Climate and geography

Lithuania covers an area of 65 300 km². The country borders on Latvia in the north, Belarus and Poland in the east and south, the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation in the northwest, and the Baltic Sea in the west. In 1989, cartographers of the French National Geographic Institute determined that the geographical centre of Europe is located in Lithuania (geographical coordinates: 54°54'N, 25°19'E).

The relief of Lithuania is flat, except for the undulating plains in the east and west that do not exceed 300 m above sea level. Lithuania’s highest point is Aukštojo Hill (293.84 m above sea level). Lakes cover about 1.5 % of the territory. The largest of them is Lake Drūkšiai (44.8 km²). Lithuania lies in the zone of excess humidity and, subsequently, has a dense network of rivers. The longest river in Lithuania is the Nemunas which measures 475 km.

The Lithuanian climate is dependent on the dominating air mass transport from the west. The climate of the greater part of the country is moderately cold with snowy winters. The average temperature of the coldest month is below -3 °C, while that of the warmest month does not exceed 22 °C. The number of sunny hours a year is the highest on the Curonian Spit and the seacoast, amounting to about 1 860 hours, and drops to 1 690 hours moving eastwards. Compared to the period 1961–1990, the number of sunny hours has increased by 80–200 hours. The average annual temperature in Lithuania has climbed by 0.7-1 °C as compared with the period 1991–2006. Annual precipitation averages 675 mm. Each summer occasional heavy rainstorms hit Lithuania with 20–30 mm or more of rain falling within 24 hours. As a result of global warming, the number of days with a snow cover is decreasing. A comparison of the periods 1961–1990 and 1991–2006 has shown that the average number of days with a snow cover declined by four to ten days. In autumn and winter southern, south-western and western winds and in summer western and north-western winds prevail in Lithuania.

Population

In 1989, Lithuania had a population of 3 674 800. From 1990 to 2006 the population decreased by 290 000. In early 2009, Lithuania recorded 3 349 900 inhabitants. The population decline has been mostly affected by increased migration flows and the low birth rate. Although Lithuania is a small state on the European scale, its population distribution is uneven. The highest population density is in cities of over 1 500 people per km². The population of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, numbers as many as 546 700. Since 1990, population density has been declining steadily. In 1990 and 2009 the general population density constituted 56.6 and 51.3 people per km², respectively. 

Environmental governance

The basic principles of environmental protection are established in the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. The Constitution stipulates that the state and the individual must protect the environment from harmful influences and the state shall take care of the protection of the natural environment, wildlife and plants, individual objects of nature and areas of particular value and shall supervise a sustainable use of natural resources, their restoration and increase. Environmental protection shall be based on comprehensive, correct and timely ecological information. The degradation of land, the pollution of water and air, radioactive impact on the environment as well as depletion of wildlife and plants are prohibited by law.

In 1996, the first Lithuanian Environmental Strategy and, in 1998, the Lithuanian Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan were developed. The current main strategic document for the environmental, as well as social and economic, development of the Republic of Lithuania is the National Sustainable Development Strategy, approved in 2003 and focused on long-term sustainable development of the Lithuania state and society until 2020. The main objective of sustainable development in Lithuania is to achieve the present EU average by 2020, according to the indicators for economic and social development as well as resource efficiency, and not to exceed the allowable EU standards, according to the indicators for environmental pollution, as well as to meet the requirements of international conventions limiting environmental pollution and effects on the global climate.

Furthermore, environmental policy in Lithuania is harmonised with EU policy and the respective rules and regulations.

The main legal act for environmental issues, the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on environment protection, defines environmental governance as the activities of national and municipal environmental authorities ensuring effective environment protection and the rational use of natural resources. The law states that, in the Republic of Lithuania, environmental governance is the concern and duty of the Parliament, the Government, the Ministry of Environment, and the municipalities at the respective levels.

The Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania sets the main guidelines for the national and international environmental policy of the state, and the government coordinates environmental laws, which are implemented by the Ministry of Environment as the main environmental governance institution, using various means and measures.

The means and measures foreseen in the environmental laws are managed and enforced, at the respective levels, by the Ministry of Environment and its subordinate institutions: the Regional Environment Protection Departments of the Ministry of Environment, the Environment Protection Agency, the State Service for Protected Areas under the Ministry of Environment, the Lithuanian Geological Survey under the Ministry of Environment and the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service under the Ministry of Environment.

The authorities of local municipalities implement environmental measures at municipal level.

The Law on environmental monitoring is the main national act establishing the environmental monitoring system in Lithuania. The current system includes three levels of environmental monitoring: national (state) monitoring, municipal monitoring and environmental monitoring of economic entities. The law assigns the responsibility for organising and coordinating national environmental monitoring to the Ministry of Environment. The measures listed in the Law on environmental monitoring are managed and enforced at the respective levels, mainly by the Environmental Protection Agency and other institutions under the Ministry of Environment.

Transformation from communist to democratic system

After Lithuania regained independence, the 50-year-old economic system, where the Lithuanian economy had been integrated with the economy of the Soviet Union, collapsed. The restoration of independence was followed by a sharp economic decline, hyperinflation and high unemployment. Later on, the recovering Lithuanian economy came under the negative influence of the economic crisis in Russia. From 1990, Lithuania changed its currency several times. In 1993, the national currency, the litas, was put into circulation. Having regained its statehood, Lithuania began building a democratic political system, free market economy and competent environmental institutions.