Counties of Lithuania

Until 2010, the counties were administered by county governors (Lithuanian: singular – apskrities viršininkas, plural – apskrities viršininkai) appointed by the central government in Vilnius. 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. 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: