Šiauliai County ( lt, Šiaulių apskritis) is one of ten

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), 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. Lithuania ...

. It is in the north of the country, and its

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

Šiauliai Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...

. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Šiauliai County remains as the territorial and statistical unit.

History

Formation of administrative regions in Lithuania started in the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was Partitions of Poland, partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Empire of ...

in the 18th century. In October 1795,

Catherine II of Russia , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

granted Šiauliai the city rights and the privilege to become the capital town of the region. Administrative division of

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

remained unchanged up to the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. When the war came to its end, in 1918 Lithuania was restored as an independent state. On December 17, 1918, a circular No.1 was issued "On Municipalities in Lithuania" that declared that the entire area of Lithuania would be divided into the regions - apskritys (county sometimes translated into English as a provinces or counties). There were 10 apskritys in Lithuania. In 1937 Siauliai county's overall territory was 6042 km² and 210 thousands people lived there. It was the largest apskritis in Lithuania. In 1940 the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

occupied Lithuania and reformed the administrative system. The county system remained until 1950 when the counties were abolished and entire area was divided into smaller units - districts, or rajonas in Lithuanian. Only in 1994 - four years after the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990 - the apskritys were created again. However, the interwar apskritys should not be mixed with current apskritys, as their purpose, sizes, and number are all different, see

administrative division of Lithuania This article is about the administrative divisions of Lithuania. Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1251–1569) In the earliest stages of the formation of the Lithuanian state, the area included several "lands" (Lithuanian: plural – ', singular – ' ...

. The entire area of Lithuania is currently divided into 10 larger units - apskritys and smaller districts, consisting of urban and rural elderships.

Municipalities

The County encompasses municipalities of:

References

External links

Social and demographic characteristics of Šiauliai CountyEconomy of Šiauliai CountyEnvironment of Šiauliai CountyŠiauliai Region Main Post Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siauliai County Counties of Lithuania