Klaipėda, << KLY peh `dah` >> (pop. 192,954), is the third largest city in Lithuania. Only Vilnius and Kaunas have more people. Klaipėda was formerly called Memel. It lies in western Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The city serves as a seaport and industrial center. Its economic activities include fishing, food processing, natural gas production, shipping, shipbuilding, and textile production.
German knights founded Klaipėda in 1252. Germany then ruled the community until the end of World War I in 1918. In 1923, the city became part of independent Lithuania. Germans took control of Klaipėda in 1939. The Soviet Union forcibly made Lithuania a Soviet republic in 1940. In 1945, Soviet troops seized Klaipėda and returned it to Lithuania. In 1991, Lithuania broke away from the Soviet Union and became an independent nation again.
