Municipalities of Lithuania

Lithuanian municipalities and elderships map

Location of Lithuania in the European Union

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.<ref name=conf>Template:Cite book</ref> The reform of this system was an immediate concern for the new government.<ref name=coe>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=coe/> The current system of a set of municipalities under 10 counties was codified by 1995.<ref name=coe/> Several changes were made in 2000, resulting in 60 municipalities.<ref name="(Program)Development2007">Template:Cite book</ref>

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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> is elected directly by the residents using the two-round system since 2015 reforms.<ref name="MunicipalLaw">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 (Template:Percentage) of the country's population. The smallest municipality by population is Neringa Municipality with 4,173 (Template:Percentage) residents.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The largest municipality by land area is Varėna District Municipality, which spans Template:Convert, while the smallest is Alytus City Municipality at Template:Convert.

Powers and functions

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

Municipalities

As of January 1, 2024.<ref name=stat/> Template:Static row numbersTemplate:Table alignmentTemplate:Mw-datatable

Municipality		Capital<ref>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 Template:Webarchive.</ref>	County	Region	Area<ref name=stat>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	Populations	Density
A coat of arms depicting orange tools on a white background on the top and an orange sun on a dark green background on the bottom	Akmenė District Municipality	Naujoji Akmenė	Šiauliai	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	19,126	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting orange tools on a white background on the top and an orange sun on a dark green background on the bottom	Alytus City Municipality	Alytus	Alytus	Dzūkija	Template:Convert	51,351	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting three flowers that have red petals, green stalks, and green leaves all sprouting from green earth	Alytus District Municipality	Alytus	Alytus	Dzūkija	Template:Convert	25,464	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a brown bridge rising up out of a blue body of water into a blue sky with white clouds	Anykščiai District Municipality	Anykščiai	Utena	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	22,372	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a sea creature with sharp teeth, one protruding bottom tooth, and a blowhole spewing water	Birštonas Municipality	Birštonas	Kaunas	Dzūkija	Template:Convert	4,087	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a white flag with a black bird on it with a yellow beak and yellow claws all on a yellow background	Biržai District Municipality	Biržai	Panevėžys	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	22,111	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting three golden crowns with five spikes protruding from their tops all on a blue background	Druskininkai Municipality	Druskininkai	Alytus	Dzūkija	Template:Convert	20,103	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting three yellow, diagonal lines zig-zagging from the bottom left to the top right on a grey background	Elektrėnai Municipality	Elektrėnai	Vilnius	Dzūkija	Template:Convert	24,745	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting three white flowers lined up vertically with four yellow seeds surrounding each all on a blue background	Ignalina District Municipality	Ignalina	Utena	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	13,814	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a white bird with wings outspread, a red beak, and red feet all on a dark blue background	Jonava District Municipality	Jonava	Kaunas	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	41,489	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting an angel in full body armour and wings outspread while standing on a green dragon with a twisted tail	Joniškis District Municipality	Joniškis	Šiauliai	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	20,289	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting three grey fleurs-de-lis, two directly across from each other at the top and one on the bottom, all on a red background	Jurbarkas District Municipality	Jurbarkas	Tauragė	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	25,443	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting four grey horses with red eyes galloping both to the left and to the right all on a black background	Kaišiadorys District Municipality	Kaišiadorys	Kaunas	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	29,062	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a grey castle on a red background on the left and a blue eye in a yellow triangle on the right	Kalvarija Municipality	Kalvarija	Marijampolė	Suvalkija	Template:Convert	9,734	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a white bull with an angry expression and a golden cross protruding from its head all on a red background	Kaunas City Municipality	Kaunas	Kaunas	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	304,198	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a grey bull's head with a golden cross protruding from the top all on a red crest on a blue background	Kaunas District Municipality	Kaunas	Kaunas	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	106,277	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting six yellow stars in a diagonal line running from the bottom left to the top right all on a black background	Kazlų Rūda Municipality	Kazlų Rūda	Marijampolė	Suvalkija	Template:Convert	10,835	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a black wing attached to a black tallon holding a white horseshoe attached to three yellow spurs	Kėdainiai District Municipality	Kėdainiai	Kaunas	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	45,923	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a white wheel on a light blue background at the top and three white leaves on a green background at the bottom	Kelmė District Municipality	Kelmė	Šiauliai	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	24,347	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a golden castle with three turrets surrounded with four golden stars all on a red background	Klaipėda City Municipality	Klaipėda	Klaipėda	Prūsija	Template:Convert	159,396	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a sword with a gold hilt and a silver blade penetrating a green wreath all on a red background	Klaipėda District Municipality	Klaipėda	Klaipėda	Prūsija	Template:Convert	67,280	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a woman clothed in blue and brown wearing a golden crown and carrying a baby all on a grey background	Kretinga District Municipality	Kretinga	Klaipėda	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	37,433	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a black, six-pointed star on a golden background on the bottom and grey swirls on a blue background on the top	Kupiškis District Municipality	Kupiškis	Panevėžys	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	15,765	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a golden moose with large antlers and a protruding red tongue hovering over three black keys	Lazdijai District Municipality	Lazdijai	Alytus	Dzūkija	Template:Convert	17,201	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a man in full body armour riding a brown horse that is trampling a black dragon all on a yellow background	Marijampolė Municipality	Marijampolė	Marijampolė	Suvalkija	Template:Convert	54,590	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a golden arrow with a zig-zag in the middle of it pulled back on a golden bow all on a blue background	Mažeikiai District Municipality	Mažeikiai	Telšiai	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	51,909	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a golden key on a red background at the top and three blue birds on a white background at the bottom	Molėtai District Municipality	Molėtai	Utena	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	16,517	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a white "N" on a blue background at the bottom and a series of black and white shapes at the top	Neringa Municipality	Nida	Klaipėda	Prūsija	Template:Convert	4,265	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a grey bird with a golden eye and wings outstretched holding a golden key all on a green background	Pagėgiai Municipality	Pagėgiai	Tauragė	Prūsija	Template:Convert	7,059	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a yellow windmill on a red crest hovering over a black bridge all on a yellow background	Pakruojis District Municipality	Pakruojis	Šiauliai	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	17,870	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a circle for which the boundary is itself made up of beige circles all under a silver crown on a blue background	Palanga City Municipality	Palanga	Klaipėda	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	18,066	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a red castle with black double doors, two black windows, and one central tower all standing on black ground	Panevėžys City Municipality	Panevėžys	Panevėžys	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	86,599	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting two grey sheaves of wheat on a blue background at the top and a red plowshare on a grey background at the bottom	Panevėžys District Municipality	Panevėžys	Panevėžys	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	35,378	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting the black head of a bull with a golden vine entangled in its black horns and a golden ring protruding from its nose	Pasvalys District Municipality	Pasvalys	Panevėžys	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	21,930	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting the Eye of Providence with a blue iris encapsulated in a golden triangle surrounded in golden rays all on a blue background	Plungė District Municipality	Plungė	Telšiai	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	33,042	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a man in full body armour riding a brown horse that is tramplinga green dragon spewing red flames from its mouth	Prienai District Municipality	Prienai	Kaunas	Suvalkija	Template:Convert	24,675	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a silver horse that is rearing and neighing all on a dark green background bordered by a thin silver line	Radviliškis District Municipality	Radviliškis	Šiauliai	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	34,302	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a golden lynx with black spots, a red tongue, white teeth, and white claws standing on its back paws on green turf	Raseiniai District Municipality	Raseiniai	Kaunas	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	29,769	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a golden lion holding a silver-bladed sword in its mouth with a golden hilt and standing on green turf all on a blue background	Rietavas Municipality	Rietavas	Telšiai	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	7,115	Template:Round
A coat of arms divided into four sections, the top left and bottom right of which are red, the bottom left of which is blue, and the top right of which is golden	Rokiškis District Municipality	Rokiškis	Panevėžys	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	27,288	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a grey castle with three towers topped by crosses with a human head on the front door all on a blue background	Skuodas District Municipality	Skuodas	Klaipėda	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	15,201	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting two grey sheaves of wheat on a red background on the left and six black, curved lines on a grey background on the right	Šakiai District Municipality	Šakiai	Marijampolė	Suvalkija	Template:Convert	25,603	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a golden key overlapping a silver key on a blue background at the top and three golden nuts on a red background on the bottom	Šalčininkai District Municipality	Šalčininkai	Vilnius	Dzūkija	Template:Convert	29,888	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a black bear with a silver collar on a red background on the left and a blue eye in a grey triangle on the right	Šiauliai City Municipality	Šiauliai	Šiauliai	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	110,461	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting an angry, grey bear with yellow claws and a long, red tongue gripping a yellow axe in its paws all on a blue background	Šiauliai District Municipality	Šiauliai	Šiauliai	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	40,565	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting five red leaves in a straight, horizontal row on a grey background at the top and five grey leaves on a red background at the bottom	Šilalė District Municipality	Šilalė	Tauragė	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	20,861	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a grey boat hovering over two partitions of grey water that are themselves hovering over a grey horn all on a green-and-black background	Šilutė District Municipality	Šilutė	Klaipėda	Prūsija	Template:Convert	38,331	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a silver-bladed sword with a golden hilt standing erect between the silver antlers of a silver moose head	Širvintos District Municipality	Širvintos	Vilnius	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	14,668	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a silver fish swimming to the right on the top and another fish swimming to the left on the bottom all on a blue background	Švenčionys District Municipality	Švenčionys	Vilnius	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	21,795	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a rounded, silver horn hung up by a rounded, silver strap all on a solid red background bordered by a black line	Tauragė District Municipality	Tauragė	Tauragė	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	37,215	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a bishop in brown robes with a brown mitre on his head surrounded by a golden halo looking at another man	Telšiai District Municipality	Telšiai	Telšiai	Žemaitija	Template:Convert	38,852	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a man in full body armour holding a white spear in his right hand and a red-and-yellow shield in his left hand	Trakai District Municipality	Trakai	Vilnius	Dzūkija	Template:Convert	34,595	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting an open book with a red rose on one page and a red bull on the other all hovering over a red heart with a building in the background	Ukmergė District Municipality	Ukmergė	Vilnius	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	34,023	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a golden horseshoe hovering over a white, 8-point star all on a blue background bordered by a thin, black line	Utena District Municipality	Utena	Utena	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	39,671	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a golden scarab with wings and legs outstretched flying over six purple flowers all on a blue background	Varėna District Municipality	Varėna	Alytus	Dzūkija	Template:Convert	20,082	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a large, red fleur-de-lis that has a horizontal symmetry axis all on a blue background bordered by a black line	Vilkaviškis District Municipality	Vilkaviškis	Marijampolė	Suvalkija	Template:Convert	33,906	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a white man with a white cape holding a golden staff and giving a ride to a white, golden-haloed child on his shoulder	Vilnius City Municipality	Vilnius	Vilnius	Dzūkija	Template:Convert	602,430	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a man in full body armour riding a black horse and carrying a white spear with a golden blade in his right hand	Vilnius District Municipality	Vilnius	Vilnius	Dzūkija	Template:Convert	106,197	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a grey bird with a long, twisting neck, a yellow, pointy beak, and long yellow legs all on a dark blue background	Visaginas Municipality	Visaginas	Utena	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	19,584	Template:Round
A coat of arms depicting a grey animal with the body of a fish and the head of a deer on a blue background at the top and a sword on the bottom	Zarasai District Municipality	Zarasai	Utena	Aukštaitija	Template:Convert	14,368	Template:Round

See also

• ISO 3166-2:LT

• 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

Notes

References

Sources

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