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Lithuania (in Lithuanian, Lietuva), officially Republic of Lithuania, republic in north-eastern Europe, bounded on the north by Latvia; on the east and south by Belarus; on the south-east by Poland and the Kaliningrad oblast, Russia; and on the west by the Baltic Sea. With Latvia and Estonia, Lithuania is one of the Baltic republics. Lithuania has an area of about 65,300 sq km (25,200 sq mi). Vilnius, the capital and largest city of Lithuania, is in the south-eastern part of the country.
Lithuania consists of a low-lying plain broken by low hills in the west and south. Almost the entire territory of the country is less than 200 m (about 655 ft) in elevation. The Baltic coast in the west is fringed by sand dunes running south from the border with Latvia to Klaipėda, where the Kurši Marios lagoon is almost completely cut off from the sea by the Kurši Nerija, a sand-spit 100 km (62 mi) long. The central lowlands running north to south give way to the higher ground of the Baltic Highlands in the eastern and south-eastern part of the country. Mount Juoapinė (292 m/958 ft) in the south-eastern highlands is the highest point.
Lithuania contains many lakes and rivers, 22 of which have a total length of 100 km (about 60 mi) or more. Many of the larger lakes are in the east and south-east of the country. The most extensive of these is the Nemunas (Neman), a major river that supplies the country with hydroelectric power. The main tributaries of the Nemunas are the Myarkis, Nevėžis, Dubysa, Jūra, Minija, and Šešupė. Many of the rivers are slow and meandering and drain into the Baltic. Marshes and swamps are prevalent, especially in the north and west, although half of all original wetlands have been drained.
The climate is dominated by marine influences, but conditions are more variable in the eastern portion of the republic. In the west summers are cooler, and winters are milder. Average annual precipitation ranges from less than 600 mm (about 20 in) per year in the centre of the country to more than 850 mm (about 35 in) per year in the west.
