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Counties, municipalities and elderates
Counties, municipalities and elderates
The current administrative division was established in 1994 and modified in 2000 to meet the requirements of the European Union.
Lithuania has a three-tier administrative division: the country is divided into 10 counties (Lithuanian: singular — apskritis, plural — apskritys) that are further subdivided into 60 municipalities (Lithuanian: singular — savivaldybė, plural — savivaldybės) which consist of over 500 elderates (Lithuanian: singular — seniūnija, plural — seniūnijos).
Counties
The counties are ruled by county governors (Lithuanian: apskrities viršininkas) appointed by the central government.
They ensure that the municipalities adhere to the laws of Lithuania and the constitution.
County government oversees local governments and their implementation of the national laws, programs and policies.
Lithuania is divided into 10 counties: .
Alytus County .
Kaunas County .
Klaipėda County .
Marijampolė County .
Panevėžys County .
Šiauliai County .
Tauragė County .
Telšiai County .
Utena County .
Vilnius County .
.
Municipalities
Municipalities are the most important unit.
Some municipalities are historically called "district municipalities", and thus are often shortened to "district"; others are called "city municipalities", sometimes shortened to "city".
Each municipality has its own elected government.
In the past, the election of municipality councils occurred once every three years, but it now takes place every four years.
The council elects the mayor of the municipality and other required personnel.
The municipality councils also appoint elders to govern the elderates.
There is currently a proposal for direct election of mayors and elders, however that would require an amendment to the constitution.
Lithuania is divided into 70 municipalities.
Elderates
Elderates are the smallest units and they do not play a role in national politics.
They were created so that people could receive necessary services close to their homes; for example, in rural areas the elderates register births and deaths.
They are most active in the social sector: they identify needy individuals or families and distribute welfare or organise other forms of relief.
Lithuania is divided into more than 500 elderates.
Possible changes of administrative division
The current system of administrative division receives frequent criticism for being too bureaucratic and ineffective.
Significant complaints have been made about the number of counties, since they do not have much power.
One proposal is to create four lands, a new administrative unit, the boundaries of which would be determined by the ethnographic regions of Lithuania.
The benefit would be that the lands would follow natural boundaries, rather than being defined by bureaucrats or politicians.
Another of the proposed solutions involves reducing the number of counties so that there would be five in total, each based in one of the five largest cities with populations of over 100,000.
Others complain that elderates have no real power and receive too little attention; they could potentially become local initiative communities which could tackle many rural problems.
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