Aukštaitė National Park ( lit. Aukštaitijos nacionalinis parkas ) is a national park in the north-east of Lithuania , 100 km north of Vilnius . It is the oldest of Lithuanian national parks , was founded in 1974 . It was originally named the National Park of the Lithuanian SSR to emphasize that this is the first such park in the republic. In 1991, 4 more parks were established and all parks were named after the ethnographic names of the regions of Lithuania. Then the park was called Aukstaitsky.
| Aukstaitijsky National Park | |
|---|---|
| lit. Aukštaitijos nacionalinis parkas | |
 Lake Lushiai | |
| IUCN Category II ( National Park ) | |
| basic information | |
| Square | 40 574 ha |
| Established | 1974 year |
| Location | |
| A country |
|
| Nearest town | Ignalina |
The territory of the park is 405.7 km². About 50% of the area is in Ignalina district . Utena and Švenčyon districts account for 25% each. About 2.1% of the territory is a strictly protected area. Access to this zone is only possible if accompanied by an employee of the park. In the park there are 64 species of plants, 8 species of mushrooms, 48 species of birds, which are included in the Red Book of Lithuania. The park is famous for its biodiversity - 59% of all plant species found in Lithuania can be found in the park, which occupies less than 1% of the country's territory.
Nature
Among the forests and hills of the park, 126 lakes are scattered, most of which are connected by a network of streams and small rivers. They are popular as a place for boating in kayaks . The park was established over 30 years ago and the infrastructure for boating is already quite developed. There are many places where you can rent a boat or kayak, as well as stay overnight. Lakes occupy 59.30 km² (or 15.5%) of the park. Here are the largest of the Lithuanian lakes - Lake Cretuonas (8.29 km²), and the deepest - Lake Tauragnas (60.5 m). 14 lakes have an area of more than 1 square kilometer each, an area of 6 lakes is between 0.5 and 1 km² and 35 lakes are between 50 and 5 ha. The remaining lakes have an area of less than 5 hectares, some of them are gradually turning into swamps.
There are 7 islands on Lake Baluoshas , one of which has its own lake. A small stream flows from this lake to Baluošas - this is the only lake in the lake in Lithuania. The largest river in the park is Zheimyana (22 km of the river flows through the territory of the park, and the total length reaches 114 km), which flows into Nyaris . All rivers and lakes of the park belong to the Zheimyana basin.
One of the most beautiful views in the park is the view from the Ladakalnis hill, from where you can see six lakes. The hill is a natural monument.
Villages
There are 116 villages in the park, in which about 2,300 people live permanently. The first villages were mentioned in the 14th century (the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, was first mentioned in written sources in 1323).