City (Lithuania)

In Lithuania, there are 103 cities (). The term ''city'' is defined by the Parliament of Lithuania as a compact urban area with more than 3,000 people, of whom at least two-thirds work in the industry or service sector. Settlements with a population of less than 3,000 but with historical city status are still considered to be cities. Smaller settlements are known as towns (), and even smaller settlements are known as villages (). Often the official status of these smaller settlements are unclear, and people simply refer to both towns and villages as settlements ().

The cities started to form between the 13th and 14th centuries together with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first to receive city rights was Klaipėda. According to medieval law, a city could have its own fairs, taverns, guilds, courts, etc. Some former cities lost their status and are now just towns or villages, for example Kernavė and Merkinė. Most of the cities in Lithuania were established before the 18th century. Their location is mostly determined by trade and transportation routes. Some of the newer cities grew because of railroad construction, for example Kaišiadorys, Vievis, Radviliškis, Ignalina and Mažeikiai. In the 20th century, new cities grew primarily to service state developed industrial complexes, for example Visaginas, Elektrėnai and Naujoji Akmenė.

Of over 100 cities, only 14 have populations of over 20,000. Five cities (Birštonas, Druskininkai, Neringa, Palanga and Anykščiai) have a special resort status. Cities are quite evenly spread out through the territory of Lithuania. At the 2001 census, 66.7% of the population lived in cities. At the 2021 census the proportion had increased slightly to 68.2% of the population.

Cities with over 50,000 inhabitants

Cities between 20,000 and 50,000 inhabitants

Cities between 5,000 and 20,000 inhabitants

Cities between 1,000 and 5,000 inhabitants

Remaining cities in Lithuania

The smallest cities in Lithuania that have below 1,000 inhabitants. The counties are ranked by number of cities and further ranked by the population of the largest one. Cities are ranked by the size of the population.

;Panevėžys County (5): Subačius, Obeliai, Vabalninkas, Pandėlys, Joniškėlis.
;Utena County (4): Dūkštas, Kavarskas, Dusetos, Troškūnai.
;Telšiai County (2): Varniai, Seda.
;Tauragė County (2): Smalininkai, Panemunė.
;Marijampolė County (1): Virbalis.
;Šiauliai County (1): Užventis.
;Vilnius County (1): Baltoji Vokė.
;Alytus County (1): Daugai.

Map of Lithuanian cities by population

Gallery

File:Kauno_senamiestis_by_Augustas_Didzgalvis.jpg , Kaunas
File:Quite_summer_evening_in_the_port_city_Klaipeda.jpg , Klaipėda
File:SVK pastatai 2022.jpg , Šiauliai
File:Pnv2 by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg , Panevėžys
File:Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, in Alytus, Lithuania in 2014.jpg , Alytus
File:Marijampolė_-_panoramio_(1).jpg , Marijampolė
File:Modern skyline of Mažeikiai in 2006.jpg , Mažeikiai
File:Jonavos_Panorama_2014.jpg , Jonava
File:Aukštakalnis.jpg , Utena
File:Kedainiai14. 2007-05-06.jpg , Kėdainiai
File:Telšių_Švč._Mergelės_ėmimo_į_dangų_bažnyčia.jpg , Telšiai
File:Ukmergės_Trejybės_bažnyčia,_iš_aukštai.JPG , Ukmergė
File:Tauragė2012.JPG , Tauragė
File:Unnamed2 - panoramio (1759).jpg , Visaginas
File:Plungė St John the Baptist church building complex and Lourdes replica with a sculpture of the Holy Virgin Mary 34-P.jpg , Plungė
File:Kretinga_Bernardine_Monastery_and_the_Lord’s_Revelation_to_Virgin_Mary_Church_building_complex_Nuotrauka_6.jpg, Kretinga
File:Palanga kosciol 1.jpg , Palanga
File:Hugo Šojaus dvaro įėjimas su veranda iš kiemo.jpg , Šilutė
File:Radviliskis Eib.jpg , Radviliškis
File:Gargždai nuo piliakalnio.JPG , Gargždai
File:Druskininkai Blick von der Seilbahn auf Druskininkai 5.jpg , Druskininkai
File:Elektrenai by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg , Elektrėnai

Cities by compass direction reference

See also

* List of towns in Lithuania
* List of Lithuanian cities in other languages
* Administrative divisions of Lithuania
* Counties of Lithuania
* Municipalities of Lithuania
* Elderships of Lithuania
* ''Seniūnaitija''

* ''''

Notes and sources

* Population sizes are given according to Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (Statistics Lithuania) data for th
census of 2001

* "City rights" means rights to self-government. For older cities this is usually the date when Magdeburg rights were granted. Most dates are obtained from Lithuanian Wikipedia which assembled the information from several different sources. One of the main sources wa
Population Statistics
This information cannot be completely trusted.
* Counties, municipalities and elderships are given according t
Lithuanian Central Internet Gates
data.
* Stasys Vaitiekūnas, Elena Valančienė, Lietuvos geografija (Geography of Lithuania), Alma littera, 2004, pages 160-162.

Lietuvos Respublikos teritorijos administracinių vienetų ir jų ribų įstatymas (Republic of Lithuania Law on Administrative Units and Their Borders)
Seimas law database, June 19, 1994, law no. I-558.
* At the time of the 2001 census, there were 106 cities in Lithuania. the Government of the Republic of Lithuania made these changes:
:* On December 16, 2002 Juodupė lost city status and became a townNutarimas Dėl gyvenamosios vietovės pavadinimo pakeitimo
/ref>
:* On February 25, 2003 Kulautuva lost city status and became a town
:* On April 8, 2003 Tyruliai lost city status and became a town
* Cities with no image of a coat of arms shown do not have one confirmed by the President of Lithuania. Municipalities share coats of arms with their capitals, with the exception of cities which are capitals of more than one municipality (i.e. a city municipality and a district municipality), in which case the city municipality shares the coat of arms with the city, while the district municipality has its own distinct coat of arms. Another notable exception is Trakai town, which has different coat of arms from its municipality (Trakai District Municipality).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cities In Lithuania

Lithuania, List of cities in
Lithuania geography-related lists
Lithuania
Lithuania