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__NOTOC__ Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe. It is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Council of Europe and NATO. In 2010, it had a population of approximately 3.3 million, and an area of . In the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and included present-day Lithuania, Belarus, most of Ukraine, and parts of Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, and Russia. As a Soviet Socialist Republic (since 1940), Lithuania initiated its declaration of independence in 1990, and gained international recognition the following year.〔 The country is divided into three layers of administrative divisions. The first-level division consists of 10 counties (Lithuanian: singular – ''apskritis'', plural – ''apskritys''). These are sub-divided into 60 municipalities (Lithuanian: plural – ''savivaldybės'', singular – ''savivaldybė''), which in turn are further sub-divided into over 500 smaller groups, known as elderships (Lithuanian: plural – ''seniūnijos'', singular – ''seniūnija''). At the end of its tenure as a Soviet Socialist Republic, Lithuania's administrative divisions consisted of 44 regions, 12 cities, 80 towns, 19 settlements, and 426 rural districts. The reform of this system was an immediate concern for the new government. The Constitution of Lithuania, ratified in 1992, delegated the power of establishing future administrative units to the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas). Accordingly, the Seimas passed two fundamental laws: a 1993 law on government representation and a 1994 law specifying the territorial-administrative units and their boundaries.〔 The current system of a set of municipalities under 10 counties was codified by 1995.〔 Several changes were made in 2000, resulting in 60 municipalities. Further changes, including a possible increase in the number of municipalities, are still being discussed. Municipal councilors are directly elected every four years. The councilors then elect the municipality's mayor.〔 The following map shows counties as well as municipalities. Seven city municipalities and three municipalities are marked by numbers. ==Municipalities== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Municipalities of Lithuania」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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