Utena () is a city in north-east

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. It is the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Utena district and

Utena County Utena County () is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is the country's most sparsely populated county. The capital and the largest city in the county is Utena, which is from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. On 1 July 2010, the county admini ...

. Utena is one of the oldest settlements of

. The name of the city is most probably derived from a

hydronym A hydronym (from , , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As a subset of top ...

. The name of the settlement has been known since 1261. Utena is an industrial city. It is known for its clothing, food and beverage factories. In recent years, however, streets, public squares and large areas of the parks in the city were reconstructed and Utena is now more attractive for recreation and tourism. The anniversary of Utena City had been held each year on the last weekend of September. Since 2013 the anniversary has been held on the first weekend of September to take advantage of better weather conditions.

History

Utena was first mentioned in historical documents dating back to 1261. The settlement was a major center of Nalšia. It was part of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

until 1795, when it fell under the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

rule. From 1802 it belonged to the Vilna Governorate until 1843 when it became a part of the

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kovno (Kaunas). It was formed on 18 December 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Nicholas I from the western part of Vilna Govern ...

. The town grew rapidly after the St.Petersburg-Warsaw road was constructed between 1830 and 1835. In 1835–1836, the Utena Postage Station for horse post with lodging houses and stables was constructed, which was used or passed by the

Russian tsars Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, French writer

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

, Russian painter

Ilya Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is today Ukraine. He became one of the most renowned artists in Russian Empire, Russia in the 19th century. His major works include ''Barge Haulers on the Volga' ...

, Lithuanian poet Antanas Baranauskas, Lithuanian national movement figure Jonas Basanavičius, etc. In 1899 a narrow gauge railway line, connecting

Panevėžys Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

-Utena-

Švenčionys Švenčionys (; ; known also by several Švenčionys#Etymology, alternative names) is a city in eastern Lithuania, and capital of the Švenčionys district municipality, located north of Vilnius. , it had a population of 4,065 of which about 17% ...

, was constructed. At the end of the 19th century two big fires devastated the town. Germany occupied Utena from 1915 to 1918, until the Soviet Bolsheviks took over. Following the defeat of Soviets, in June 1919, Utena became a district center in independent Lithuania. Utena, known as the

shtetl or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...

Utyan in Yiddish, historically had a Jewish population. In 1941, approximately 2,000 Jews were rounded up in the town, which was then under the Nazi occupation, and shot in the Rašė Forest about to the north.

Demography

Population

According to the 2021 census, the city population was 25,343 people, of which: *

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

– 95.61% (24,232) *

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

– 2.20% (558) *

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

– 0.63% (160) *

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

– 0.17% (42) *

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

– 0.15% (37) * Others / did not specify – 1.26% (320)

Geography

Utena is located in northeastern

. The city covers 15.1 km² and is the eighth-largest city by area in

. Four rivers cross the city territory: Vyžuona, Krašuona, Vieša and Utenėlė. There are also two lakes in Utena,

Dauniškis Dauniškis is a lake located in Dauniškis park, Utena city, Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Ba ...

and Vyžuonaitis.

Districts

The city is divided into 10 districts: * Aukštakalnis * Ąžuolija * Centras (Center) * Dauniškis * Pramonės rajonas (Industrial district) * Rašė * Vyturiai * Šilinė * Grybeliai * Krašuona

Parks and gardens

* City Garden * Vyžuona Park * Dauniškis Park * Krašuona Park * Aukštakalnis Pine Forest * Rašė Park * Utenėlė Park * Vieša Park * Monkey park

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Utena has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfb''). The lowest temperature ever recorded in Lithuania occurred in Utena: on 1 February 1956.

Sport

FK Utenis Utena plays in

A Lyga The A Lyga is the top division of professional football in Lithuania. It is organized by Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) (). History The first football league was established in Lithuania in 1924, and in various forms existed until 1939. ...

and

BC Juventus BC Juventus (), also known as Uniclub Bet Juventus for sponsorship reasons, is a Lithuanian professional basketball club based in Utena, Lithuania. Founded in 1999, the club currently plays in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, Lithuanian Basketbal ...

plays in LKL. Hometown of Jonas Valančiūnas of the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

. Aidenas Malašinskas is the best handball player in Lithuania (2019, 2021).

Twin towns – sister cities

Utena is twinned with: *

Chełm Chełm (; ; ) is a city in eastern Poland in the Lublin Voivodeship with 60,231 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamość and south of Biała Podlaska, some from the border with Ukraine. The ...

, Poland *

Kovel Kovel (, ; ; ) is a city in Volyn Oblast, northwestern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kovel Raion within the oblast. Population: Kovel gives its name to one of the oldest runic inscriptions which were lost during World War I ...

, Ukraine *

Lidköping Lidköping () is a locality and the seat of Lidköping Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2021. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Vänern and sometimes refers to itself as "Lidkö ...

, Sweden * Pontinia, Italy * Preiļi, Latvia *

Rēzekne Rēzekne (, ''Rēzne'' or ''Rēzekne'' , ) is a state city in the Rēzekne River valley in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called ''The Heart of Latgale'' (Latvian ''Latgales sirds'', Latgalian ''Latgolys sirds''). Built on seven ...

, Latvia *

Třeboň Třeboň (; ) is a spa town in Jindřichův Hradec District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,300 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monum ...

, Czech Republic *

Beit Sahour Beit Sahour or Beit Sahur (; Palestine grid 170/123) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian town east of Bethlehem, in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank in the State of Palestine. The city is under the administration of the Palestinian Nat ...

, Palestine

Gallery

File:Utena, Dauniškis ezers - panoramio.jpg, Dauniškis Lake, 2015 File:Dauniskis 2020.jpg, Lake

, 2020 File:Utena, tvenkinys.JPG, View of a pond File:Utena. Sentikių cerkvės priekis.JPG, Church of the

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists ( Russian: староверы, ''starovery'' or старообрядцы, ''staroobryadtsy'') is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian ...

File:Utenos rajono savivaldybė.JPG, Utena City Council File:Utena, Marijos koplyčia.JPG, Memorial for the Lithuanian partisans File:Utena, krašto muziejus.JPG, Museum of local history File:Utena, ekspozicija lauke.JPG, Museum exposition in the city square

References

External links

Official site

{{Authority control Cities in Utena County Capitals of Lithuanian counties Cities in Lithuania Municipalities administrative centres of Lithuania Vilkomirsky Uyezd Holocaust locations in Lithuania Utena District Municipality