The Latvia–Lithuania border is the state border between the

Republic of Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

and the

Republic of Lithuania A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

. The length of the land border is with additional of sea border. It is an internal border of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and the

Schengen Zone The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

. The border starts from the triple junction of the borders with Belarus to the north of

Lake Drūkšiai A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the World Ocean, oce ...

() and stretches to the coast of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

, where it ends between

Palanga Palanga (; bat-smg, Palonga; pl, Połąga; german: Polangen) is a seaside resort town in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Palanga is the busiest summer resort in Lithuania and has sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long ...

and

Rucava Rucava ( lt, Rukiava, german: Rutzau) is a village in South Kurzeme Municipality, Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas R ...

. For the border follows the

Šventoji River Šventoji (literally: feminine gender of ''the holy'') can refer to these objects in Lithuania: * Šventoji River, 246-kilometer long tributary of Neris *Šventoji River (Baltic), 73-kilometer long tributary of the Baltic Sea *Šventoji, Lithuania ...

History

The border started to exist after the

Battle of Saule The Battle of Saule ( lt, Saulės mūšis / Šiaulių mūšis; german: Schlacht von Schaulen; lv, Saules kauja) was fought on 22 September 1236, between the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and pagan troops of Samogitians and Semigallians. Betwe ...

on 22 September 1236 and then was later solidified after the Battle of Durbe on 13 July 1260. There were some disputes on the exact location of the border but these were settled. Later, for centuries, it was an approximate boundary between the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Li ...

and

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

. Following the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...

and, separately, the

partitions Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the border became partially defunct when the territories were incorporation into the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. The de facto border was re-established following the independence of both countries in 1918. The Treaty of Latvia-Lithuania border was signed on 30 March 1921 and the land border demarcation was carried out during the 1929–1930. Following the Soviet

occupation of the Baltic states The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were invaded and occupied in June 1940 by the Soviet Union, under the leadership of Stalin and auspices of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that had been signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet ...

, it became an internal state border. The international border was restored in 1991, following the restoration of Lithuanian and Latvian independence. After prolonged negotiations, in July 1999, the border between the

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...

was drawn as a straight line between and .

Border crossing

There were border checkpoints between the countries between 1991 and 2007. They are now abandoned, since both nations joined the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...

in December 2007, allowing unrestricted border crossing.

Gallery

File:Latvija_ar_Palangu_un_Roņu_salu_Harmsworth_1920.jpg, Map of Latvia before the final demarcation of the borders with

, 1920 File:Border stone - Latvia.JPG, Border post on the Lithuanian-Latvian border File:Lithuanian Border Sign near Šalnaičiai (LT-LV Border).jpg, Lithuanian Border Sign near Šalnaičiai File:Latvian Border Sign near Grenctāle (LT-LV Border).jpg, Latvian Border Sign near Grenctāle File:Граница-4_-_panoramio.jpg, Entry into Lithuania at Germaniškis

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latvia-Lithuania border European Union internal borders Borders of Latvia Borders of Lithuania International borders