- Municipalities of Lithuania
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Lithuania
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Lithuania is a country, situated in Northern Europe. It is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Council of Europe and NATO.[1] As of 2010, it had a population of approximately 3.3 million, and an area of 65,300 square kilometres (16,135,981.41 acres; 25,212.47 sq mi).[2] In the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and included present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia.[3] A Soviet Socialist Republic starting in 1940, Lithuania initiated a declaration of independence in 1990, and gained widespread international recognition the following year.[1] The country is divided into three layers of administrative division. The first-level division consists of 10 counties (Lithuanian: singular – apskritis, plural – apskritys). These are sub-divided into 60 municipalities (Lithuanian: plural – savivaldybės, singular – savivaldybė), which in turn are further sub-divided into over 500 smaller groups, known as elderships (Lithuanian: plural – seniūnijos, singular – seniūnija).
At the end of its tenure as a Soviet Socialist Republic, Lithuania's administrative division consisted of 44 regions, 12 cities, 80 towns, 19 settlements, and 426 rural districts.[4] The reform of this system was an immediate concern for the new government.[5] The Constitution of Lithuania, ratified in 1992, delegated the power of establishing future administrative units to the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas). Accordingly, the Seimas passed two fundamental laws: a 1993 law on government representation and a 1994 law specifying the territorial-administrative units and their boundaries.[5] The current system of a set of municipalities under 10 counties was codified by 1995.[5] Several changes were made in 2000, resulting in 60 municipalities.[6] Further changes, including a possible increase in the number of municipalities, are still being discussed.[7] Municipal councilors are directly elected every four years.[8] The councilors then elect the municipality's mayor.[8]
The following map shows counties as well as municipalities. Seven city municipalities and three municipalities are marked by numbers.
1 – Vilnius city municipality
2 – Kaunas city municipality
3 – Klaipėda city municipality4 – Panevėžys city municipality
5 – Šiauliai city municipality
6 – Alytus city municipality7 – Birštonas municipality
8 – Palanga city municipality
9 – Visaginas municipality
10 – Neringa municipalityMunicipalities
Municipality County Administrative center[9] Area[10] Pop. (2010)[10] Density (2010)[10] Akmenė district municipality Šiauliai Naujoji Akmenė 844 square kilometres (208,556.94 acres; 325.87 sq mi) 26,737 31.7 Alytus city municipality Alytus Alytus 60 square kilometres (14,826.32 acres; 23.17 sq mi) 66,841 1,671.0 Alytus district municipality Alytus Alytus[nb 1] 1,404 square kilometres (346,935.96 acres; 542.09 sq mi) 30,691 21.9 Anykščiai district municipality Utena Anykščiai 1,765 square kilometres (436,141.00 acres; 681.47 sq mi) 31,088 17.6 Birštonas municipality Kaunas Birštonas 124 square kilometres (30,641.07 acres; 47.88 sq mi) 5,178 41.8 Biržai district municipality Panevėžys Biržai 1,476 square kilometres (364,727.54 acres; 569.89 sq mi) 32,116 21.8 Druskininkai municipality Alytus Druskininkai 454 square kilometres (112,185.84 acres; 175.29 sq mi) 24,044 53.0 Elektrėnai municipality Vilnius Elektrėnai 509 square kilometres (125,776.64 acres; 196.53 sq mi) 27,622 54.3 Ignalina district municipality Utena Ignalina 1,447 square kilometres (357,561.49 acres; 558.69 sq mi) 19,374 13.4 Jonava district municipality Kaunas Jonava 944 square kilometres (233,267.48 acres; 364.48 sq mi) 51,401 54.5 Joniškis district municipality Šiauliai Joniškis 1,152 square kilometres (284,665.40 acres; 444.79 sq mi) 29,310 25.4 Jurbarkas district municipality Tauragė Jurbarkas 1,507 square kilometres (372,387.81 acres; 581.86 sq mi) 34,213 22.7 Kaišiadorys district municipality Kaunas Kaišiadorys 1,087 square kilometres (268,603.55 acres; 419.69 sq mi) 35,334 32.5 Kalvarija municipality Marijampolė Kalvarija 441 square kilometres (108,973.47 acres; 170.27 sq mi) 13,162 29.8 Kaunas city municipality Kaunas Kaunas 157 square kilometres (38,795.54 acres; 60.62 sq mi) 348,624 2,220.5 Kaunas district municipality Kaunas Kaunas[nb 1] 1,496 square kilometres (369,669.65 acres; 577.61 sq mi) 90,196 60.3 Kazlų Rūda municipality Marijampolė Kazlų Rūda 555 square kilometres (137,143.49 acres; 214.29 sq mi) 14,189 25.6 Kėdainiai district municipality Kaunas Kėdainiai 1,677 square kilometres (414,395.72 acres; 647.49 sq mi) 61,872 36.9 Kelmė district municipality Šiauliai Kelmė 1,705 square kilometres (421,314.68 acres; 658.30 sq mi) 36,801 21.6 Klaipėda city municipality Klaipėda Klaipėda 98 square kilometres (24,216.33 acres; 37.84 sq mi) 182,752 1,864.8 Klaipėda district municipality Klaipėda Gargždai 1,336 square kilometres (330,132.79 acres; 515.83 sq mi) 52,125 39.0 Kretinga district municipality Klaipėda Kretinga 989 square kilometres (244,387.22 acres; 381.86 sq mi) 45,103 45.6 Kupiškis district municipality Panevėžys Kupiškis 1,080 square kilometres (266,873.81 acres; 416.99 sq mi) 22,369 20.7 Lazdijai district municipality Alytus Lazdijai 1,309 square kilometres (323,460.94 acres; 505.41 sq mi) 24,246 18.5 Marijampolė municipality Marijampolė Marijampolė 755 square kilometres (186,564.56 acres; 291.51 sq mi) 68,303 90.5 Mažeikiai district municipality Telšiai Mažeikiai 1,220 square kilometres (301,468.57 acres; 471.04 sq mi) 65,430 52.8 Molėtai district municipality Utena Molėtai 1,367 square kilometres (337,793.06 acres; 527.80 sq mi) 22,475 16.4 Neringa municipality Klaipėda Nida 90 square kilometres (22,239.48 acres; 34.75 sq mi) 3,682 40.9 Pagėgiai municipality Tauragė Pagėgiai 537 square kilometres (132,695.59 acres; 207.34 sq mi) 11,131 20.7 Pakruojis district municipality Šiauliai Pakruojis 1,316 square kilometres (325,190.68 acres; 508.11 sq mi) 26,561 20.2 Palanga city municipality Klaipėda Palanga 79 square kilometres (19,521.33 acres; 30.50 sq mi) 17,645 223.4 Panevėžys city municipality Panevėžys Panevėžys 50 square kilometres (12,355.27 acres; 19.31 sq mi) 111,959 2,239.2 Panevėžys district municipality Panevėžys Panevėžys[nb 1] 2,179 square kilometres (538,442.63 acres; 841.32 sq mi) 42,449 19.5 Pasvalys district municipality Panevėžys Pasvalys 1,289 square kilometres (318,518.84 acres; 497.69 sq mi) 31,718 24.6 Plungė district municipality Telšiai Plungė 1,105 square kilometres (273,051.45 acres; 426.64 sq mi) 43,044 39.0 Prienai district municipality Kaunas Prienai 1,031 square kilometres (254,765.65 acres; 398.07 sq mi) 33,048 32.1 Radviliškis district municipality Šiauliai Radviliškis 1,635 square kilometres (404,017.30 acres; 631.28 sq mi) 47,626 29.1 Raseiniai district municipality Kaunas Raseiniai 1,573 square kilometres (388,696.77 acres; 607.34 sq mi) 40,656 25.8 Rietavas municipality Telšiai Rietavas 586 square kilometres (144,803.75 acres; 226.26 sq mi) 9,837 16.8 Rokiškis district municipality Panevėžys Rokiškis 1,807 square kilometres (446,519.42 acres; 697.69 sq mi) 37,815 20.9 Skuodas district municipality Klaipėda Skuodas 911 square kilometres (225,113.00 acres; 351.74 sq mi) 23,123 25.4 Šakiai district municipality Marijampolė Šakiai 1,453 square kilometres (359,044.12 acres; 561.01 sq mi) 35,507 24.4 Šalčininkai district municipality Vilnius Šalčininkai 1,491 square kilometres (368,434.12 acres; 575.68 sq mi) 36,992 24.8 Šiauliai city municipality Šiauliai Šiauliai 81 square kilometres (20,015.54 acres; 31.27 sq mi) 125,453 1,548.8 Šiauliai district municipality Šiauliai Šiauliai[nb 1] 1,807 square kilometres (446,519.42 acres; 697.69 sq mi) 49,199 27.2 Šilalė district municipality Tauragė Šilalė 1,188 square kilometres (293,561.19 acres; 458.69 sq mi) 29,486 24.8 Šilutė district municipality Klaipėda Šilutė 1,706 square kilometres (421,561.78 acres; 658.69 sq mi) 52,119 30.6 Širvintos district municipality Vilnius Širvintos 906 square kilometres (223,877.48 acres; 349.81 sq mi) 18,629 20.6 Švenčionys district municipality Vilnius Švenčionys 1,692 square kilometres (418,102.31 acres; 653.28 sq mi) 29,922 17.7 Tauragė district municipality Tauragė Tauragė 1,179 square kilometres (291,337.24 acres; 455.21 sq mi) 49,925 42.3 Telšiai district municipality Telšiai Telšiai 1,439 square kilometres (355,584.64 acres; 555.60 sq mi) 53,821 37.4 Trakai district municipality Vilnius Trakai 1,208 square kilometres (298,503.30 acres; 466.41 sq mi) 35,700 29.6 Ukmergė district municipality Vilnius Ukmergė 1,395 square kilometres (344,712.01 acres; 538.61 sq mi) 44,783 32.1 Utena district municipality Utena Utena 1,230 square kilometres (303,939.62 acres; 474.91 sq mi) 46,939 38.2 Varėna district municipality Alytus Varėna 2,218 square kilometres (548,079.74 acres; 856.37 sq mi) 27,604 12.4 Vilkaviškis district municipality Marijampolė Vilkaviškis 1,259 square kilometres (311,105.68 acres; 486.10 sq mi) 47,204 37.5 Vilnius city municipality Vilnius Vilnius 401 square kilometres (99,089.26 acres; 154.83 sq mi) 560,192 1,397.0 Vilnius district municipality Vilnius Vilnius[nb 1] 2,129 square kilometres (526,087.36 acres; 822.01 sq mi) 96,484 45.3 Visaginas municipality Utena Visaginas 58 square kilometres (14,332.11 acres; 22.39 sq mi) 28,335 488.5 Zarasai district municipality Utena Zarasai 1,334 square kilometres (329,638.58 acres; 515.06 sq mi) 19,855 14.9 See also
- Subdivisions of Lithuania
- Counties of Lithuania
- List of cities in Lithuania
Notes and references
- Notes
- General
- "Law on the Territorial Administrative Units and Their Boundaries". Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas. 30 March 2010. http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter3/dokpaieska.showdoc_l?p_id=374897. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
- Specific
- ^ a b "Timeline: Lithuania". BBC News. 17 November 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/2133386.stm. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ^ "Lithuania country profile". BBC News. 17 November 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1106095.stm. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
- ^ Paul Magocsi (1996). History of the Ukraine. University of Toronto Press. p. 128.
- ^ Conference on Local and Regional Authority Co-operation in the Baltic Sea Area: proceedings, Kaunas, Lithuania, 21-23, April 1999. Council of Europe. January 2000. p. 9. ISBN 9789287145383. http://books.google.com/books?id=Mwf_B72sxDoC&pg=PA9. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
- ^ a b c Jolanta Vaičiūnienė (2008-11-14). "The Administrative–Territorial Reform in Lithuania: History and Today". Council of Europe. http://www.coe.int/t/dgap/localdemocracy/programmes_democratic_stability/imc/Warsaw_Documents/Warsaw_Vaiciuniene.pdf. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
- ^ Local Economic and Employment Development (Program); Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (April 2007). Baltic partnerships: integration, growth and local governance in the Baltic Sea Region. OECD Publishing. p. 75. ISBN 9789264029286. http://books.google.com/books?id=g7TJcbAm2gEC&pg=PA75. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ^ Council of Europe (2007). State of human rights and democracy in Europe. Council of Europe. pp. 269–271. ISBN 9789287162885. http://books.google.com/books?id=pCtYgDJfhK4C&pg=PA270. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ a b Miluše Kindlová (2006). Constitutional law of 10 EU member states: the 2004 enlargement. Kluwer. pp. 603–604. ISBN 9789013034684. http://books.google.com/books?id=9jGA5sfKTeYC&pg=SL603-PA50. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
- ^ Municipality administrative centers and coats of arms are given by Statistics Lithuania in subpages under the Portrait of the Regions of Lithuania; e.g. Alytus town municipality.
- ^ a b c "M3010211: >>>Total area and population by administrative territory". Statistics Lithuania. http://db1.stat.gov.lt/statbank/SelectVarVal/Define.asp?Maintable=M3010211&PLanguage=1. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
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1 Has part of its territory outside Europe. 2 Entirely in West Asia, but considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons. 3 Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the border. 4 Partially recognised.Table of administrative country subdivisions by country Categories:- Municipalities of Lithuania
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