Municipalities of Lithuania

Second-level administrative division

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Lithuania is divided into three levels 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.[1] The reform of this system was an immediate concern for the new government.[2] 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.[2] The current system of a set of municipalities under 10 counties was codified by 1995.[2] Several changes were made in 2000, resulting in 60 municipalities.[3]

Ordinary municipal councilors are elected every four years from electoral lists using proportional representation. The mayor, who used to be a member of the council until 2023,[4] is elected directly by the residents using the two-round system since 2015 reforms.[5] Before then, the mayors were elected by the municipal councils.

The largest municipality by population in Lithuania is Vilnius City Municipality with 593,436 residents, home to one fifth (20.7%) of the country's population. The smallest municipality by population is Neringa Municipality with 4,173 (0.1%) residents.[6]

The largest municipality by land area is Varėna District Municipality, which spans 2,216 km2 (856 sq mi), while the smallest is Alytus City Municipality at 40 km2 (15 sq mi).

## Powers and functions

[edit]

Municipalities are established to perform certain functions provided by law. According to the abovementioned Republic of Lithuania Law on Local Self-Government, the functions of municipalities are "functions related to local government, public administration and provision of public services defined by the Constitution and attributed to municipalities by this and other laws". The processes of integration into international organizations \- like the EU and NATO - are considered to be important external factors influencing the development of municipal powers in the country. Lithuania, which has become a member of these organizations, has been assigned completely new responsibilities, some of which, naturally, also belonged to municipalities. In the case of EU integration, municipalities have been assigned the necessary information supply to the European Commission, and in the case of integration into NATO, municipalities have had new functions related to security issues.

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

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## Municipalities

[edit]

As of January 1, 2024.[7]

Municipality  | Capital[8] | County  | Region  | Area[7] | Populations | Density

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| Akmenė District Municipality | Naujoji Akmenė | Šiauliai | Žemaitija | 844 km2 (326 sq mi) | 19,126 | 22.66
| Alytus City Municipality | Alytus | Alytus | Dzūkija | 40 km2 (15 sq mi) | 51,351 | 1,284
| Alytus District Municipality | Alytus | Alytus | Dzūkija | 1,403 km2 (542 sq mi) | 25,464 | 18.15
| Anykščiai District Municipality | Anykščiai | Utena | Aukštaitija | 1,764 km2 (681 sq mi) | 22,372 | 12.68
| Birštonas Municipality | Birštonas | Kaunas | Dzūkija | 122 km2 (47 sq mi) | 4,087 | 33.50
| Biržai District Municipality | Biržai | Panevėžys | Aukštaitija | 1,476 km2 (570 sq mi) | 22,111 | 14.98
| Druskininkai Municipality | Druskininkai | Alytus | Dzūkija | 453 km2 (175 sq mi) | 20,103 | 44.38
| Elektrėnai Municipality | Elektrėnai | Vilnius | Dzūkija | 509 km2 (197 sq mi) | 24,745 | 48.61
| Ignalina District Municipality | Ignalina | Utena | Aukštaitija | 1,441 km2 (556 sq mi) | 13,814 | 9.59
| Jonava District Municipality | Jonava | Kaunas | Aukštaitija | 943 km2 (364 sq mi) | 41,489 | 44.00
| Joniškis District Municipality | Joniškis | Šiauliai | Aukštaitija | 1,151 km2 (444 sq mi) | 20,289 | 17.63
| Jurbarkas District Municipality | Jurbarkas | Tauragė | Žemaitija | 1,506 km2 (581 sq mi) | 25,443 | 16.89
| Kaišiadorys District Municipality | Kaišiadorys | Kaunas | Aukštaitija | 1,087 km2 (420 sq mi) | 29,062 | 26.74
| Kalvarija Municipality | Kalvarija | Marijampolė | Suvalkija | 440 km2 (170 sq mi) | 9,734 | 22.12
| Kaunas City Municipality | Kaunas | Kaunas | Aukštaitija | 157 km2 (61 sq mi) | 304,198 | 1,938
| Kaunas District Municipality | Kaunas | Kaunas | Aukštaitija | 1,495 km2 (577 sq mi) | 106,277 | 71.09
| Kazlų Rūda Municipality | Kazlų Rūda | Marijampolė | Suvalkija | 555 km2 (214 sq mi) | 10,835 | 19.52
| Kėdainiai District Municipality | Kėdainiai | Kaunas | Aukštaitija | 1,677 km2 (647 sq mi) | 45,923 | 27.38
| Kelmė District Municipality | Kelmė | Šiauliai | Žemaitija | 1,705 km2 (658 sq mi) | 24,347 | 14.28
| Klaipėda City Municipality | Klaipėda | Klaipėda | Prūsija | 99 km2 (38 sq mi) | 159,396 | 1,610
| Klaipėda District Municipality | Klaipėda | Klaipėda | Prūsija | 1,340 km2 (520 sq mi) | 67,280 | 50.21
| Kretinga District Municipality | Kretinga | Klaipėda | Žemaitija | 989 km2 (382 sq mi) | 37,433 | 37.85
| Kupiškis District Municipality | Kupiškis | Panevėžys | Aukštaitija | 1,080 km2 (420 sq mi) | 15,765 | 14.60
| Lazdijai District Municipality | Lazdijai | Alytus | Dzūkija | 1,306 km2 (504 sq mi) | 17,201 | 13.17
| Marijampolė Municipality | Marijampolė | Marijampolė | Suvalkija | 755 km2 (292 sq mi) | 54,590 | 72.77
| Mažeikiai District Municipality | Mažeikiai | Telšiai | Žemaitija | 1,219 km2 (471 sq mi) | 51,909 | 42.58
| Molėtai District Municipality | Molėtai | Utena | Aukštaitija | 1,367 km2 (528 sq mi) | 16,517 | 11.82
| Neringa Municipality | Nida | Klaipėda | Prūsija | 90 km2 (35 sq mi) | 4,265 | 47.39
| Pagėgiai Municipality | Pagėgiai | Tauragė | Prūsija | 536 km2 (207 sq mi) | 7,059 | 13.17
| Pakruojis District Municipality | Pakruojis | Šiauliai | Aukštaitija | 1,315 km2 (508 sq mi) | 17,870 | 13.59
| Palanga City Municipality | Palanga | Klaipėda | Žemaitija | 79 km2 (31 sq mi) | 18,066 | 228.7
| Panevėžys City Municipality | Panevėžys | Panevėžys | Aukštaitija | 50 km2 (19 sq mi) | 86,599 | 1,732
| Panevėžys District Municipality | Panevėžys | Panevėžys | Aukštaitija | 2,177 km2 (841 sq mi) | 35,378 | 16.25
| Pasvalys District Municipality | Pasvalys | Panevėžys | Aukštaitija | 1,289 km2 (498 sq mi) | 21,930 | 17.01
| Plungė District Municipality | Plungė | Telšiai | Žemaitija | 1,105 km2 (427 sq mi) | 33,042 | 29.90
| Prienai District Municipality | Prienai | Kaunas | Suvalkija | 1,032 km2 (398 sq mi) | 24,675 | 23.91
| Radviliškis District Municipality | Radviliškis | Šiauliai | Aukštaitija | 1,634 km2 (631 sq mi) | 34,302 | 20.99
| Raseiniai District Municipality | Raseiniai | Kaunas | Žemaitija | 1,573 km2 (607 sq mi) | 29,769 | 18.92
| Rietavas Municipality | Rietavas | Telšiai | Žemaitija | 586 km2 (226 sq mi) | 7,115 | 12.14
| Rokiškis District Municipality | Rokiškis | Panevėžys | Aukštaitija | 1,806 km2 (697 sq mi) | 27,288 | 15.11
| Skuodas District Municipality | Skuodas | Klaipėda | Žemaitija | 911 km2 (352 sq mi) | 15,201 | 16.69
| Šakiai District Municipality | Šakiai | Marijampolė | Suvalkija | 1,454 km2 (561 sq mi) | 25,603 | 17.61
| Šalčininkai District Municipality | Šalčininkai | Vilnius | Dzūkija | 1,493 km2 (576 sq mi) | 29,888 | 20.02
| Šiauliai City Municipality | Šiauliai | Šiauliai | Žemaitija | 81 km2 (31 sq mi) | 110,461 | 1,364
| Šiauliai District Municipality | Šiauliai | Šiauliai | Žemaitija | 1,807 km2 (698 sq mi) | 40,565 | 22.45
| Šilalė District Municipality | Šilalė | Tauragė | Žemaitija | 1,188 km2 (459 sq mi) | 20,861 | 17.56
| Šilutė District Municipality | Šilutė | Klaipėda | Prūsija | 1,714 km2 (662 sq mi) | 38,331 | 22.36
| Širvintos District Municipality | Širvintos | Vilnius | Aukštaitija | 906 km2 (350 sq mi) | 14,668 | 16.19
| Švenčionys District Municipality | Švenčionys | Vilnius | Aukštaitija | 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) | 21,795 | 12.89
| Tauragė District Municipality | Tauragė | Tauragė | Žemaitija | 1,179 km2 (455 sq mi) | 37,215 | 31.56
| Telšiai District Municipality | Telšiai | Telšiai | Žemaitija | 1,439 km2 (556 sq mi) | 38,852 | 27.00
| Trakai District Municipality | Trakai | Vilnius | Dzūkija | 1,207 km2 (466 sq mi) | 34,595 | 28.66
| Ukmergė District Municipality | Ukmergė | Vilnius | Aukštaitija | 1,395 km2 (539 sq mi) | 34,023 | 24.39
| Utena District Municipality | Utena | Utena | Aukštaitija | 1,230 km2 (470 sq mi) | 39,671 | 32.25
| Varėna District Municipality | Varėna | Alytus | Dzūkija | 2,216 km2 (856 sq mi) | 20,082 | 9.06
| Vilkaviškis District Municipality | Vilkaviškis | Marijampolė | Suvalkija | 1,262 km2 (487 sq mi) | 33,906 | 26.87
| Vilnius City Municipality | Vilnius | Vilnius | Dzūkija | 400 km2 (150 sq mi) | 602,430 | 1,506
| Vilnius District Municipality | Vilnius | Vilnius | Dzūkija | 2,129 km2 (822 sq mi) | 106,197 | 49.88
| Visaginas Municipality | Visaginas | Utena | Aukštaitija | 58 km2 (22 sq mi) | 19,584 | 337.7
| Zarasai District Municipality | Zarasai | Utena | Aukštaitija | 1,331 km2 (514 sq mi) | 14,368 | 10.79

## See also

[edit]

* ISO 3166-2:LT

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Municipalities in Lithuania.

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

## Notes and references

[edit]

Notes

References

1. ^ 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 978-92-871-4538-3. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
2. ^ a b c Jolanta Vaičiūnienė (2008-11-14). "The Administrative–Territorial Reform in Lithuania: History and Today" (PDF). Council of Europe. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
3. ^ 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 978-92-64-02928-6. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
4. ^ Skėrytė, Jūratė (14 March 2023). "Apžvalga: naujai išrinktiems merams – didesni įgaliojimai". LRT (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 20 March 2024.
5. ^ "Law on elections to municipal councils". The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
6. ^ "Resident population on 1 July". osp.stat.gov.lt. 2023-08-07.
7. ^ a b "Area (land) at the beginning of the year, Population density at the beginning of the year, Resident population at the beginning of the year". Statistics Lithuania. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
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 Archived 2011-05-26 at the Wayback Machine.

## Sources

[edit]

* "Law on the Territorial Administrative Units and Their Boundaries". Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2011.

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Municipalities of Lithuania

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