Its southern portion lies within Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, and its northern within southwestern Klaipėda County of Lithuania.

The Curonian Spit stretches from the Sambia Peninsula on the south to its northern tip next to a narrow strait, across which is the port city of Klaipėda on the Lithuanian mainland.

The northern 52 km (32 mi) long stretch of the Curonian Spit peninsula lies in Klaipėda County, Lithuania, while the rest is part of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia.

The most likely development is that the shallow bay inside the Curonian Spit will eventually fill up with sediment, thus creating new land.

After World War I, Nidden, together with the northern half of the Curonian Spit became part of the Klaipėda Region according to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles and was annexed by Lithuania in 1923.

After the Klaipėda Region was again annexed by Nazi Germany in 1939, his house was seized at the behest of Hermann Göring and served as a recreation home for Luftwaffe officers.

Following World War II, the Memelland and its part of the spit was restored to Lithuania, while the remainder fell to Russia.

In 2019 the making of Curonian Lagoon Boats’ Weathervanes was inscribed into The Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory of Lithuania as a form of folk art, traditional craftsmanship or agricultural activities.

The Kuršininkai were considered Latvians until after World War I, when Latvia gained independence from the Russian Empire, a consideration based on linguistic arguments.

The demand to demolish the homes down is due to the Spit being a UN World Heritage Site, and the only structures that were to be allowed outside official settlements were fishing huts.

[8] The largest town on the spit is Nida in Lithuania, a holiday resort, mostly frequented by Lithuanian and German tourists.

Parnidis sand dune, subjected to drift by harsh winds, is rising up to 52 metres (171 ft) above sea level.

The construction of an offshore drilling facility (the Kravtsovskoye (D-6) oilfield) in the territorial waters of Russia, 22.5 km (14.0 mi) from the coastline of the Curonian Spit raised concerns over possible oil spills.

Between 2002 and 2005 local environmentalists in Kaliningrad Oblast[10] and Lithuania[11] protested against Lukoil's plans to exploit the oilfield, objecting to the possible great damage to the environment and tourism (a vital source of income in the area) in case of oil leakage.

During the first decade of the 21st century the two states agreed to a joint environmental impact assessment of the D-6 project, including plans for oil spill mitigation.

Due to the importance of trees in preventing soil erosion, forest fires that happen in summer are more dangerous to the ecology.