A ''seniūnija'' (in English: eldership, elderate, ward, parish, or subdistrict) is the smallest administrative division 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 ...

. An eldership may comprise a very small

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

consisting of few

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

s, one single

town 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 o ...

, or a part of a big

city 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 ...

. Elderships vary in size and population depending on their location and nature. A few elderships make up a

municipality 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 ...

. Šilainiai (Kaunas) and Dainava (Kaunas) are the most populous elderates, with population counts over , exceeding the population of some entire municipalities. Elderships manage small-scale local matters, such as repairing pavements and dirt roads, and keep records on all families living in the eldership. The premise of the concept is that - unlike in higher administrative divisions - an

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and ...

(the

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

of the eldership) could have time to talk to every person in the eldership who wants to. Modern Lithuania is divided into 10 counties, 60 municipalities, and 546 elderships. Elderships function as municipal districts. In cities, an elder is elected to each eldership district, along with a mayor for the city. Which Major City in Lithuania are any of the Lithuanian Elderships closest to

Which Major City in Lithuania are any of the Lithuanian Elderships closest to

In the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was Partitions of Poland, partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Empire of ...

the term referred to significantly larger administrative units, ''Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštijos administracinio teritorinio suskirstymo raida'' ("Development of the administrative territorial division of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania"), '' Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija'', vol. XII (Lietuva)such as the Eldership of Samogitia, the name of the Duchy of Samogitia during 1422-1441.

References

Subdivisions of Lithuania Lithuania 3 Elderships, Lithuania {{Lithuania-stub

See also

References