Klaipėda (/ˈkleɪpɛdə/ CLAY-ped-ə; German: 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.
The city has a complex recorded history, partially due to the combined regional importance of the usually ice-free Port of Klaipėda at the mouth of the river Akmena-Danė. Located in Lithuania Minor, it was historically a part of Baltic Prussia, the Prussian State of the Teutonic Order, and later the Duchy of Prussia under the suzerainty of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the duchy gained independence from Poland in 1657. As part of the Kingdom of Prussia it was the northernmost big city of Germany until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles when it was placed under French occupation. In 1923, the Klaipėda Revolt resulted in the city's annexation by Lithuania, which lasted until all of Memelland rejoined Germany following the 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania. After WW2 the USSR annexed both North East Prussia and Lithuania, and joined Memelland into the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. Klaipėda has remained within Lithuania since 1944.
The city continues to experience sustained demographic decline due to flight towards the suburbs and other cities. The number of inhabitants of Klaipėda city shrank from 202,929 in 1989 to 162,360 in 2011, but the urban zone of Klaipėda expanded well into the suburbs, which sprang up around the city and surrounded it from three sides. These are partly integrated with the city (city bus lines, city water supply, etc.), and the majority of inhabitants of these suburbs work in Klaipėda. According to data from the Department of Statistics, there are 212,302 permanent inhabitants (as of 2020) in the Klaipėda city and Klaipėda district municipalities combined. Popular seaside resorts found close to Klaipėda are Neringa to the south on the Curonian Spit and Palanga to the north.
