The Lithuania–Russia border is an

international border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...

between 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 ...

( EU member) and

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and admini ...

, an exclave of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...

( CIS member). It is an

external border of the European Union The border of the European Union consists of the land and sea borders that member states of the EU share with foreign states adjacent to the union. Border status and cooperation In 2004 the European Union developed the European Neighbourhood Pol ...

. The long border passes (from west to south-east clockwise) through the

Curonian Spit The Curonian (Courish) Spit ( lt, Kuršių nerija; russian: Ку́ршская коса́ (Kurshskaya kosa); german: Kurische Nehrung, ; lv, Kuršu kāpas) is a long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Balt ...

and

Curonian Lagoon The Curonian Lagoon (or Bay, Gulf; russian: Куршский залив, lt, Kuršių marios, pl, Zalew Kuroński, german: Kurisches Haff, lv, Kuršu joma) is a freshwater lagoon separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit. Its surf ...

, and then follows along the Neman River, Šešupė,

Širvinta The Širvinta is a river in Lithuania. Stretching for 129 km, it is the longest tributary of the Šventoji. Its source is in the hinterlands of the Širvintos district. After it passes through the town of Širvintos, where a low head dam ha ...

Liepona Liepona (german: Lepone, russian: Lipovka) is a small rivulet that flows for on the border of Lithuania and Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. Left tributary to Širvinta, Liepona originates in Lithuania, near Kylininkai village. In 1980, a pond for i ...

, and Lake Vištytis. The sea border is another . There is a tripoint between Lithuania, Russia, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

with a stone monument at . Most of the border follows rivers or lakes. On land, border stations are equipped with engineering and technical facilities (wired fences and the exclusion zone). Most other land areas have no fence, but some places near roads or villages have fences (e.g. at with Street View coverage). Crossing the border into Lithuania requires a Schengen visa, and into Russia requires a Russian visa. In early 2017, with increasing military activity and political tensions in the region, the Lithuanian government announced plans to reinforce the Kaliningrad/Ramoniškiai area border crossing with a fence in height, funded by

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

History

Historical borders 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 Lit ...

and

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I ...

varied significantly throughout history, and at times bore little resemblance to the modern borders. The border between the countries runs along the line of the former Lithuanian–

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

border established in 1918. It bordered Lithuania and

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1 ...

. In 1923, the

Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...

(Memelland) was transferred to Lithuania, but in 1939 Lithuania was forced to return it to Germany. The current Lithuanian–Russian border was established after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, when

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was na ...

and the territory around it was annexed by the Soviet Union. In 1945, 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 Sovie ...

, the boundary was an internal border of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

between the Kaliningrad Oblast of

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

and the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...

. In 1990, Lithuania restored its independence and the boundary became an international border again, making Kaliningrad Oblast an exclave. In 1997, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Lithuania signed a border agreement, intended to complete border demarcation and to reduce inconveniences of the border. For example, at Lake Vištytis the border ran along the waterline of the beaches on the Lithuanian side, so anyone paddling in the water was technically crossing into Russia. In return, Russia received the appropriate territorial compensation in other areas. The treaty entered into force in 2003.

Border crossings

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lithuania-Russia border Borders of Lithuania Borders of Russia European Union external borders Internal borders of the Soviet Union International borders Lithuania–Russia relations