Palanga (pronunciationⓘ; Samogitian: Palonga ; German: Polangen) is a resort city in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea.

Palanga is the busiest and the largest summer resort in Lithuania and has sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long and up to 300 metres, 1000 ft wide) and sand dunes.

This is exemplified by the Lithuanian palios, which translates to "large marsh", and the Latvian palas, meaning "marshy lake shore".

[6] According to legend, there was a pagan shrine at the foot of a hill in Palanga where a beautiful priestess named Birutė used to tend the ceremonial fires.

[7] The Lithuanian Bychowiec Chronicle records that Birutė "did not consent, and answered that she had promised the gods to remain a virgin as long as she lived.

In historical documents the name of Palanga was first mentioned in 1161 when King Valdemar I of Denmark disembarked there with his army and captured the castle of the Curonians.

[9] The first small wooden Catholic church in Palanga was built in ~1540 at the behest of Grand Duchess Anna Jagiellon.

During the Great Northern War, in which the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth allied with Saxony, Denmark and Russia against Sweden, the Swedish Army ravaged Palanga, destroyed the harbour at Šventoji, and blocked up the entrance with rocks in 1701.

His grandson Józef Tyszkiewicz built a pier and engaged ships to transport passengers and bricks to nearby Liepāja.

Marcijonas Jurgaitis, physician Liudas Vaineikis, and notary Jonas Kentra, played significant roles in this activity.

The production of decorative objects and jewellery made from amber found on the seashore, for which Palanga is famous, was formerly a Jewish industry.

The deteriorating economy resulting from antisemitism caused many to immigrate to South Africa, the United States, and Palestine.

Palanga is a resort city through which the Šventoji and Rąžė (Samogitian: Ronžē) rivers flow into the Baltic Sea.

Palanga is subdivided into Nemirseta, Vanagupė, Kunigiškiai, Manciškiai, and Šventoji – five neighbouring fishing villages which were united into one city following administrative changes to the area.

Palanga's International Airport, the third largest in Lithuania, offers connecting flights to Scandinavia, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom, Poland and to the biggest city in Baltic States - Riga, Latvia.

The airport is located between Palanga and Šventoji, and it handles more flights in the summer due to the resort nature of the municipality.