List of municipalities of Lithuania

Lithuania is a country 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, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and included present-day Lithuania, Belarus, most of Ukraine, and parts of Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, and Russia. As a Soviet Socialist Republic (since 1940), Lithuania initiated its declaration of independence in 1990, and gained international recognition the following year.^[1]

The country is divided into three layers of administrative divisions. 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 divisions consisted of 44 regions, 12 cities, 80 towns, 19 settlements, and 426 rural districts.^[3] The reform of this system was an immediate concern for the new government.^[4] 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.^[4] The current system of a set of municipalities under 10 counties was codified by 1995.^[4] Several changes were made in 2000, resulting in 60 municipalities.^[5] Further changes, including a possible increase in the number of municipalities, are still being discussed.^[6] Municipal councilors are directly elected every four years.^[7] The councilors then elect the municipality's mayor.^[7]

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

Municipalities

See also

Commons has media related to Category:Municipalities of Lithuania.

• Administrative divisions of Lithuania
• Counties (Lithuanian: singular – apskritis, plural – apskritys)
• Elderships (or wards) (Lithuanian: plural – seniūnijos, singular – seniūnija).
• Seniūnaitija (sub-eldership)
• Cities (Lithuanian: plural – miestai, singular – miestas)
• Towns (Lithuanian: plural – miesteliai, singular – miestelis)

Notes and references

Notes

General

Specific