Lake Vištytis
View from Russian side to the Lithuanian shore
Lake Vištytis is located in Lithuania
Lake Vištytis
Lake Vištytis
Coordinates54°26′N 22°44′E / 54.433°N 22.733°E / 54.433; 22.733
Primary outflowsPissa
Basin countriesLithuania, Russia
Max. length8 km (5.0 mi)[1]
Max. width4.2 km (2.6 mi)[1]
Surface area17.83 km2 (6.88 sq mi)[2]
Average depth15.5 m (51 ft)[1]
Max. depth54 m (177 ft)[1]
Water volume.258 km3 (0.062 cu mi)[1]
Surface elevation172.4 m (566 ft)[1]
SettlementsVištytis

Lake Vištytis (Lithuanian: Vištyčio ežeras, German: Wystiter See, Russian: Виштынецкое озеро) is a lake on the border between Lithuania (Vilkaviškis district) and Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast), near the tripoint with Poland.

Bathing on the Russian side

The small Lithuanian town of Vištytis on the northern shore was named after the lake. In the west, the extended Romincka Forest stretches along the Russian-Polish border. On the Lithuanian side, the lake and its environs are part of a protected area named Vištytis Regional Park. The lake has 15 inflows, but only one river, the Pissa, tributary to Pregolya, flows from this lake.[3]

Lake Vištytis covers an area of 17.83 km2 (6.88 sq mi), of which 5.44 km2 (2.10 sq mi) belongs to Lithuania.[2] This is a marked increase over 0.4 km2 (0.15 sq mi) that belonged to Lithuania before ratification of a Russian–Lithuanian border treaty in 2003.[4] On occasion, high winds or broken equipment can force tourist boats to the opposite western shore.[5][6] Even if unintentional, such incidents constitute illegal border crossings and can lead to sanctions from the border guards.[5] Before the 2003 treaty, the border ran along the waterline of the beaches on the Lithuanian side, so anyone paddling in the water was technically crossing into Russia. Sometimes the lake is used for smuggling goods, usually cigarettes, across the border.[7]

Prior to World War II the lake formed part of the border between the German province of East Prussia and Lithuania.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Vištyčio regioninis parkas" (in Lithuanian). Vilkaviškio turizmo ir verslo informacijos centras. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
  2. 1 2 Jablonskis, Jonas; Aldona Jurgelėnaitė (2007). "Lietuvos ežerų statistika" (PDF). Geografija (in Lithuanian). 2 (43): 22. ISSN 1392-1096.
  3. ↑ (in Lithuanian) Jonas Zinkus; et al., eds. (1985–1988). "Vištytis". Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija. Vol. IV. Vilnius, Lithuania: Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija. p. 583. LCCN 86232954.
  4. ↑ Šilas, Vytautas (July 2003). "Mūsų Vištytis". Tautininkų žinios (in Lithuanian). 14 (180).
  5. 1 2 "Vištyčio ežere vėjas atnešė rusus" (in Lithuanian). Delfi.lt. 2008-09-01. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
  6. ↑ "Septyni lietuviai ne savo noru apsilankė Rusijoje" (in Lithuanian). Delfi.lt. 2008-07-28. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
  7. ↑ "Sulaikyti 6 kontrabanda įtariami asmenys" (in Lithuanian). Delfi.lt. 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
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