Curonian Lagoon

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Curonian Lagoon
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Map of the Curonian Spit and Lagoon
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Curonian Lagoon
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Curonian Lagoon
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Curonian Lagoon
Location Lithuania, Russia
Coordinates 55°05′34″N20°54′59″E / 55.09278°N 20.91639°E / 55.09278; 20.91639
Type Lagoon
Primary inflows Neman
Max. length98 km (61 mi)
Max. width46 km (29 mi)
Surface area1,619 km2 (625 sq mi)
Average depth3.8 m (12 ft)
Max. depth5.8 m (19 ft)

The Curonian Lagoon (or Bay, Gulf; Prussian: Kursjanmari, Lithuanian : Kuršių marios, Russian : Куршский залив) is a freshwater lagoon separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit. Its surface area is 1,619 square kilometers (625 sq mi). [1] The Neman River (Lithuanian : Nemunas) supplies about 90% of its inflows; its watershed consists of about 100,450 square kilometres in Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast. [2]

Contents

Human history

NASA's Landsat satellite image of Curonian Lagoon Curonian Lagoon.jpg
NASA's Landsat satellite image of Curonian Lagoon

In the 13th century, the area around the lagoon was part of the ancestral lands of the Curonians and Old Prussians. Later it bordered the historical region of Lithuania Minor. At the northern end of the Spit, the Klaipėda Strait connects the lagoon to the Baltic Sea, and the place was chosen by the Teutonic Knights in 1252 to found Memelburg Castle and the city of Klaipėda. In 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region to the Kingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation. [3] Following the peace treaty of 1466, the lagoon became a part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Knights, [4] and thus located within the Polish–Lithuanian union, later elevated to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From the 18th century, it formed part of the Kingdom of Prussia, and from 1871 also Germany. After 1923, the Klaipėda Region in the north passed to Lithuania (occupied by Germany in 1939–45), whereas the remainder fell to the Soviet Union following World War II.

As the new interwar border, the river that flows into the Curonian Lagoon near Rusnė was chosen. The river's lower 120 km in Germany were called die Memel by Germans, while the upper part located in Lithuania was known as Nemunas River. The border also separated the peninsula near the small holiday resort of Nida, Lithuania. From 1939 to 1945, the Lithuanian part was occupied by Germany, and the southern part of the Spit and the Lagoon remained in Germany until 1945.

This border is now the border between Lithuania and Russia, as after World War II, the southern end of the Spit and the German area south of the river became part an exclave of Russia called Kaliningrad Oblast.

The nearly extinct ethnic group the Kursenieki lived in the surrounding area.

Natural history and ecology

View from the Agila dune in Neringa Nagliu ilanka nuo Agilos kopos.JPG
View from the Agila dune in Neringa
Sailing boat in the Curonian Lagoon Curonian Lagoon 2019-08-20-2.jpg
Sailing boat in the Curonian Lagoon

The Lagoon, formed about 7,000 years BCE, is a freshwater lagoon. [5] Water depths average 3.8 metres (12 ft). [6] It is highly biodiverse, although troubled by water pollution. [5] The presence of algal blooms was confirmed in the 2000s. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Kaliningrad Oblast is the westernmost federal subject of the Russian Federation, in Central and Eastern Europe. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The oblast is surrounded by two European Union and NATO members: Poland to the south and Lithuania to the north and east. The largest city and administrative centre of the province (oblast) is the city of Kaliningrad, formerly known as Königsberg. Half of the population of the oblast lives in Kaliningrad City proper. The port city of Baltiysk is Russia's only port on the Baltic Sea that remains ice-free in winter. Kaliningrad Oblast had a population of roughly 1 million in the Russian Census of 2021. The area of Kaliningrad oblast is 15,125 square kilometers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sambia Peninsula</span> Peninsula in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia

Sambia or Samland or Kaliningrad Peninsula is a peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The peninsula is bounded by the Curonian Lagoon to the north-east, the Vistula Lagoon in the southwest, the Pregolya River in the south, and the Deyma River in the east. As Sambia is surrounded on all sides by water, it is technically an island. Historically it formed an important part of the historic region of Prussia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Prussia</span> Historic province of Prussia and Germany

East Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 ; following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's Free State of Prussia, until 1945. Its capital city was Königsberg. East Prussia was the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klaipėda</span> Coastal city in Lithuania

Klaipėda, historically also Memel, is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the third largest city in Lithuania, the fifth largest city in the Baltic States and the capital of Klaipėda County, as well as the only major seaport in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neman</span> River in Northeast Europe

The Neman,Niemen or Nẽmunas is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its southern channel. It drains into the Curonian Lagoon, narrowly connected to the Baltic Sea. The 937 km (582 mi) long Neman is a major Eastern European river. It flows generally west to Grodno within 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) of the Polish border, north to Kaunas, then westward again to the sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neringa Municipality</span> City Municipality in Lithuania Minor, Lithuania

Neringa or Neringa Municipality is a municipality of Klaipėda County in westernmost Lithuania, comprising several villages in the Curonian Spit. In terms of population, it is the smallest municipality of the country. Nida is the seat of government and largest town in Neringa Municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prussia (region)</span> Historical region on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea in Europe

Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, that ranges from the Vistula delta in the west to the end of the Curonian Spit in the east and extends inland as far as Masuria, divided between Poland, Russia and Lithuania. This region is often also referred to as Old Prussia.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curonian Spit</span> Sand dune spit on the Baltic

The Curonian (Courish) Spit is a 98-kilometre (61 mi) long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by Lithuania and Russia. Its southern portion lies within Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, and its northern within southwestern Klaipėda County of Lithuania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vistula Spit</span> Peninsular stretch of land in the Baltic Sea on the border between Russia and Poland

The Vistula Spit is an aeolian sand spit, or peninsular stretch of land, separating Vistula Lagoon from Gdańsk Bay, in the Baltic Sea, with its tip separated from the mainland by the Strait of Baltiysk. The border between Poland and Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave of Russia, bisects it, politically dividing the spit into two pieces between the two countries. The westernmost geographical point of Russia is located on the Vistula Spit. The Polish part contains a number of tourist resorts, incorporated administratively as the town of Krynica Morska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klaipėda County</span> County of Lithuania

Klaipėda County is one of ten counties in Lithuania, bordering Tauragė County to the southeast, Telšiai County to the northeast, Kurzeme in Latvia to the north, and Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia to the south. To the west is the Baltic Sea. It lies in the west of the country and is the only county to have a coastline and not be landlocked. Its capital is Klaipėda. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Klaipėda County remains as the territorial and statistical unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Prussians</span> Historical Baltic tribal group

Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians were a Baltic people that inhabited the region of Prussia, on the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea between the Vistula Lagoon to the west and the Curonian Lagoon to the east. As Balts, they spoke an Indo-European language of the Baltic branch now known as Old Prussian and worshipped pre-Christian deities. Their ethnonym was later adopted by predominantly Low German-speaking inhabitants of the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nida, Lithuania</span> Town in Lithuania

Nida is a resort town in Lithuania, the administrative centre of Neringa municipality. Located on the Curonian Spit between the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea, it is the westernmost point of Lithuania and the Baltic states, close to the border with the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast exclave. It currently has about 2,385 residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithuania Minor</span> Lithuanian ethnographic region in former Prussia

Lithuania Minor or Prussian Lithuania is a historical ethnographic region of Prussia, where Prussian Lithuanians lived, now located in Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. Lithuania Minor encompassed the northeastern part of the region and got its name from the territory's substantial Lithuanian-speaking population. Prior to the invasion of the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century, the main part of the territory later known as Lithuania Minor was inhabited by the tribes of Skalvians and Nadruvians. The land depopulated during the incessant war between Lithuania and the Teutonic Order. The war ended with the Treaty of Melno and the land was repopulated by Lithuanian newcomers, returning refugees, and the remaining indigenous Baltic peoples; the term Lithuania Minor appeared for the first time between 1517 and 1526.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rybachy, Kaliningrad Oblast</span> Rural locality in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia

Rybachy is a rural settlement in Zelenogradsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Curonian Spit. As of 2010 it has about 839 residents. It was formerly known for the Rossitten Bird Observatory and the Rossitten gliding school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natangians</span> Ethnic group

Natangians or Notangians was a Prussian clan, which lived in the region of Natangia, an area that is now mostly part of the Russian exclave Kaliningrad Oblast, whereas the southern portion lies in the Polish Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.

Scalovia or Skalvia was the area of Prussia originally inhabited by the now extinct Baltic tribe of Skalvians or Scalovians which according to the Chronicon terrae Prussiae of Peter of Dusburg lived to the south of the Curonians, by the lower Nemunas river, in the times around 1240.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nemirseta</span> District of Palanga in Klaipėda County, Lithuania

Nemirseta is a district of the Lithuanian seaside resort Palanga, located on the Baltic coast north of Klaipėda. The place, which consists mainly of two deserted buildings which were formerly an inn and customs house, is notable for having marked for about five centuries the northernmost point of Prussia and the northeastern tip of the German Empire from 1871 to 1920.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vistula Lagoon</span> Fresh water lagoon on the Baltic Sea

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curonian Spit National Park (Russia)</span> National park in Russia

Curonian Spit National Park covers the Russian-owned southern 41 km of the 98 km long, curved Curonian Spit – a type of depositional sandbar. The spit separates the salt-water Baltic Sea from the freshwater Curonian Lagoon to the east. The southern portion of the spit lies within Zelenogradsky District in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia; the northern portion lies within southwestern Lithuania. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by the two countries.

References

  1. "Curonian Lagoon". Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  2. I. Ethem Gönenç, Angheluta Vadineanu (2008). Sustainable Use and Development of Watersheds. Springer. ISBN   978-1-4020-8557-4.
  3. Górski, Karol (1949). Związek Pruski i poddanie się Prus Polsce: zbiór tekstów źródłowych (in Polish). Poznań: Instytut Zachodni. p. 54.
  4. Górski, pp. 96–97, 214–215
  5. 1 2 "Site name:Lithuanian coastal site". Vilnius University Ecological Institute. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  6. 1 2 "Toxic cyanobacteria blooms in the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Lagoon" (PDF). Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 2009-10-17.