Curonian Lagoon

Curonian Lagoon, also called Courland Lagoon, German Kurisches Haff, Lithuanian Kuršiu Marios, Russian Kursky Zaliv, gulf of the Baltic Sea at the mouth of the Neman River, in Lithuania and Russia. The lagoon, with an area of 625 square miles (1,619 square km), is separated from the Baltic Sea by a narrow, dune-covered sandspit, the Curonian Spit (Lithuanian: Kuršiu Nerija; Russian: Kurskaya Kosa), 60 miles (100 km) long and 1–2 miles (1.5–3 km) wide. A road along the spit connects resort and fishing villages. At its north end, the lagoon is connected to the Baltic Sea by a navigable strait, site of the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda. The east coast of the Curonian Lagoon is low, wooded marshland, part of which forms the Neman River delta. To the south lies the Samland Peninsula, formerly part of East Prussia.