexation'," Vytautas Sasnauskas wrote.
So that's why the hysteria in Lithuania. Zhirinovsky's words indicate that such ideas are roaming in the power structures in the Kremlin. Since the Helsinki Accords and the inviolability of the post-war borders are no longer valid, and they are not valid after Kosovo and Crimea, then everything is possible and even necessary to put not on the ears, but already in the place of the pro-American politicians who have gone too far in the anti-Russian frenzy.
Lithuania has had territorial claims to Poland since. , but in the Lithuanian constitution continued to appear as the capital. The rights of Lithuania were recognized by the USSR, which continued to mark the border on maps, stipulated in the Soviet-Lithuanian treaty of 1921.
The state of "no peace, no war" lasted until 1938, when Poland, perhaps worried about the beginning of the shake-up of Europe, decided, just in case, to close the question of the legality of its rights. In March, the Lithuanian government was presented with an ultimatum demanding that they renounce their claims and establish diplomatic relations. And Kaunas capitulated. Lithuania "forever" abandoned Vilna.
"Eternity" was very short. In just a year and a half, Vilnius became Lithuanian. True, the Lithuanians did not show much initiative in this matter - everything was decided practically without their participation.
Lithuania received, as it were, a kind of compensation for the lost Memel. Quite ironic, given that the Entente considered agreeing to its annexation as payment for the loss of Vilna.
But the Germans were not so much concerned with the restoration of justice as the participation of Lithuania in the actions against Poland. Or at least neutrality (and this, among other things, is the exclusion of Polish or allied troops from entering their territory). Yes, and Lithuania itself was assigned to the "area of state interests of Germany." So in the future the territory would go to the Reich. The USSR did not object. It remained to convince the Lithuanians.
And they showed unexpected restraint. With the outbreak of war declared neutrality. And even on September 10, when the outcome of hostilities was no longer in doubt, the proposal to occupy Vilna was ignored. Even on September 16, on the eve of the crossing of the Polish border by parts of the Red Army,
there was no clarity on whether to occupy the city or wait for the Lithuanians. But even the danger of that. That the Russians would come and not leave did not bother Kaunas. The Lithuanian government has taken the most cautious position: roll into the hands of itself - take it, no - and it's not a pity. You can't lose what you don't have.
As a result, Vilna still went to Lithuania. On October 10, 1939, the "Treaty on the transfer of the city of Vilna and the Vilna region to the Republic of Lithuania and on mutual assistance between the Soviet
Union and Lithuania.
True, the "Vilna region" turned out to be much less than the limits described in the agreement of 1921. One Vilna district was transferred (and even then not completely) and a narrow strip along railway to the border with Latvia.
But along with the land, Lithuania received a 20,000-strong contingent of Soviet troops - the USSR began preparing "measures to ensure its interests." After all, he also considered the Baltic states as lost territories.
As is known, after the signing by the President of the country A. Smetona of an agreement with Moscow on October 10, 1939, the Treaty on the transfer of the city of Vilna and the Vilna region to the Republic of Lithuania and on mutual assistance between the Soviet Union and the Republic of Lithuania, the territory of the Republic of Lithuania grew into the vast territory of the Vilna region and the capital of historical Lithuania, the city of Vilna - Vilnius.
Polish troops on the main avenue of Vilna, after its occupation on October 9, 1920 and annexation together with the Vilna region in 1922 
Let me remind you that earlier, at the request of Poland in March 1938, at a meeting of the government of the Republic of Lithuania, led by President A. Smetona, it was decided to abandon the claims of the Republic of Lithuania to the capital of historical Lithuania, the city of Vilna, then occupied by the Poles. Prior to that, in October-November 1920, the troops of General L. Zheligovsky, on the command of the Head of the Polish State J. Pilsudsky (by the way, a native of the Shvenchonsky district, the village of Zuluw - Zalavas) occupied a significant part of the territory of historical Lithuania and its capital Vilna.
And only the notorious and so unloved by modern Lithuanian politicians “Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact” of August 23, 1939 reaffirmed that “both sides recognize the interests of Lithuania in the Vilna district”, although “the northern border of Lithuania will be a line separating the spheres of influence of Germany and THE USSR". The Republic of Lithuania fell into the sphere of interests of the fascist Third Reich. True, not for long. A month later, on September 28, 1939, on the basis of a secret additional protocol to the "Treaty of Friendship and Border between the USSR and Germany", "the territory of the Lithuanian state went into the sphere of influence of the USSR." This did not happen without appropriate steps and requests from local Jews who were very influential in the then Republic of Lithuania. It was they who controlled the main industrial, commercial and financial capital in the country, allocated subsidies to finance the Lithuanian army. In the international situation that had developed by September 1939, these people gravitated toward the USSR, because they perfectly understood the doom of their fellow tribesmen under the coat of arms of the German Eagle. Prague and Vilna were two world centers of Jewish culture during the interwar period. In Vilna, more than 40% of the townspeople were of Jewish nationality (30% - Polish), and Lithuanians were only about 2%. A similar demographic situation was in the capital of the Republic of Lithuania, Kaunas, Lithuanians lived here only about 23%. By the way, native Lithuanians have never been townspeople, they have always been plowmen.
If the troops of the USSR had not entered, they entered Lithuania:
That Vilnius, Druskininkai, Klaipeda, Nida, Trakai... to this day would belong to Poland or Germany, but not to Lithuania. Today in Lithuania they don't talk about it and it's forbidden to talk about it. Russia is an occupier there.
According to the Treaty on the transfer of the city of Vilna and the Vilna region to the Republic of Lithuania between the Soviet Union and Lithuania of October 10, 1939, part of the Vilna region and Vilna were transferred to the Republic of Lithuania.
On October 27, 1939, units of the Lithuanian army entered Vilna, and on October 28, the ceremony of welcoming the Lithuanian troops was officially held.
Soldiers of the Red Army and the Lithuanian army.
After the Republic of Lithuania was annexed to the USSR, on August 17, 1940, the 29th Lithuanian territorial rifle corps(Raudonosios darbininkų ir valstiečių armijos 29-asis teritorinis šaulių korpusas), 179th and 184th rifle divisions. In total, 16,000 Lithuanians became soldiers and officers of the Red Army.
Based on this directive, the Commander of the District issued Order No. 0010 of August 27, 1940, where, after paragraph 10, it was indicated:
"Leave to the personnel of the rifle territorial corps the uniform that exists in the People's Armies, removing shoulder straps and introducing the insignia of the commanding staff of the Red Army."
Thus, the soldiers and officers retained the form of the pre-war Lithuanian army - only instead of shoulder straps, the buttonholes of the Red Army, chevrons and other insignia adopted at that time in the Red Army were introduced.
Captain Hieronymus Sabaliauskas. On the left with Lithuanian insignia, and on the right with Soviet ones.
Lieutenant Bronius Pupinis, 1940
Lieutenant Mykolas Orbakas. On the buttons of the uniform is the pre-war coat of arms of Lithuania "Vitis", and on the collar there are Soviet buttonholes.
The Lithuanian captain sewed the buttonholes of the Red Army.
Lithuanian Lieutenant of the Red Army.
Lithuanians take the oath.
Officers of the 29th Lithuanian Corps.
Glory to Stalin! Lithuanians praise the Leader. 1940
Lithuanian generals of the Red Army.
With the beginning of the invasion of German troops on the territory of the USSR on June 22, 1941, the killings of commanders (not Lithuanians) and mass desertion began in the 29th Lithuanian Territorial Rifle Corps of the Red Army.
June 26 Soviet troops were ousted by German troops from the territory of Lithuania. Of the 16,000 servicemen of the 29th Lithuanian Territorial Rifle Corps, only 2,000 retreated with units of the Red Army. By July 17, 1941, the remnants of the corps retreated to Velikiye Luki. On September 23, 1941, the 29th Lithuanian Territorial Rifle Corps was disbanded.
June 1941
Meeting of German troops.
Lithuania. Vilna. July 1941
Lithuanian militia Kovno July 1941.
Kaunas, Lithuania, June-July 1941. Lithuanian police escort Jews to the Seventh Fort, which served as a site of massacres.
At the beginning of August 1941, there were groups of Soviet underground workers in Lithuania with a total number of 36 people under the command of Albertas Slapsys (Albertas Slapšys). In the same month, underground workers released 11,000 tons of fuel and lubricants into the Viyolka River at the Siauliai oil depot.
On September 5, near Kaunas, Soviet partisans attacked and burned down a food warehouse. In the same month, all underground workers were arrested or killed.
Executed partisans. Vilnius. Autumn 1941
And the organs of the State Security Committee of the NKVD shot the prisoners in Panevezys.
The Germans began to form units from the Lithuanians.
From the Lithuanian nationalist formations, 22 self-defense rifle battalions were created (numbers from 1 to 15 from 251 to 257), the so-called. "schutzmanschaftbattalions" or "Shum", each numbering 500-600 people.
The total number of servicemen of these formations reached 13 thousand, of which 250 were officers. In the Kaunas region, all Lithuanian police groups of Klimaitis were united in the Kaunas battalion, consisting of 7 companies.
In the summer of 1944, on the initiative of two Lithuanian officers, Yatulis and Chesna, the "Fatherland Defense Army" (Tevynes Apsaugos Rinktine) was formed from the remnants of the Lithuanian battalions of the Wehrmacht, commanded by a German, Wehrmacht colonel and cavalier Knight's Cross with diamonds Georg Mader.
Lithuanian policemen (noise) were also gathered there, "noted" in Vilna, where they destroyed Lithuanian Jews, Poles and Russians in Ponary, who burned villages in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. The President also served in this unit. modern Lithuania V. Adamkus.
SS Standartenführer Jäger reported in his report of December 1, 1941: "Since July 2, 1941, 99,804 Jews and communists have been exterminated by Lithuanian partisans and Einsatzgruppe A operations teams..."
Lithuanian police in ambush.
The Lithuanian Schutzmannschaft was armed with captured Soviet small arms. The uniform was a mixture of elements of the Lithuanian army and German police uniforms.
Wehrmacht uniforms were also present. As in other national units, a sleeve yellow-green-red patch with a combination of the colors of the national flag of Lithuania was used. Sometimes the shield had the inscription "Lietuva" in its upper part.
Lithuanian battalions took part in punitive actions on the territory of Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, in the executions of Jews in Upper Paneriai, in executions in the IX Kaunas fort, where 80 thousand Jews died at the hands of the Gestapo and their helpers, in the VI fort (35 thousand victims), in VII forte (8 thousand victims).
During the first pogrom in Kaunas, on the night of June 26, Lithuanian nationalists (a detachment led by Klimaitis) killed more than 1,500 Jews.
The 2nd Lithuanian battalion "Noises" under the command of Major Antanas Impulevicius was organized in 1941 in Kaunas and was stationed in its suburb - Shenzakh.
On October 6, 1941, at 5 o’clock in the morning, a battalion consisting of 23 officers and 464 privates left Kaunas for Belarus in the region of Minsk, Borisov and Slutsk to fight against Soviet partisans. Upon arrival in Minsk, the battalion came under the command of the 11th police reserve battalion, Major Lechtgaller.
In Minsk, the battalion killed about nine thousand Soviet prisoners of war, in Slutsk five thousand Jews. In March 1942, the battalion left for Poland and its personnel were used as guards at the Majdanek concentration camp.
In July 1942, the 2nd Lithuanian security battalion took part in the deportation of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto to the death camps.
Lithuanian policemen from the 2nd Schuma Battalion lead Belarusian partisans to be executed. Minsk, October 26, 1941
In August-October 1942, Lithuanian battalions were located on the territory of Ukraine: the 3rd - in Molodechno, the 4th - in Stalin, the 7th - in Vinnitsa, the 11th - in Korosten, the 16th - in Dnepropetrovsk, 254- th - in Poltava, and the 255th - in Mogilev (Belarus).
In February-March 1943, the 2nd Lithuanian battalion participated in the large anti-partisan action "Winter Magic" in Belarus, interacting with several Latvian and 50th Ukrainian Schutzmannschaftbattalions.
In addition to the destruction of villages suspected of supporting partisans, Jews were executed. The 3rd Lithuanian battalion took part in the anti-partisan operation "Swamp Fever "South-West", carried out in the Baranovichi, Berezovsky, Ivatsevichi, Slonim and Lyakhovichi districts in close cooperation with the 24th Latvian battalion.
Soldiers of the 13th Lithuanian battalion, which was stationed in the Leningrad region.
Soldiers of the 256th Lithuanian battalion near Lake Ilmen.
November 26, 1942 by order of the USSR State Defense Committee, the Lithuanian headquarters was created partisan movement led by Antanas Sniečkus ((Antanas Sniečkus).
Partisans of the "Death to the invaders" detachment Sara Ginaite-Rubinson (born 1924) and Ida Vilenchuk (Pilovnik) (born 1924)
The partisan detachment "Death to the invaders" took part in the liberation of Vilnius, operating in the southeastern part of the city.
By April 1, 1943, 29 Soviet partisan detachments with a total strength of 199 people were operating on the territory of the general district "Lithuania" (Generalkommissariat Litauen). Personnel detachments consisted almost entirely of Jews who fled to the forests (primarily to Rudnitskaya Pushcha) from the ghetto and concentration camps.
Among the commanders of the Jewish partisan detachments, Heinrich Osherovich Zimanas and Abba Kovner stood out for their activity. By the summer of 1944, there were up to 700 people in Jewish partisan detachments.
Abba Kovner
Partisan Patrol. Vilnius, 1944
On December 18, 1941, at the request of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Lithuania and the government of the Lithuanian SSR, the USSR State Defense Committee decided to begin the formation of the 16th Lithuanian rifle division(16-oji Lietuviškoji šaulių divizija).
By January 1, 1943, the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division consisted of 10,250 soldiers and officers (Lithuanians - 36.3%, Russians - 29%, Jews - 29%). On February 21, 1943, the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division first entered the battle near Alekseevka, 50 km from the city of Orel. Her attacks were not successful, the division suffered heavy losses and was withdrawn to the rear on March 22.
Machine gunner of the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division E. Sergeevaite in the battle near Nevel. 1943
From July 5 to August 11, 1943, the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division took part in defensive, and then offensive battles Battle of Kursk, where she suffered heavy losses (4000 killed and wounded) and was withdrawn to the rear.
In November 1943, the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division, despite heavy losses (3,000 killed and wounded), repulsed the German offensive south of Nevel.
Red Army soldiers from the 16th Lithuanian division, July 1944.
In December 1943, the division, as part of the 1st Baltic Front, participated in the liberation of the city of Gorodok. In the spring of 1944, the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division fought in Belarus, near Polotsk. On July 13, 1944, Soviet troops, including a Lithuanian division, liberated Vilnius.
Maxim's calculation crosses Vilnius street.
German soldiers surrender in Vilnius.
In August 1944, conscription into the Red Army began from the territory of Lithuania. In total, in August 1944 - April 1945, 108,378 people were called up.
In this regard, the number of Lithuanians in the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division increased from 32.2% on July 1, 1944 to 68.4% as of April 27, 1945. In September - October 1944, the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division the division distinguished itself in the battles near Klaipeda, for which in January 1945 it received the name "Klaipeda".
Antanas Snechkus (left), 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Lithuania, among the fighters of the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division. Klaipeda, January 28, 1945
Felix Rafailovich Baltushis-Zhemaitis Major General, Brigadier General of the Lithuanian people's army, teacher of the Military Academy. Frunze and the Academy of the General Staff, candidate of military sciences, associate professor, in 1945-47. head of advanced training courses commanders Soviet army.
Lieutenant General Lithuanian Vincas Vitkauskas.
"Forest brothers" appeared in Lithuania, or as the locals simply called them "forest brothers".
Until 1947, the Lithuanian Freedom Army was actually a regular army - with a headquarters and a single command. Numerous units of this army in 1944-1947. often entered into open and trench battles, using the fortified areas created by her in the forests, with regular units of the Red Army, the NKVD and the MGB.
According to archival data, in total, about 100 thousand people participated in Lithuanian partisan resistance to the Soviet system during the years of the post-war partisan war in 1944-1969.
According to Soviet data, the "forest brothers" in Lithuania killed more than 25 thousand people. They were mostly Lithuanians who were killed for cooperation (real or imaginary) with the Soviet authorities, along with their families, relatives, sometimes with young children. According to Mindaugas Pocius, "If the communists demonized the partisans, today they can be said to be angelized."
A significant blow to the underground was dealt in 1949 as a result of a particularly massive deportation of the so-called. fists. Then the social basis was knocked out from under the partisan movement. After this point in 1949, it declines.
The killed "forest brothers" were photographed with weapons for presentation to the judicial authorities. 1945
The amnesty of 1955 put an actual end to the mass resistance, but some Lithuanian partisan detachments lasted until 1960, and individual armed partisans - until 1969, when the last known Lithuanian partisan Kostas Lyuberskis-Zvainis (1913-1969) died in battle with a KGB special group.
Another legendary partisan Stasis Guyga is "Tarzanas" (a fighter of the Grigonis-Pabarzhis detachment, the Tiger squad, Vytautas district). He died of illness in 1986, in the village of Chinchikay, Shvenchensky district, near Onute Chinchikaite. In total, he spent 33 years in the partisan underground, from 1952 to 1952.
Badges, emblems and chevrons of the Lithuanian Liberation Army.
And Lithuania followed the path of socialism.
Soviet Lithuania. Klaipeda and Neringa. Soviet color photos: http://www.kettik.kz/?p=16520
Latvia and Lithuania: from the Soviet "abroad" to the backyard of the European Union: http://ria.ru/analytics/20110112/320694370.html
Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, in the Baltic States, with access to the Baltic Sea in the west.
On the detailed map Lithuania can be found bordering the country with four states: with Latvia in the north, Belarus - in the southeast, Poland and Russia (Kaliningrad region) - in the southwest.
Lithuania is an exporter of oil and gas, dairy products, and pharmaceuticals.
Lithuania on the world map: geography, nature and climate
Lithuania on the world map is located in Northern Europe, in the Baltic region, washed by the waters of the Baltic Sea and its Curonian Lagoon in the west. The country stretched out in the latitudinal direction for 370 km, and in the meridional direction - for 280 km. The total length of the borders is 1273 km, and the length coastline- only 99 km.
Minerals
Lithuania is not rich in minerals. In the country there are only significant reserves of limestone, clay, quartz and gypsum sand; oil reserves on the shelf of the Baltic Sea and iron ore in the south are negligible.
Relief
The relief of Lithuania is flat and hilly, most of the country is located on the western outskirts of the East European Plain. Highest point Lithuania - Aukshtoyas hill (294 meters), belonging to the Oshmyany Upland.
Hydrography
Lithuania has a dense river network with short lowland rivers - only 19 rivers in the country have a length of more than 100 km. The longest river is the Nemunas, 937 km long (of which 475 km through the territory of Lithuania), flowing into the Curonian Lagoon of the Baltic Sea.
On the territory of Lithuania, there are about 3,000 lakes, which are predominantly of glacial origin and occupy 1.5% of the country's area. The largest lake is Druksiai (44.79 km²), located in the territories of Lithuania and Belarus, in the eastern part of the country.
The country is dominated by lowland, transitional and raised bogs, which account for 6% of the country's territory.
Flora and fauna
Soddy-podzolic and soddy-calcareous soils are the most common in Lithuania.
About a third of the country's territory is occupied by forest vegetation, which is dominated by pine, spruce, birch, alder, aspen, and oak.
All in all vegetable world Lithuania has 10,600 plant species. Often there are thyme, St. John's wort, cotton grass, cloudberries, duckweed, horsetails.
The fauna of Lithuania consists of 68 species of mammals, 203 species of birds, 7 species of reptiles, 13 species of amphibians and about 60 species of fish. Wild boars, roe deer, foxes, wolves, hares are found in local forests and fields from mammals; and among the birds - nightingales, tits, finches, blackbirds. Roach, ruff, bream, perch live in inland waters.
The specially protected areas of the country include about 300 national and regional parks, reserves and reserves. Aukshtaitsky national park- the oldest national park in the country, which includes picturesque forests and hills with 126 lakes scattered on them. On the map of Lithuania in Russian, the national park is located in the eastern part of the country.
Climate
The climate of Lithuania is temperate continental in the center and in the eastern part, temperate maritime on the coast. The Baltic Sea has a significant impact on the climate of the whole country, making it less continental: severe frosts in winter and sweltering heat in summer are rare for Lithuania. The average annual temperature is +6 °C. Winter is mild and snowy, lasting no more than 3 months, the average January temperature ranges from -1 °C on the coast to -6 °C in the continental part. Summer is cool and rainy, lasting 3 months, the average July temperature is from +16 °C to +19 °C. 540 - 930 mm of precipitation falls annually, the largest amount of which is observed on the southwestern coast of the Baltic Sea.
Map of Lithuania with cities. Administrative division of the country
The territory of Lithuania is divided into 10 counties:
- Alytus,
- Vilnius,
- Kaunas,
- Klaipeda,
- Mariyampolsky,
- Panevezsky,
- Taurage,
- Telshyaysky,
- Utensky,
- Siauliai.
Largest cities in Lithuania
- Vilnius- the capital and The largest city Lithuania, in which one fifth (546 thousand people) of the country's population lives. On the map of Lithuania with cities in Russian, the city is located in the southeast of the country. Vilnius is the transport, tourism and economic center of Lithuania, specializing in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and the food industry. Old city with the Gediminas Tower, the Cathedral Square, the Church of St. John is the most important sight of Vilnius.
- Kaunas- the second largest city in the country, located in its central part. There are many textile enterprises operating in Kaunas, as well as the Kaunas hydroelectric power station. Kaunas Castle, built in the 13th century, is the main attraction of the city. The population of Kaunas is 301 thousand people.
- Siauliai is a city in northern Lithuania. The main role in the economy of Šiauliai is occupied by trade, the production of beverages and confectionery, and the leather industry. The city is home to the large Šiauliai University and the Šiauliai Drama Theatre. 108 thousand inhabitants live in Siauliai.