Jonava ( ; pl, Janów; german: Janau) is the ninth largest city in

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 ...

with a population of . It is located in

Kaunas County Kaunas County ( lt, Kauno apskritis) is one of ten counties of Lithuania The territory of Lithuania is divided into 10 counties ( Lithuanian: singular ''apskritis'', plural ''apskritys''), all named after their capitals. The counties are ...

in central Lithuania, north east of

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

, the second-largest city in Lithuania. It is served by

Kaunas International Airport Kaunas Fluxus Airport ( lt, Kauno tarptautinis oro uostas), is the second-busiest civil airport in Lithuania after Vilnius Airport and the fourth-busiest in the Baltic states. The airport is located in the central part of the country, northea ...

. ''

Achema Achema is the largest fertilizer producer in the Baltic states. It is located in the city of Jonava in central Lithuania. In 2011 Achema employed about 1700 workers and reached 2.2 billion Litas revenues (about 640 million Euros), net profit w ...

'', the largest fertilizer factory in the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

, is located nearby. The city is sometimes called "the capital of

midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian mart ...

holiday" ( lt. – ''Joninės'').

History

Jonava was officially established as a city in the 18th century during the times of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. In 1750, the first wooden church was built in Jonava. In 1778, a beer brewery was operating in the town. Around 1812,

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and his army invaded the town and its surrounding villages. In 1923, Jonava was officially recognised as a city-status settlement and in 1950 it became the centre of the municipality. The city had a large Jewish population before World War II - in 1893 92% of the population was Jewish and in 1941 it was 80%. In 1932 there were 250 shops owned by Jewish families, a Jewish bank, 7 synagogues and a Jewish school. During World War II Jonava was attacked by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. A Christian church and five Jewish synagogues were destroyed. The Jews of the city were killed in two massacres, in August and September 1941. A total of 2,108 people were executed by an

Einsatzgruppen (, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the im ...

of Germans and

Lithuanian Self-Defence Units Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

. 200 remaining Jews were kept prisoners at the

Kaunas ghetto The Kovno Ghetto was a ghetto established by Nazi Germany to hold the Lithuanian Jews of Kaunas during the Holocaust. At its peak, the Ghetto held 29,000 people, most of whom were later sent to concentration and extermination camps, or were sh ...

. After the war, the city built the largest fertilizer factory in the

and Jonava become one of the 4 biggest industrial cities in Lithuania.

Environmental catastrophe

An explosion occurred in the chemical fertilizers factory on 20 March 1989, causing a leakage of nearly 7,500 tonnes of liquid

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...

. The

catastrophe Catastrophe or catastrophic comes from the Greek κατά (''kata'') = down; στροφή (''strophē'') = turning ( el, καταστροφή). It may refer to: A general or specific event * Disaster, a devastating event * The Asia Minor Catastro ...

developed further into a fire within the nitrophosphate facility and

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

storehouses polluting the atmosphere with products of their

combustion Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combusti ...

, such as

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a ...

and

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate betwee ...

. The

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

cloud drifted towards

Ukmergė Ukmergė (; previously ''Vilkmergė''; pl, Wiłkomierz) is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, located northwest of Vilnius, with a population of about 20,000. Etymology and variant names The city took its original name ''Vilkmergė'' from th ...

Širvintos Širvintos () is a city in Vilnius County in the eastern part of Lithuania. It is the administrative center of the Širvintos district municipality. The word ''Širvintos'' is the plural form of the name of the Širvinta River, which flows throug ...

and

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population is 23, ...

. The

concentration In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Several types of mathematical description can be distinguished: '' mass concentration'', ''molar concentration'', ''number concentration'', an ...

of ammonia surpassed the permissible level by a factor of 150 in

Upninkai Upninkai is the largest village in Jonava district, Lithuania. It is situated 8 km southwest of Vepriai on the left bank of the Šventoji River. According to the 2011 census, it had population of 786. History Upninkai was first mentione ...

, at 10 km from the disaster site. One day after the accident, a toxic cloud 7 km wide and 50 km long was recorded between Jonava and

. Seven people died during the fire and leakage of ammonia immediately afterward, 29 people became handicapped, and a large number of people suffered from acute respiratory and cardiac attacks. The true extent of damages and health impact from the event is however unknown. What is known is that exposure to ammonia prenatally, especially at a young age can cause serious

brain damage Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...

Administrative divisions

Jonava is divided into 13 city regions: *Senamiestis *Girelė *Miškų ūkis *Paneriai *Lietava *Lakštingalos *Juodmena *Geležinkelio stotis *Baldininkai *Rimkai *Kosmonautai *Skaruliai *Virbalai

Demography

Historical population

Sport

The city has its own "physical culture and sports center" with

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

, swimming pool and

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

. It has already been announced that the city is going to build a new large indoor arena "BC Jonava".

Football

Jonava has 2

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

teams *

FK Jonava Football Club Jonava, previously (1996–2016) known as Football Club Lietava, is a Lithuanian professional association football, football club based in Jonava. The club gained promotion to the A lyga as champions of the I Lyga in 2015 LFF I lyga ...

is playing in the

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. The A Lyga is an abbreviation of Aukščiausia lyga meaning Highest League. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation LFF ( lt, Lietuvos Futbolo Federacija). The Aukš� ...

– First Football Division of Lithuania * FK Jonava B - second team of FK Jonava, playing in the Third Division of Lithuania

Athletics

The marathon runners sport club Maratonas won 4 medals at Vilnius Marathon.

Basketball

Jonava has a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team, founded in 1969; Jonava SK Malsta playing in the National Basketball League (''Nacionalinė Krepšinio Lyga''). There is also a women's basketball team called

BC Jonava The BC Jonava, known for sponsorship reasons as the BC CBet ( lt, Jonavos CBet; en, CBet Jonava), are a Lithuanian professional basketball team based in Jonava. The CBet compete in the Lietuvos Krepšinio Lyga (LKL). The club was officially foun ...

which won bronze medals in the women's Second Basketball Division ( Nacionalinė moterų krepšinio lyga).

Volleyball

Jonava has a strong women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team

Achema-KKSC Achema-KKSC is women's volleyball club from Jonava, 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 s ...

that playing in the highest league A Grupė. In 2010 Jonava held the international "''Alfredas Ogonauskas Memorial Volleyball Championship''".

Competitions

Jonava also hosts some less regular competitions. During the traditional

holiday there was "Jonas's Republic President Cup" of

Rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

Slalom To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to: Sports ;Alpine skiing and/or snowboarding * Slalom skiing, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Giant slalom, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline * Super-G ...

events. In summer seasons there are some occasional

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

tournaments or cross country competitions.

Education

* Jonava adult education center * Jonava Jeronimas Ralys Gymnasium * Jonava Justinas Vareikis Progymnasium * Jonava Lietava comprehensive school * Jonava Neris comprehensive school * Jonava Raimundas Samulevičius Progymnasium * Jonava Old Town Gymnasium * Janina Miščiukaitė art school

Twin towns — sister cities

Jonava is twinned with: *

Děčín Děčín (; german: Tetschen, 1942–1945: ''Tetschen–Bodenbach'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It is the 7th largest municipality in the country by area. Administrative parts D ...

, Czech Republic *

Jõgeva Jõgeva (german: Laisholm) is a small town in Estonia with a population of around 5000 people. It is the capital of Jõgeva Parish and Jõgeva County. History Jõgeva was first mentioned in 1599 as ''Jagiwa'' manor, being established only rec ...

, Estonia *

Kędzierzyn-Koźle Kędzierzyn-Koźle (german: Kandrzin-Cosel, szl, Kandrzin-Koźle) is a city in southern Poland, the administrative center of Kędzierzyn-Koźle County. With 58,899 inhabitants as of 2021, it is the second most-populous city in the Opole Voivodes ...

, Poland *

Riihimäki Riihimäki (literally "Drying barn hill") is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to ...

, Finland *

Pucioasa Pucioasa () is a town in Dâmbovița County, Muntenia, Romania. It administers six villages: Bela, Diaconești, Glodeni, Malurile, Miculești and Pucioasa-Sat. The town is located on the middle course of the Ialomița River, north of Târgovi ...

, Romania *

Smila Smila ( uk, Сміла ) is a city located on Dnieper Upland near the Tyasmyn River, in Cherkasy Raion, Cherkasy Oblast of Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Smila urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Climate Climate in the ci ...

, Ukraine *

Vadul lui Vodă Vadul lui Vodă is a town in the Chișinău municipality, Moldova. It is an eastern suburb of the capital of the country, and is well known as a resort. The town is situated 23 km east of Chișinău on the right (western) bank of the Dnieste ...

, Moldova *

Zugdidi Zugdidi ( ka, ზუგდიდი; xmf, ზუგდიდი or ზუგიდი) is a city in the western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo (Mingrelia). It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kilom ...

, Georgia

Notable residents

Linas Balčiūnas Linas Balčiūnas (born 14 February 1978 in Jonava) is a Lithuanian former road and track cyclist, who represented Lithuania at 1996 and 2004 Summer Olympics. During the 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, he won a gold medal at the Mo ...

, (born 1978), olympic cyclist * Arnoldas Burkovskis (born 1967), manager * Vydas Dolinskas, (born 1970), art scientist *

Israel Davidson Israel Davidson (1870, Jonava, Lithuania⁣ – 1939, Great Neck, New York) was an American writer and publisher of Lithuanian Jews, Lithuanian Jewish heritage. He has been recognized as one of the leading American Hebrew writers in his era. His m ...

(1870-1939), writer *

Dominykas Galkevičius Dominykas Galkevičius (born 16 October 1986, in Jonava) is a Lithuanian retired football midfielder and current head coach of Kauno Žalgiris' B-team. Career Club In November 2010, he came on trial to Serbian side Red Star Belgrade. In 2011, h ...

(born 1986), footballer * S. J. Goldsmith (1915–1995), journalist and editor *

Laurynas Gucevičius Laurynas Gucevičius ( pl, Wawrzyniec Gucewicz; 1753–1798) was an 18th-century architect from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and all of his designs were built there. In his youth he travelled to Italy and Paris and other countries in Western Eur ...

, architect *

Andrius Janukonis Andrius Janukonis (born 1971 in Jonava) is Lithuanian business jurist and entrepreneur. He is Chairman of the Board of UAB ICOR and Supervisory Board Chairman of AB City Service. Biography Andrius Janukonis graduated in 1988 from Jonava 3rd H ...

, (born 1971), businessman * Grigorijus Kanovičius, (born 1929), Jewish writer *

Dainius Kreivys Dainius Kreivys (born 8 April 1970 in Jonava) is a Lithuanian businessman and politician who served as the Minister of Economy of Lithuania from 2008 to 2011 and is a member of Seimas since 2012. He is a member of the conservative political p ...

, (born 1970), politician, Minister of Economy * Juozapas Antanas Kosakovskis, general, Napoleon aide *

Darius Maskoliūnas Darius Maskoliūnas (born 6 January 1971) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player, coach, and politician. He is currently the assistant basketball coach of FC Barcelona, and the head coach of the Lithuania men's national basketball ...

, (born 1971), basketball player * Abra Abrahamas Meirsonas, Harvard professor of neurosurgery * Janina Miščiukaitė (1948–2008), singer *

Abraham Myerson Abraham Myerson (1881–1948) was a Lithuanian neurologist, psychiatrist, clinician, pathologist, and researcher. He had a special interest in the heredity of psychiatric and neurologic disease. Early life and education Myerson was born in Lithua ...

, (1881-1948), neurologist, psychiatric, sociologist * Jeronimas Ralys (1876–1921), translator and medic *

Ričardas Tamulis Ričardas Tamulis (22 July 1938 – 22 April 2008) was an amateur Lithuanian welterweight boxer who won the European title in 1961, 1963 and 1965 and an Olympic silver medal in 1964. Tamulis took up boxing in 1953 and won the Soviet welterweig ...

(1938–2008), boxer *

Artūras Zuokas Artūras Zuokas (born 21 February 1968) is a Lithuanian politician. He is the Chairman of the political party Lithuanian Freedom Union. He was the Mayor of Vilnius from 2000 to 2007 and again from 2011 to 2015. From 2008 to 2009 he was a member ...

, (born 1968), businessman, former Vilnius mayor

Gallery

File:Abraomaskulvietispaminklas.jpg,

Abraomas Kulvietis Abraomas Kulvietis ( la, Abraham Culvensis; pl, Abraham Kulwieć; c. 1509 – 19 June 1545) was a Lithuanian Lutheran jurist and a professor at Königsberg Albertina University, as well as a reformer of the church. Kulvietis was born in Kulva, ...

monument File:Jonava library.jpg, Library of Jonava File:Santavres fontanai.jpg, Fountains in Santarvė squad File:Misciukaites mokykla.jpg, Janina Miščiukaitė School of Art File:Jonavos savivaldybe.jpg, House of municipality government File:05 2011 Jonava.jpg, Sąjūdis square File:Jonavos holokausto kapai.jpg, Location of the mass grave where 2,108 Jews were massacred in 1941 File:Jonavos Šv. apaštalo Jokūbo bažnyčia.jpg, Church of St. James the Apostle in Jonava

References

External links

Jonava Web Page

Portal of Jonava

Article on occasion of the 20th anniversary of ecologic catastrophe in Jonava fertilizers factory
* {{Authority control Cities in Kaunas County Cities in Lithuania Jonava District Municipality Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Kovensky Uyezd Shtetls Holocaust locations in Lithuania

History

Environmental catastrophe

Administrative divisions

Demography

Historical population

Sport

Football

Athletics

Basketball

Volleyball

Competitions

Education

Twin towns — sister cities

Notable residents

Gallery

See also

References

External links