Elektrenai
Encyclopedia
Elektrėnai is a city of about 14,000 inhabitants in Lithuania
; since 2000 it is the capital of the Elektrėnai municipality
. It is situated between the two largest cities in Lithuania – Vilnius
and Kaunas
.
name of the city. Versions of the name in other languages include Polish
: Elektreny, Russian
: Электре́най Elektrenai, Belarusian
: Электрэны Elektreny, Latvian
: Elektrēni.
Elektrėnai is one of the newest towns of Lithuania, having been established during the Soviet times
as the living space for workers of the nearby power plant. The name of the new town was derived from word "elektrinė" (English: electric plant). Most of the buildings in Elektrėnai are large monolith housing projects built during the Soviet times and there are no historical buildings. The town, however, is close to Elektrėnai Lagoon, an artificial lake that was created in order to cool down the Elektrėnai power plant
. The water is several degrees warmer than water at the other nearby lakes.
XX, Iki
and Rimi
and 2 discounter (Cento and Supernetto) in Elektrėnai. Discounter Norfa not in Elektrėnai.
. For quite some time Elektrėnai was the only city in Lithuania with a large, well-equipped skating rink. Two NHL players - Darius Kasparaitis
and Dainius Zubrus
- were born in the town and trained by Aleksey Nikiforov
, a famous coach who currently resides in Long Island
. Its local ice hockey team, Energija
, is strong and inhabitants of Elektrėnai make a considerable part of the national ice hockey team, despite the fact that the number of Elektrėnai inhabitants makes only a very small portion of Lithuania's population.
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...
; since 2000 it is the capital of the Elektrėnai municipality
Elektrenai municipality
Elektrėnai municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania....
. It is situated between the two largest cities in Lithuania – 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...
and 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...
.
Name
Elektrėnai is the LithuanianLithuanian 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...
name of the city. Versions of the name in other languages include Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
: Elektreny, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Электре́най Elektrenai, Belarusian
Belarusian language
The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
: Электрэны Elektreny, Latvian
Latvian language
Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
: Elektrēni.
History
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
as the living space for workers of the nearby power plant. The name of the new town was derived from word "elektrinė" (English: electric plant). Most of the buildings in Elektrėnai are large monolith housing projects built during the Soviet times and there are no historical buildings. The town, however, is close to Elektrėnai Lagoon, an artificial lake that was created in order to cool down the Elektrėnai power plant
Elektrenai Power Plant
The Elektrėnai Power Plant or Lithuania Power Plant is an 1,800-MW electrical generating station near Elektrėnai, Lithuania, about west of Lithuania's capital, Vilnius. It is operated by Lietuvos Elektrinė, a subsidiary of Lietuvos Energija....
. The water is several degrees warmer than water at the other nearby lakes.
Retail
There are 3 supermarkets (MaximaMaxima
Maxima is a computer algebra system based on a 1982 version of Macsyma. It is written in Common Lisp and runs on all POSIX platforms such as Mac OS X, Unix, BSD, and GNU/Linux as well as under Microsoft Windows...
XX, Iki
Iki
"IKI", as an acronym, can stand for:* The Internationales Kulturinstitut in Vienna.* A loosely organized group of early Finnish internet activists, Internet-käyttäjät ikuisesti .* The chemical compound, Iodine potassium-iodide....
and Rimi
Rimi
Rimi may refer to:* RIMI, a Norwegian retail chain* Rimi Baltic, a Baltic retail chain* Rimi B. Chatterjee, an Indian author* Natsukawa Rimi, an Okinawan singer* Rimi, another name for Aurochs* Rimi, Nepal...
and 2 discounter (Cento and Supernetto) in Elektrėnai. Discounter Norfa not in Elektrėnai.
Ice hockey
Elektrėnai is famous for its tradition of ice hockeyIce hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
. For quite some time Elektrėnai was the only city in Lithuania with a large, well-equipped skating rink. Two NHL players - Darius Kasparaitis
Darius Kasparaitis
Darius Kasparaitis is a retired professional ice hockey defenseman. Known by the nickname Kaspar, he has dual citizenship in both the United States and Russia, and he has played for the Russian national ice hockey team.- Playing career :Kasparaitis left Lithuania for Russia at age 14 after...
and Dainius Zubrus
Dainius Zubrus
Dainius Gintas Zubrus is a Lithuanian professional ice hockey right winger and center currently playing for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League...
- were born in the town and trained by Aleksey Nikiforov
Aleksey Nikiforov
Aleksey Nikiforov is a former professional hockey player for the Dynamo Riga team of the Russian Elite League. He is the father of New York Islanders prospect Vladimir Nikiforov...
, a famous coach who currently resides in Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
. Its local ice hockey team, Energija
SC Energija
SC Energija is a Lithuanian ice hockey team that plays in the Latvian Hockey League. It is based in Elektrėnai.-History:The team was founded in 1991, and promptly won the first four Lithuania Hockey League championships, while not suffering a defeat in their first four seasons.Energija joined the...
, is strong and inhabitants of Elektrėnai make a considerable part of the national ice hockey team, despite the fact that the number of Elektrėnai inhabitants makes only a very small portion of Lithuania's population.