Administrative divisions of Lithuania

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Administrative divisions of Lithuania
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Lithuania is now a country in the Baltic region of Europe.

Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1251–1569)

In the earliest stages of the formation of the Lithuanian state, the area included several "lands" (Lithuanian: plural – žemės, singular – žemė), such as Nalšia, Deltuva and Lietuva (as well as others), each ruled by a regional duke. When King Mindaugas (r. 1251–1263) unified the state, he killed, expelled, or subjugated most of the regional dukes. The lands were either added to the new ruler's domain or granted to members of his family.

As the

Voivodeships (Lithuanian: plural – vaivadijos, singular – vaivadija), ruled by appointed officials – voivodes, were further subdivided into powiats (Lithuanian: plural – pavietai, singular – pavietas).

Major administrative reforms took place in 1564–1566 in preparation for the second

Just before the

After the

Under the

Soviet system (1940–1994)

Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union on June 15, 1940. However, due to ensuring World War II the authorities did not introduce major changes to the administrative divisions, just elderates were renamed to apylinkė.^[14] After the second occupation in 1944, the number of counties grew from 26 to 41: eleven counties were added in 1946–47 and four more were introduced in 1949.^[15] At the end of 1947 there were 37 counties subdivided into 320 townships that were further subdivided into approximately 2,900 apylinkės.^[16]

The entire interwar system was scrapped for the 10th anniversary of the first occupation. The new system matched that of other

The regions were short-lived and on May 28, 1953, they were abolished, leaving the districts as the first-level administrative division. The number of districts was reduced several times, and in 1962 it settled at 44.[2] The region-administered cities were renamed to republic-administered cities (Lithuanian: respublikinio pavaldumo miestas). The number of such cities grew to eleven in 1979.^[18] These cities became the city municipalities after the reform in 1994.

Division of modern Lithuania (since 1994)

See: Counties of Lithuania, Municipalities of Lithuania, Elderships.

In 1994, an administrative division of Lithuania into 10 new counties as the first level of administration was created. However, the structure was modified in 2010 with the abolishment of counties administrations. (The counties continue to be used for statistical and reporting purposes, however.^[19]) Lithuania is divided into:

• 10 counties (Lithuanian: plural – apskritys, singular – apskritis), each named after their principal city (see: Counties of Lithuania). These apskritys should not be confused with apskritys that existed in the interwar period.
• the counties are subdivided into
  60 municipalities
  (Lithuanian: plural – savivaldybės, singular – savivaldybė). There are three types of municipalities:
  • 43 district municipalities (Lithuanian: rajono savivaldybė). They roughly correspond to districts (
    raions) that existed under the Soviet rule. Before 1994 they were known just as districts and still are commonly referred to as districts. The word "municipality" was added in effort to diminish the Soviet heritage (there were districts [raions] throughout the Soviet Union
    );
  • 7 city municipalities (Lithuanian: miesto savivaldybė). They are situated around major or important cities. In common language they are referred to as just cities or as just municipalities (because word "municipality" in Lithuanian language is associated more with cities and city rights than with districts);
  • 10 municipalities. They were all established after 1994 and they do not have the word "district" associated with them.
• municipalities consist of over 500 elderships (Lithuanian: plural – seniūnijos, singular – seniūnija).

Each municipality's government is elected in democratic elections of municipality councils. Initially, the elections took place every three years; constitutional amendments in 2002 extended the tenure to four years. The municipality mayors are elected by municipality councils. Also, municipality councils appoint elders to be in charge of an eldership. Currently it is proposed that both mayors and elders should be elected in direct elections.

Counties were ruled by apskrities viršininkas (officially translated as "governor") who was appointed by the central government in

On 1 July 2010, the county administrations were abolished,^[19] with counties remaining highest level territorial units of Lithuania.

Comparison of post-1918 systems

See also

• Counties (Lithuanian: singular – apskritis, plural – apskritys)
• Municipalities (Lithuanian: plural – savivaldybės, singular – savivaldybė)
• Elderships (or wards) (Lithuanian: plural – seniūnijos, singular – seniūnija).
• Seniūnaitija (sub-eldership, a 4th-level subdivision)
• Cities (Lithuanian: plural – miestai, singular – miestas)
• Towns (Lithuanian: plural – miesteliai, singular – miestelis)
• Villages (Lithuanian: plural – kaimai, singular – kaimas)

References