List of cities in Lithuania

Vilnius, capital of Lithuania

In Lithuania there are 103 cities (in Lithuanian: singular – miestas, plural – miestai). The term city is defined by the Parliament of Lithuania as compact areas populated by more than 3,000 people of whom at least two thirds work in the industry or service sector. Those settlements which have a population of less than 3,000 but historically had city status are still considered to be cities. Smaller settlements are called miestelis (plural miesteliai) which is translated as towns. Even smaller settlements (villages) are called kaimas (plural kaimai). Often the official status is not clear and people refer to both towns and villages as gyvenvietė (plural gyvenvietės) which in essence means settlement.

The cities started to form in the 13th-14th century together with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first city 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 are now just towns or villages, for example Kernavė or Merkinė. Most of the cities in Lithuania are old, 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 or Mažeikiai. In the last century cities grew new to big industry centers, for example Visaginas, Elektrėnai or Naujoji Akmenė. Five cities – Birštonas, Druskininkai, Neringa, Palanga and Anykščiai – have a special resort status.

Most of the cities are small. There are only 19 cities with population of more than 20,000. Cities are quite evenly spread out through the territory of Lithuania. This forms a good network to support economic development throughout the country. At the 2001 census 66.7% of the population lived in cities and the percentage is growing.

Cities

# CoA City Pronunciation
(audio help)
Population (2001) Population (2014) Granted city rights County Municipality
1 Vilnius Listen • Info 554,281 539,939 1387 Vilnius County Vilnius city municipality
2 Kaunas Listen • Info 378,943 304,097 1408 Kaunas County Kaunas city municipality
3 Klaipėda Listen • Info 192,954 157,350 1257 Klaipėda County Klaipėda city municipality
4 Šiauliai Listen • Info 133,883 105,653 1589 Šiauliai County Šiauliai city municipality
5 Panevėžys Listen • Info 119,749 96,345 1837 Panevėžys County Panevėžys city municipality
6 Alytus Listen • Info 71,491 56,364 1581 Alytus County Alytus city municipality
7 Marijampolė Listen • Info 48,675 39,542 1792 Marijampolė County Marijampolė municipality
8 Mažeikiai Listen • Info 42,675 36,278 1924 Telšiai County Mažeikiai district municipality
9 Jonava Listen • Info 34,954 34,056 1864 Kaunas County Jonava district municipality
10 Utena Listen • Info 33,860 28,391 1599 Utena County Utena district municipality
11 Kėdainiai Listen • Info 32,048 26,080 1590 Kaunas County Kėdainiai district municipality
12 Telšiai Listen • Info 31,460 24,500 1791 Telšiai County Telšiai district municipality
13 Visaginas Listen • Info 29,554 20,238 1977 Utena County Visaginas municipality
14 Tauragė Listen • Info 29,124 24,043 1924 Tauragė County Tauragė district municipality
15 Ukmergė Listen • Info 28,759 22,904 1486 Vilnius County Ukmergė district municipality
16 Plungė Listen • Info 23,436 19,142 1792 Telšiai County Plungė district municipality
17 Šilutė Listen • Info 21,476 15,044 1941 Klaipėda County Šilutė district municipality
18 Kretinga Listen • Info 21,423 18,124 1609 Klaipėda County Kretinga district municipality
19 Radviliškis Listen • Info 20,339 19,625 1923 Šiauliai County Radviliškis district municipality
20 Druskininkai Listen • Info 18,233 16,263 1893 Alytus County Druskininkai municipality
21 Palanga Listen • Info 17,623 17,620 1791 Klaipėda County Palanga city municipality
22 Rokiškis Listen • Info 16,746 15,549 1920 Panevėžys County Rokiškis district municipality
23 Biržai Listen • Info 15,262 14,565 1589 Panevėžys County Biržai district municipality
24 Gargždai Listen • Info 15,212 16,087 1792 Klaipėda County Klaipėda district municipality
25 Kuršėnai Listen • Info 14,197 13,670 1946 Šiauliai County Šiauliai district municipality
26 Elektrėnai Listen • Info 14,050 13,818 1962 Vilnius County Elektrėnai municipality
27 Jurbarkas Listen • Info 13,797 13,307 1611 Tauragė County Jurbarkas district municipality
28 Garliava Listen • Info 13,322 13,500 1958 Kaunas County Kaunas district municipality
29 Vilkaviškis Listen • Info 13,283 12,931 1660 Marijampolė County Vilkaviškis district municipality
30 Raseiniai Listen • Info 12,541 12,245 1492–1506 Kaunas County Raseiniai district municipality
31 Naujoji Akmenė Listen • Info 12,345 11,468 1792 Šiauliai County Akmenė district municipality
32 Anykščiai Listen • Info 11,958 11,829 1516 Utena County Anykščiai district municipality
33 Lentvaris Listen • Info 11,773 11,642 1946 Vilnius County Trakai district municipality
34 Grigiškės Listen • Info 11,448 11,466 1958 Vilnius County Vilnius city municipality
35 Prienai Listen • Info 11,353 10,984 1609 Kaunas County Prienai district municipality
36 Joniškis Listen • Info 11,329 10,881 1616 Šiauliai County Joniškis district municipality
37 Kelmė Listen • Info 10,900 10,302 1947 Šiauliai County Kelmė district municipality
38 Varėna Listen • Info 10,845 10,296 1946 Alytus County Varėna district municipality
39 Kaišiadorys Listen • Info 10,002 9,729 1946 Kaunas County Kaišiadorys district municipality
40 Pasvalys Listen • Info 8,709 8,296 1946 Panevėžys County Pasvalys district municipality
41 Kupiškis Listen • Info 8,451 8,082 1791 Panevėžys County Kupiškis district municipality
42 Zarasai Listen • Info 8,365 7,766 1843 Utena County Zarasai district municipality
43 Skuodas Listen • Info 7,896 7,358 1572 Klaipėda County Skuodas district municipality
44 Kazlų Rūda Listen • Info 7,401 7,162 1950 Marijampolė County Kazlų Rūda municipality
45 Širvintos Listen • Info 7,273 7,070 1950 Vilnius County Širvintos district municipality
46 Molėtai Listen • Info 7,221 6,949 1956 Utena County Molėtai district municipality
47 Švenčionėliai Listen • Info 6,923 6,346 1920 Vilnius County Švenčionys district municipality
48 Šakiai Listen • Info 6,795 6,511 1776 Marijampolė County Šakiai district municipality
49 Šalčininkai Listen • Info 6,722 6,563 1956 Vilnius County Šalčininkai district municipality
50 Ignalina Listen • Info 6,591 6,119 1950 Utena County Ignalina district municipality
51 Kybartai Listen • Info 6,556 6,209 1947 Marijampolė County Vilkaviškis district municipality
52 Pabradė Listen • Info 6,525 6,236 1946 Vilnius County Švenčionys district municipality
53 Šilalė Listen • Info 6,281 6,037 1950 Tauragė County Šilalė district municipality
54 Pakruojis Listen • Info 6,057 5,750 1950 Šiauliai County Pakruojis district municipality
55 Nemenčinė Listen • Info 5,892 5,876 1955 Vilnius County Vilnius district municipality
56 Trakai Listen • Info 5,725 5,373 1409 Vilnius County Trakai district municipality
57 Švenčionys Listen • Info 5,684 5,566 1800 Vilnius County Švenčionys district
58 Vievis Listen • Info 5,303 5,049 1950 Vilnius County Elektrėnai municipality
59 Lazdijai Listen • Info 5,140 4,811 1957 Alytus County Lazdijai district municipality
60 Kalvarija Listen • Info 5,090 5,013 1791 Marijampolė County Kalvarija municipality
61 Rietavas Listen • Info 3,979 3,843 1792 Telšiai County Rietavas municipality
62 Žiežmariai Listen • Info 3,884 3,759 1792 Kaunas County Kaišiadorys district municipality
63 Eišiškės Listen • Info 3,765 3,610 1950 Vilnius County Šalčininkai district municipality
64 Ariogala Listen • Info 3,697 3,458 1792 Kaunas County Raseiniai district municipality
65 Venta Listen • Info 3,412 2,959 1978 Šiauliai County Akmenė district municipality
66 Šeduva Listen • Info 3,400 3,200 1654 Šiauliai County Radviliškis district municipality
67 Birštonas Listen • Info 3,225 3,172 1518? Kaunas County Birštonas municipality
68 Akmenė Listen • Info 3,140 2,690 1792 Šiauliai County Akmenė district municipality
69 Tytuvėnai Listen • Info 2,851 2,690 1956 Šiauliai County Kelmė district municipality
70 Rūdiškės Listen • Info 2,559 2,472 1958 Vilnius County Trakai district municipality
71 Pagėgiai Listen • Info 2,393 2,236 1923 Tauragė County Pagėgiai municipality
72 Neringa Listen • Info 2,386 3,371 1961 Klaipėda County Neringa municipality
73 Vilkija Listen • Info 2,338 2,301 1792 Kaunas County Kaunas district municipality
74 Žagarė Listen • Info 2,312 2,115 1924 Šiauliai County Joniškis district municipality
75 Viekšniai Listen • Info 2,270 2,198 1791 Telšiai County Mažeikiai district municipality
76 Skaudvilė Listen • Info 2,140 1,976 1950 Tauragė County Tauragė district municipality
77 Ežerėlis Listen • Info 2,051 2,014 1956 Kaunas County Kaunas district municipality
78 Gelgaudiškis Listen • Info 2,029 1,936 1958 Marijampolė County Šakiai district municipality
79 Kudirkos Naumiestis Listen • Info 1,997 1,916 1643 Marijampolė County Šakiai district municipality
80 Simnas Listen • Info 1,980 1,844 1626 Alytus County Alytus district municipality
81 Salantai Listen • Info 1,942 1,825 1746 Klaipėda County Kretinga district municipality
82 Linkuva Listen • Info 1,797 1,735 1950 Šiauliai County Pakruojis district municipality
83 Veisiejai Listen • Info 1,762 1,592 1956 Alytus County Lazdijai district municipality
84 Ramygala Listen • Info 1,733 1,695 1957 Panevėžys County Panevėžys district municipality
85 Priekulė Listen • Info 1,725 1,663 1948 Klaipėda County Klaipėda district municipality
86 Joniškėlis Listen • Info 1,477 1,389 1736 Panevėžys County Pasvalys district municipality
87 Jieznas Listen • Info 1,476 1,311 1956 Kaunas County Prienai district municipality
88 Daugai Listen • Info 1,458 1,432 1792 Alytus County Alytus district municipality
89 Obeliai Listen • Info 1,371 1,293 1956 Panevėžys County Rokiškis district municipality
90 Varniai Listen • Info 1,355 1,258 1950 Telšiai County Telšiai district municipality
91 Virbalis Listen • Info 1,351 1,250 1593 Marijampolė County Vilkaviškis district municipality
92 Vabalninkas Listen • Info 1,328 1,155 1775 Panevėžys County Biržai district municipality
93 Seda Listen • Info 1,309 1,189 1950 Telšiai County Mažeikiai district municipality
94 Subačius Listen • Info 1,180 1,105 1958 Panevėžys County Kupiškis district municipality
95 Baltoji Vokė Listen • Info 1,073 1,073 1958 Vilnius County Šalčininkai district municipality
96 Dūkštas Listen • Info 1,070 930 1956 Utena County Ignalina district municipality
97 Pandėlys Listen • Info 1,024 941 1956 Panevėžys County Rokiškis district municipality
98 Dusetos Listen • Info 914 831 1950 Utena County Zarasai district municipality
99 Užventis Listen • Info 898 811 1746 Šiauliai County Kelmė district municipality
100 Kavarskas Listen • Info 809 692 1956 Utena County Anykščiai district municipality
101 Smalininkai Listen • Info 653 600 1945 Tauragė County Jurbarkas district municipality
102 Troškūnai Listen • Info 525 504 1956 Utena County Anykščiai district municipality
103 Panemunė Listen • Info 329 318 1837 Tauragė County Pagėgiai municipality

Map

Map showing all cities marked with red dots. Bigger cities are written in larger letters. Click on the map for better resolution.

Gallery

See also

Notes and sources

  • On December 16, 2002 Juodupė lost city status and became a town;
  • On February 25, 2003 Kulautuva lost city status and became a town;
  • On April 8, 2003 Tyruliai lost city status and became a town.
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