Lithuania

LITHUANIA (Lietuva), an independent European republic whose territory up to 1914 was under Russian rule. To the north is Latvia, to the east Poland, to the west the Baltic, and to the south, East Prussia and Poland. When, in March 1918, Germany recognized the independence of Lithuania, she did not fix its frontiers, nor have the Allies taken any decision concerning this frontier. On Dec. 8, 1919, the Supreme Council of the Allies laid evacuated it on the approach of the Bolshevist army, reoccupying it again in Aug. 1920, when the Red army retreated before the Polish advance. The war between Lithuania and Soviet Russia was ended by a treaty signed in Moscow on July 1920, by which the Lithuanian claim to Vilnius and Gardinas or Grodno was recognized by the Soviet Government. The "Suwalki" agreement between the Polish Government and Lithuania fixed a line of demarcation to come into force on Oct. 1o, 1920, by which Vilnius remained in Lithuanian territory; but on Oct. 9, the Polish gen eral, Zeligowski, occupied Vilnius, which has since remained in Polish occupation and which has been a subject of bitter dispute between the two countries. (For documents in the dispute see League of Nations Official Journal, special supplement No. 4 of Dec. 1920.) The Klaipeda (Memel) territory (pop. 145,000) was separated from Germany and placed under League of Nations control by the Treaty of Versailles (1918), but was handed over to Lithuania in 1923, subject to conditions intended to regulate the use of the port by both Lithuania and Poland. The territory claimed by the Lithuanian Government had an area of 59,633 sq.m., and about 4,800,800 inhabitants. It consisted of (1) the former Kaunas or Kovno Province, area 20,260 sq.km., pop. 1,857,100 est. (2) five districts of the former Vilnius Province, area 29,818 sq.km., with 2,075,700 inhabitants; (3) five districts of the for mer Province of Suwalki, area 101,913 sq.km., with 718,00o in habitants and parts of the former Provinces of Courland and Gardinas, 2,500 sq.km., with 15o,000 inhabitants.

The area of independent Lithuania is sq.m., with a popu lation of 2,499,529 (1936). The Lithuanian Government claims Vilnius, now in Polish occupation, as its capital city, but Kaunas is the present seat of government; pop. 105,370 in 1936.

Physical Features.

The country is overlaid with glacial de posits, sometimes 400 ft. thick. The typical bottom moraine, with erratics from Finland, extends over most of it, and glacial fur rows, striae and elongated troughs run north-west to south-east, as do the asar or eskers. Sand dunes extend along the shores of the Baltic. The region was forest-clad after the retreat of the ice, but the forest has largely been cleared. The surface is broken by vast expanses of swamp and by hundreds of lakes. Lithuania consists chiefly of a low plain watered by the Nemunas (q.v.) and its tributaries. The Baltic hills extend into Suwalki and through Vilna to Dvinsk (Daugavpils) ; the Nemunas and its tributary the Wilija (Nerys) have carved deep valleys in these hills. In the north-west are the Telgiai-Shavli hills, but nowhere does the surface rise above i,000 feet. In the north numerous streams drain into the Muga river, an affluent of the Aa (Lielupe).

The climate becomes increasingly continental inland, winter lasts for four months, while the average July temperature is 18° C. The annual rainfall is 58o mm., July and August being the wettest months. There are regions of fertile black earth, but also much clay and sand. Peat bogs have developed in some marshy clay re gions, notably in Kobrin and Slanimas, and there are shifting sands in the Pruienai and Vilkavigkis districts.

Agriculture.

Agriculture is the chief occupation, about 40% of the land being under cultivation, and about 22% being meadow and pasture. The chief crops in the unoccupied territory are potatoes, rye, oats, barley, wheat, peas and flax. Of these oats, barley, wheat, rye and flax are exported. Pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, horses and poultry are bred, and dairying is widespread. There is some cultivation, especially in Slanimas. Poultry-keeping and stock-raising are more profitable than grain-growing, so the smaller farms go in for the former and the estate and large communal farms for the latter. The old three-field system is gradually giving way to modern and intensive systems. There has been a great revival of agriculture since the foundation of the new republic and much land has been reclaimed and new farms built.