Nemunas Loops Regional Park was established in 1992 to protect the historical, cultural, and natural character of the loops on the Neman River

Neman River

Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...

 in central Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

.

The park occupies 25,171 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s. 69% of its area is forested. The resort areas of Birštonas

Birštonas

Birštonas is a spa town in Lithuania situated south of Kaunas on the right bank of the Nemunas River. Birštonas received its city rights 1529, and was appointed a city in 1966.-Name:Birštonas is the Lithuanian name of the city...

 and Punia

Punia

Punia can refer to:*Punia, Lithuania, town in Lithuania*Punia , gotra or clan of Jat people in India...

lie within its boundaries. Its cultural significance is based on its archeological, ethnological, mythological, religious, architectural, and urban history.