Latvia vs Lithuania

Why people mix them up

Latvia and Lithuania are the two "L" Baltic states, neighbours on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, both roughly the same size, both independent since 1991 and both in the EU and the euro. Their languages are the only two surviving Baltic languages, so even linguists put them in the same box. For most quiz players the problem is simply remembering which of the two sits on top of the other.

How to tell them apart

• Lithuania is the southern one, bordering Poland and Russia's Kaliningrad exclave; Latvia is above it and borders Estonia.
• Latvia wraps around the Gulf of Riga, a large inlet that gives it a long, curving coastline; Lithuania's coast is a short straight stretch.
• Latvia's flag is dark red with a thin white stripe; Lithuania's is yellow-green-red horizontal stripes.
• Lithuania has more people, about 2.8 million against Latvia's 1.9 million, although the land areas are almost identical.
• Latvia's capital, Riga, is on the coast; Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, is far inland in the south-east, close to Belarus.
• Latvia borders four countries (Estonia, Russia, Belarus, Lithuania); Lithuania borders Latvia, Belarus, Poland and Russia.

Memory hook

The three Baltics run alphabetically from top to bottom: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. "Lithuania" is the longest name and sits lowest, next to Poland.

On the map

For Lithuania, find Poland and tap the country attached to its north-eastern corner, just above the small Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. For Latvia, go one step north: it is the country between Lithuania and Estonia, wrapped around the big bay of the Gulf of Riga. If the country touches Poland, it is Lithuania; if it touches Estonia, it is Latvia.