Counties of Lithuania
Overview
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
is divided into 10 counties (Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
: singular apskritis, plural apskritys), all named after their capitals. The counties are divided into 60 municipalities
Municipalities of Lithuania
Lithuania is a country, situated in Northern Europe. It is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Council of Europe and NATO. As of 2010, it had a population of approximately 3.3 million, and an area of . In the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and...
(Lithuanian: singular savivaldybė, plural savivaldybės): 9 city municipalities, 43 district municipalities and 8 municipalities. Each municipality is then divided into elderates (Lithuanian: singular seniūnija, plural seniūnijos).
Unanswered Questions
Encyclopedia
The territory of Lithuania
is divided into 10 counties (Lithuanian
: singular apskritis, plural apskritys), all named after their capitals. The counties are divided into 60 municipalities
(Lithuanian: singular savivaldybė, plural savivaldybės): 9 city municipalities, 43 district municipalities and 8 municipalities. Each municipality is then divided into elderates (Lithuanian: singular seniūnija, plural seniūnijos). This division was created in 1994 and slightly modified in 2000.
Counties are administered by county governors (Lithuanian: singular apskrities viršininkas, plural apskrities viršininkai) who are appointed by the central government in Vilnius
. Their primary duty is to ensure that the municipalities obey the laws and the Constitution of Lithuania
. They do not have great powers vested in them, and so it is suggested that 10 counties are too much for Lithuania as the two smallest counties administer only four municipalities. There is a proposal to replace the counties with four or five lands, a new administrative unit, that would be decided according to the ethnographic regions of Lithuania
and based on the 5 major cities with the population more than 100,000. On 1 July 2010, the county administrations were abolished, and since that date, counties remains as the territorial and statistical units.
Modern apskritys should not be confused with apskritys that existed in the independent Lithuania during the interwar period
. At that time Lithuania had a two-step administrative division: apskritys that were subdivided into valsčius. Lithuania now has a three-step division: counties, municipalities, and elderates (apkritys, savivaldybės, and seniūnijos). See subdivisions of Lithuania for details.
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| Klaipėda County
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| Klaipėda
| 5,209 (7)
| 385,768
| 378,843 (3)
| 72.7 (3)
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| Marijampolė County
(listen • info)
| Marijampolė
| 4,463 (8)
| 188,634
| 181,219 (6)
| 40.6 (5)
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| Panevėžys County
(listen • info)
| Panevėžys
| 7,881 (4)
| 299,990
| 284,235 (5)
| 36.1 (7)
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| Šiauliai County
(listen • info)
| Šiauliai
| 8,540 (2)
| 370,096
| 349,876 (4)
| 41.0 (4)
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| Tauragė County
(listen • info)
| Tauragė
| 4,411 (9)
| 134,275
| 127,378 (10)
| 28.9 (9)
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| Telšiai County
(listen • info)
| Telšiai
| 4,350 (10)
| 179,885
| 173,383 (8)
| 39.9 (6)
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| 9
| Utena County
(listen • info)
| Utena
| 7,201 (5)
| 185,962
| 172,580 (9)
| 24.0 (10)
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| 10
| Vilnius County
(listen • info)
| Vilnius
| 9,729 (1)
| 850,064
| 848,097 (1)
| 87.2 (1)
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Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
is divided into 10 counties (Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
: singular apskritis, plural apskritys), all named after their capitals. The counties are divided into 60 municipalities
Municipalities of Lithuania
Lithuania is a country, situated in Northern Europe. It is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Council of Europe and NATO. As of 2010, it had a population of approximately 3.3 million, and an area of . In the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and...
(Lithuanian: singular savivaldybė, plural savivaldybės): 9 city municipalities, 43 district municipalities and 8 municipalities. Each municipality is then divided into elderates (Lithuanian: singular seniūnija, plural seniūnijos). This division was created in 1994 and slightly modified in 2000.
Counties are administered by county governors (Lithuanian: singular apskrities viršininkas, plural apskrities viršininkai) who are appointed by the central government in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
. Their primary duty is to ensure that the municipalities obey the laws and the Constitution of Lithuania
Constitution of Lithuania
The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. It was approved in a referendum on October 25, 1992.-History:...
. They do not have great powers vested in them, and so it is suggested that 10 counties are too much for Lithuania as the two smallest counties administer only four municipalities. There is a proposal to replace the counties with four or five lands, a new administrative unit, that would be decided according to the ethnographic regions of Lithuania
Regions of Lithuania
Lithuania can be divided into historical and cultural regions . The exact borders are not fully clear, as the regions are not official political or administrative units. They are delimited by culture, such as country traditions, traditional lifestyle, songs, tales, etc. To some extent regions...
and based on the 5 major cities with the population more than 100,000. On 1 July 2010, the county administrations were abolished, and since that date, counties remains as the territorial and statistical units.
Modern apskritys should not be confused with apskritys that existed in the independent Lithuania during the interwar period
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
. At that time Lithuania had a two-step administrative division: apskritys that were subdivided into valsčius. Lithuania now has a three-step division: counties, municipalities, and elderates (apkritys, savivaldybės, and seniūnijos). See subdivisions of Lithuania for details.
Map
This map shows counties as well as municipalities. Eight city municipalities and two municipalities are marked by numbers:1 Vilnius city municipality Vilnius city municipality The Vilnius city municipality , is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It is in the southeastern part of country, in Vilnius County and consists of the city of Vilnius, the town of Grigiškės and some rural areas.- History :... 2 Kaunas city municipality 3 Klaipėda city municipality |
4 Panevėžys city municipality 5 Šiauliai city municipality 6 Alytus city municipality |
7 Birštonas municipality Birštonas municipality -Mayors:#Algirdas Radauskas # Antanas Zenkevičius # Algirdas Radauskas # Antanas Zenkevičius # Nijolė Dirginčienė # Antanas Zenkevičius # Nijolė Dirginčienė... 8 Palanga city municipality 9 Visaginas city municipality 10 Neringa municipality Neringa municipality Neringa municipality or Neringa is a municipality in westernmost Lithuania, in the Curonian Spit. In terms of population, it is the smallest municipality of the country. Until the Lithuanian municipality reform, it was known as Neringa city, although there was never a true city there... |
List
| # | County (media help) | Capital | Area in km² (rank) | Population in 2001 (census) |
Population in 2008 (rank) !! Population per km² (rank) !! Municipalities |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alytus County Alytus County Alytus County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is the southernmost county, and its capital is the city of Alytus. Its territory lies within the ethnographic region of Dzūkija... (listen • info)  |
Alytus Alytus Alytus is a city with municipal rights in southern Lithuania. It is the capital of Alytus County. Its population in 2007 was 68,835. Alytus is the historical centre of the Dzūkija region. The city lies on the banks of the Nemunas River. The major highways linking Vilnius, Kaunas, Lazdijai, and... |
5,425 (6) | 187,769 | 177,040 (7) | 32.6 (8) |
|
| 2 | Kaunas County Kaunas County Kaunas County is one of ten counties of Lithuania. It is in the centre of the country, and its capital is Kaunas... (listen • info)  |
Kaunas Kaunas Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation... |
8,089 (3) | 701,529 | 673,706 (2) | 83.3 (2) |
Birštonas municipality -Mayors:#Algirdas Radauskas # Antanas Zenkevičius # Algirdas Radauskas # Antanas Zenkevičius # Nijolė Dirginčienė # Antanas Zenkevičius # Nijolė Dirginčienė... Jonava district municipality - Elderships :*Bukonys*Dumsiai*Jonava*Kulva*Rukla*Šilai*Upninkai*Užusaliai*Žeimiai- Structure :District structure:* 1 city – Jonava;* 3 towns – Panoteriai, Rukla and Žeimiai;* 277 villages.Biggest population :* Jonava – 34954* Rukla – 2376... Kaišiadorys district municipality Kaišiadorys district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania.-External links:* Žasliai is in Kaišiadorys District... Kaunas district municipality Kaunas district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. The seat of the municipality is the city of Kaunas. It surrounds the Kaunas city municipality from the north, west and south, while in the east Kaunas district municipality borders Kaišiadorys district municipality... Kedainiai district municipality - Structure :District structure:* 1 city – Kėdainiai;* 10 towns – Akademija, Kėdainiai, Dotnuva, Gudžiūnai, Josvainiai, Krakės, Pagiriai, Pernarava, Surviliškis, Šėta and Truskava;* 534 villages.Biggest population :*Kėdainiai – 32048*Josvainiai – 1545... Prienai district municipality -References:... Raseiniai district municipality -References:... |
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| Klaipėda County
Klaipeda County
Klaipėda County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It lies in the west of the country and is the only county to have a coastline. Its capital is Klaipėda...
(listen • info)
| Klaipėda
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
| 5,209 (7)
| 385,768
| 378,843 (3)
| 72.7 (3)
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- Klaipėda city municipality
- Klaipėda district municipalityKlaipeda district municipalityKlaipėda district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania.- Elderships :There are 11 elderships in Klaipėda district municipality:*Agluonėnai eldership*Dauparai-Kvietiniai eldership...
- Kretinga district municipalityKretinga district municipalityKretinga district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
- Neringa municipalityNeringa municipalityNeringa municipality or Neringa is a municipality in westernmost Lithuania, in the Curonian Spit. In terms of population, it is the smallest municipality of the country. Until the Lithuanian municipality reform, it was known as Neringa city, although there was never a true city there...
- Palanga city municipality
- Skuodas district municipality
- Šilutė district municipalityŠilute district municipalityŠilutė district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It is known for spring floods when ice on Neman River starts melting. This is the only municipality in Lithuania that gets flooded on regular basis....
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| Marijampolė County
Marijampole County
Marijampolė County is one of the ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the south of the country in the historical Suvalkija region, and its capital is the town Marijampolė...
(listen • info)
| Marijampolė
Marijampole
Marijampolė is an industrial city and the capital of the Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The population of Marijampolė is 48,700...
| 4,463 (8)
| 188,634
| 181,219 (6)
| 40.6 (5)
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- Kalvarija municipalityKalvarija municipalityKalvarija district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
- Kazlų Rūda municipalityKazlu Ruda municipality-References:...
- Marijampolė municipalityMarijampole municipalityMarijampolė municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
- Šakiai district municipalityŠakiai district municipalityŠakiai district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
- Vilkaviškis district municipalityVilkaviškis district municipalityVilkaviškis district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
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| Panevėžys County
Panevežys County
Panevėžys County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the north-east of the country, and its capital is Panevėžys. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Panevėžys County remains as the territorial and statistical unit.- History :Historical documents...
(listen • info)
| Panevėžys
Panevežys
Panevėžys see also other names, is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2008, it occupied 50 square kilometers with 113,653 inhabitants. The largest multifunctional arena in Panevėžys is the Cido Arena...
| 7,881 (4)
| 299,990
| 284,235 (5)
| 36.1 (7)
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- Biržai district municipalityBiržai district municipalityBiržai district municipality Lithuanian municipality, located in northern Lithuania, Aukštaitija ethnographic region, Panevėžys County.The towns of Biržai and Vabalninkas lie within the district. About 64% of its land is agricultural, including a number of organic farms...
- Kupiškis district municipalityKupiškis district municipalityKupiškis district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
- Panevėžys city municipality
- Panevėžys district municipalityPanevežys district municipality-References:...
- Pasvalys district municipalityPasvalys district municipalityPasvalys district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
- Rokiškis district municipalityRokiškis district municipalityRokiškis district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
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| Šiauliai County
Šiauliai County
Šiauliai County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the north of the country, and its capital is Šiauliai...
(listen • info)
| Šiauliai
Šiauliai
Šiauliai , is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 133,900. It is the capital of Šiauliai County. Unofficially, the city is the capital of Northern Lithuania.-Names:...
| 8,540 (2)
| 370,096
| 349,876 (4)
| 41.0 (4)
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- Akmenė district municipalityAkmene district municipalityAkmenė district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It lies in the northwest of the country, with administrative centre in Naujoji Akmene and borders Latvia in the north, Joniškis district municipality in the east, Šiauliai district municipality in the southeast, Telšiai...
- Joniškis district municipalityJoniškis district municipalityJoniškis district municipality is a territorial unit of Lithuania with a population of about 30,000. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Joniškis.-References:...
- Kelmė district municipalityKelme district municipalityKelmė district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania, located in western part of Lithuania....
- Pakruojis district municipalityPakruojis district municipalityPakruojis district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It is an agricultural district, situated in the north of Lithuania and bordering with Latvia. The rivers Kruoja, Mūša and others flow through the district. Forests occupy 16.7% of the territory of the Pakruojis district...
- Radviliškis district municipalityRadviliškis district municipalityRadviliškis district municipality is one of the seven municipalities of Šiauliai County in Lithuania. Radviliškis town has been its center since 1950.Radviliškis district has 13 subdivisions or elderships .-Industry:...
- Šiauliai city municipality
- Šiauliai district municipalityŠiauliai district municipality-References:...
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| Tauragė County
Taurage County
Tauragė County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Tauragė...
(listen • info)
| Tauragė
Taurage
Tauragė is an industrial city in Lithuania, and the capital of Tauragė County. In 2011, its population was 26,444. Tauragė is situated on the Jūra River, close to the border with the Kaliningrad Oblast, and not far from the Baltic Sea coast....
| 4,411 (9)
| 134,275
| 127,378 (10)
| 28.9 (9)
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- Jurbarkas district municipalityJurbarkas district municipalityJurbarkas district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
- Pagėgiai municipalityPagegiai municipalityPagėgiai district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
- Šilalė district municipalityŠilale district municipalityŠilalė district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
- Tauragė district municipalityTaurage district municipalityTauragė district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
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| Telšiai County
Telšiai County
Telšiai County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Telšiai...
(listen • info)
| Telšiai
Telšiai
Telšiai , is a city in Lithuania with about 35,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County and Samogitia region, and it is located on Lake Mastis.-Names:...
| 4,350 (10)
| 179,885
| 173,383 (8)
| 39.9 (6)
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- Mažeikiai district municipalityMažeikiai district municipalityMažeikiai district municipality is in north-west Lithuania, on the Venta River . The administrative center of Mažeikiai district is the town of Mažeikiai...
- Plungė district municipalityPlunge district municipalityPlungė district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania.-Tourism and pilgrimage:Major tourist attraction is Lake Plateliai and nearby town Plateliai...
- Rietavas municipalityRietavas municipalityRietavas municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
- Telšiai district municipalityTelšiai district municipalityTelšiai district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania, containing the city of Telšiai.-References:...
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| Utena County
Utena County
Utena County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is the most sparsely-populated county in Lithuania. The capital and the largest city in the county is Utena, which is located from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania...
(listen • info)
| Utena
| 7,201 (5)
| 185,962
| 172,580 (9)
| 24.0 (10)
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- Anykščiai district municipalityAnykšciai district municipalityAnykščiai district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania.- Structure :District structure:* 3 cities – Anykščiai, Kavarskas and Troškūnai;* 8 towns – Andrioniškis, Debeikiai, Kurkliai, Skiemonys, Surdegis, Svėdasai, Traupis and Viešintos;...
- Ignalina district municipalityIgnalina district municipality- Structure :District structure:* 2 cities – Dūkštas and Ignalina;* 3 towns – Mielagėnai, Rimšė and Tverečius;* 726 villages.Largest population :*Ignalina – 6591*Didžiasalis – 1744*Vidiškės – 1084*Dūkštas – 1070*Kazitiškis – 383*Strigailiškis – 334...
- Molėtai district municipalityMoletai district municipalityThe Molėtai district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania.Molėtai is known for its many lakes. There are about 220 lakes in the district and they cover about 7% of the total territory. Since it is only about 60 km north of Vilnius, many Vilnians own summer homes there. The area...
- Utena district municipalityUtena district municipality-References:...
- Visaginas city municipality
- Zarasai district municipalityZarasai district municipalityZarasai district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It borders with Latvia and Belarus.-Population:The district has two cities: Zarasai and Dukstai, three small towns : Antalieptė, Salakas, and Turmantas]] and about 800 rural settlements .-Geography and attractions:30% of the...
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| Vilnius County
Vilnius County
Vilnius County is the largest of the 10 counties of Lithuania, located in the east of the country around the city Vilnius. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Vilnius County remains as the territorial and statistical unit.-History:Until the Partitions of...
(listen • info)
| Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
| 9,729 (1)
| 850,064
| 848,097 (1)
| 87.2 (1)
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- Elektrėnai municipalityElektrenai municipalityElektrėnai municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
- Šalčininkai district municipalityŠalcininkai district municipalityŠalčininkai district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania.It has one of biggest Polish minority populations in Lithuania, with 31,223 or over 80% of the population claiming Polish ethnicity. Šalčininkai is the largest town in and the center of the region.-References:...
- Širvintos district municipalityŠirvintos district municipalityŠirvintos district municipality is a municipality in Lithuania, it is in territory of Vilniaus Apskritis and its capital is Širvintos.-Geography:...
- Švenčionys district municipalityŠvencionys district municipality-Twin towns — Sister cities:Švenčionys district municipality is twinned with the following towns: Świdnica, Poland...
- Trakai district municipalityTrakai district municipality-History:The Trakai district became significant early in its history due to the Old Trakai Castle built by the Grand Duke Gediminas in the 13th century. Many other castles were built in the area soon after this one, including the Trakai Peninsula Castle and the Trakai Island Castle...
- Ukmergė district municipalityUkmerge district municipalityThe Ukmergė district municipality is a municipality in Vilnius County, Lithuania. The capital of the municipality is Ukmergė, the largest settlement and only city in the municipality...
- Vilnius city municipalityVilnius city municipalityThe Vilnius city municipality , is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It is in the southeastern part of country, in Vilnius County and consists of the city of Vilnius, the town of Grigiškės and some rural areas.- History :...
- Vilnius district municipalityVilnius district municipalityVilnius district municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It surrounds the capital on 3 sides, and the Trakai district municipality touches it on one....
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See also
- Subdivisions of Lithuania
- Municipalities of LithuaniaMunicipalities of LithuaniaLithuania is a country, situated in Northern Europe. It is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Council of Europe and NATO. As of 2010, it had a population of approximately 3.3 million, and an area of . In the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and...
- Elderships of Lithuania
- ISO 3166-2:LTISO 3166-2:LTISO 3166-2:LT is the entry for Lithuania in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization , which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.Currently for Lithuania, ISO 3166-2 codes are...