Municipalities of Lithuania

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Municipalities of Lithuania

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. As of 2010, it had a population of approximately 3.3 million, and an area of 65,300 km2. Formerly a Soviet Socialist Republic, Lithuania initiated a declaration of independence in 1990, and gained widespread international recognition the following year. 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. The reform of this system was an immediate concern. 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. The current system of a set of municipalities under 10 counties was codified by 1995. Several changes were made in 2000, resulting in 60 municipalities. Further changes, including a possible increase in the number of municipalities, are still being discussed. Municipal councilors are directly elected every four years. The councilors then elect the municipality's mayor.

The following map shows counties as well as municipalities. Seven city municipalities and three municipalities are marked by numbers.

Municipalities in Lithuania.png

1 – Vilnius city municipality
2 – Kaunas city municipality
3 – Klaipėda city municipality

4 – Panevėžys city municipality
5 – Šiauliai city municipality
6 – Alytus city municipality

7 – Birštonas municipality
8 – Palanga city municipality
9 – Visaginas municipality
10 – Neringa municipality

List

  Municipality County Administrative center Area (km2) Pop. (2010) Density (2010)
1 Akmenė district municipality Šiauliai County Naujoji Akmenė 844 26,737 31.7
2 Alytus city municipality Alytus County Alytus 60 66,841 1,671.0
3 Alytus district municipality Alytus County Alytus 1,404 30,691 21.9
4 Anykščiai district municipality Utena County Anykščiai 1,765 31,088 17.6
5 Birštonas municipality Kaunas County Birštonas 124 5,178 41.8
6 Biržai district municipality Panevėžys County Biržai 1,476 32,116 21.8
7 Druskininkai municipality Alytus County Druskininkai 454 24,044 53.0
8 Elektrėnai municipality Vilnius County Elektrėnai 509 27,622 54.3
9 Ignalina district municipality Utena County Ignalina 1,447 19,374 13.4
10 Jonava district municipality Kaunas County Jonava 944 51,401 54.5
11 Joniškis district municipality Šiauliai County Joniškis 1,152 29,310 25.4
12 Jurbarkas district municipality Tauragė County Jurbarkas 1,507 34,213 22.7
13 Kaišiadorys district municipality Kaunas County Kaišiadorys 1,087 35,334 32.5
14 Kalvarija municipality Marijampolė County Kalvarija 441 13,162 29.8
15 Kaunas city municipality Kaunas County Kaunas 157 348,624 2,220.5
16 Kaunas district municipality Kaunas County Kaunas 1,496 90,196 60.3
17 Kazlų Rūda municipality Marijampolė County Kazlų Rūda 555 14,189 25.6
18 Kėdainiai district municipality Kaunas County Kėdainiai 1,677 61,872 36.9
19 Kelmė district municipality Šiauliai County Kelmė 1,705 36,801 21.6
20 Klaipėda city municipality Klaipėda County Klaipėda 98 182,752 1,864.8
21 Klaipėda district municipality Klaipėda County Gargždai 1,336 52,125 39.0
22 Kretinga district municipality Klaipėda County Kretinga 989 45,103 45.6
23 Kupiškis district municipality Panevėžys County Kupiškis 1,080 22,369 20.7
24 Lazdijai district municipality Alytus County Lazdijai 1,309 24,246 18.5
25 Marijampolė municipality Marijampolė County Marijampolė 755 68,303 90.5
26 Mažeikiai district municipality Telšiai County Mažeikiai 1,220 65,430 52.8
27 Molėtai district municipality Utena County Molėtai 1,367 22,475 16.4
28 Neringa municipality Klaipėda County Nida 90 3,682 40.9
29 Pagėgiai municipality Tauragė County Pagėgiai 537 11,131 20.7
30 Pakruojis district municipality Šiauliai County Pakruojis 1,316 26,561 20.2
31 Palanga city municipality Klaipėda County Palanga 79 17,645 223.4
32 Panevėžys city municipality Panevėžys County Panevėžys 50 111,959 2,239.2
33 Panevėžys district municipality Panevėžys County Panevėžys 2,179 42,449 19.5
34 Pasvalys district municipality Panevėžys County Pasvalys 1,289 31,718 24.6
35 Plungė district municipality Telšiai County Plungė 1,105 43,044 39.0
36 Prienai district municipality Kaunas County Prienai 1,031 33,048 32.1
37 Radviliškis district municipality Šiauliai County Radviliškis 1,635 47,626 29.1
38 Raseiniai district municipality Kaunas County Raseiniai 1,573 40,656 25.8
39 Rietavas municipality Telšiai County Rietavas 586 9,837 16.8
40 Rokiškis district municipality Panevėžys County Rokiškis 1,807 37,815 20.9
41 Skuodas district municipality Klaipėda County Skuodas 911 23,123 25.4
42 Šakiai district municipality Marijampolė County Šakiai 1,453 35,507 24.4
43 Šalčininkai district municipality Vilnius County Šalčininkai 1,491 36,992 24.8
44 Šiauliai city municipality Šiauliai County Šiauliai 81 125,453 1,548.8
45 Šiauliai district municipality Šiauliai County Šiauliai 1,807 49,199 27.2
46 Šilalė district municipality Tauragė County Šilalė 1,188 29,486 24.8
47 Šilutė district municipality Klaipėda County Šilutė 1,706 52,119 30.6
48 Širvintos district municipality Vilnius County Širvintos 906 18,629 20.6
49 Švenčionys district municipality Vilnius County Švenčionys 1,692 29,922 17.7
50 Tauragė district municipality Tauragė County Tauragė 1,179 49,925 42.3
51 Telšiai district municipality Telšiai County Telšiai 1,439 53,821 37.4
52 Trakai district municipality Vilnius County Trakai 1,208 35,700 29.6
53 Ukmergė district municipality Vilnius County Ukmergė 1,395 44,783 32.1
54 Utena district municipality Utena County Utena 1,230 46,939 38.2
55 Varėna district municipality Alytus County Varėna 2,218 27,604 12.4
56 Vilkaviškis district municipality Marijampolė County Vilkaviškis 1,259 47,204 37.5
57 Vilnius city municipality Vilnius County Vilnius 401 560,192 1,397.0
58 Vilnius district municipality Vilnius County Vilnius 2,129 96,484 45.3
59 Visaginas municipality Utena County Visaginas 58 28,335 488.5
60 Zarasai district municipality Utena County Zarasai 1,334 19,855 14.9

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ^ a b c d e The administrative centers in these municipalities are located outside of the municipality proper.
General
Specific
  1. ^ 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. 
  2. ^ "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. 
  3. ^ 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. 
  4. ^ 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. 
  5. ^ 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. 
  6. ^ 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. 
  7. ^ 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. 
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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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