The territory of
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
is divided into 10 counties (
Lithuanian: singular ''apskritis'', plural ''apskritys''), all named after their capitals. The counties are divided into
60 municipalities (Lithuanian: singular ''savivaldybė'', plural ''savivaldybės''): 9 city municipalities, 43 district municipalities and 8 municipalities. Each municipality is then divided into
elderate
A ''seniūnija'' (in English: eldership, elderate, ward, parish, or subdistrict) is the smallest administrative division of Lithuania. An eldership may comprise a very small region consisting of few villages, one single town, or a part of ...
s (Lithuanian: singular ''seniūnija'', plural ''seniūnijos''). This division was created in 1994 and slightly modified in 2000.
Until 2010, the counties were administered by county governors (Lithuanian: singular – ''apskrities viršininkas'', plural – ''apskrities viršininkai'') appointed by the central government in
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
. Their primary duty was to ensure that the municipalities obey the laws and the
Constitution of Lithuania
The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija) defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. It was approved in a referendum on 25 October 1992.
History
Statutes of Lithua ...
. They did not have great powers vested in them, and so it was suggested that 10 counties are too much for Lithuania as the two smallest counties administer only four municipalities. Therefore, on 1 July 2010, the county administrations were abolished but the counties are retained for statistical and reporting purposes.
Modern ''apskritys'' should not be confused with ''apskritys'' that existed in the independent Lithuania during the
interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
. At that time Lithuania had a two-tier administrative division: ''apskritys'' that were subdivided into ''valsčius''. Lithuania now has a three-step division: counties, municipalities, and elderates (''apskritys'', ''savivaldybės'', and ''seniūnijos''). See
subdivisions of Lithuania
This article is about the administrative divisions of Lithuania.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1251–1569)
In the earliest stages of the formation of the Lithuanian state, the area included several "lands" (Lithuanian: plural – ', singular – ' ...
for details.
Map
This map shows counties as well as municipalities. Eight city municipalities and two municipalities are marked by numbers:
file:Municipalities in Lithuania.png
List
See also
*
Administrative divisions of Lithuania
This article is about the administrative divisions of Lithuania.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1251–1569)
In the earliest stages of the History of Lithuania (1219–1295), formation of the Lithuanian state, the area included several "lands" (Lithu ...
*
Municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
(Lithuanian: plural – ''savivaldybės'', singular – ''savivaldybė'')
*
Elderships (or wards) (Lithuanian: plural – ''seniūnijos'', singular – ''seniūnija'').
* ''
Seniūnaitija
Seniūnaitija ''(literally "sub-eldership")'' is the lowest level administrative-territorial unit in Lithuania. Seniūnaitija is led by a ''seniūnaitis'' who represents communities of inhabited places. ''Seniūnaitis'' are elected for a 2-year te ...
'' (sub-eldership)
*
Cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
(Lithuanian: plural – ''miestai'', singular – ''miestas'')
*
Towns
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
(Lithuanian: plural – ''miesteliai'', singular – ''miestelis'')
References
{{Lithuania topics
Subdivisions of Lithuania
Lithuania, Counties
Lithuania 1
Counties, Lithuania
Lithuania geography-related lists
