The territory of
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
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.
Until 2010, the counties were administered by county governors (Lithuanian: singular – ''apskrities viršininkas'', plural – ''apskrities viršininkai'') appointed by the central government in
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
. Their primary duty was to ensure that the municipalities obey the laws and the
Constitution of Lithuania. They did not have great powers vested in them, and so it was suggested that 10 counties are too much for Lithuania as the two smallest counties administer only four municipalities. Therefore, on 1 July 2010, the county administrations were abolished, but the counties themselves are retained for statistical and reporting purposes.
Modern ''apskritys'' should not be confused with ''apskritys'' that existed in the independent Lithuania during the
interwar period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
. At that time Lithuania had a two-tier administrative division: ''apskritys'' that were subdivided into ''valsčiai.'' Modern ''apskritys'' remain only a territorial and statistical unit, while the top-tier administrative division are the municipalities (''savivaldybės''), followed by elderships (''seniūnijos''), and sub-elderships in some areas (''seniūnaitijos''). 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:
file:Municipalities in Lithuania.png
List
See also
*
Administrative divisions of Lithuania
*
Municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
(Lithuanian: plural – ''savivaldybės'', singular – ''savivaldybė'')
*
Elderships (or wards) (Lithuanian: plural – ''seniūnijos'', singular – ''seniūnija'').
* ''
Seniūnaitija'' (sub-eldership)
*
Cities (Lithuanian: plural – ''miestai'', singular – ''miestas'')
*
Towns (Lithuanian: plural – ''miesteliai'', singular – ''miestelis'')
References
{{Lithuania topics
Subdivisions of Lithuania
Lithuania, Counties
Lithuania 1
Counties, Lithuania
Lithuania geography-related lists