Vilnius County is the biggest of the 10 counties of Lithuania, located in the east of the country around the city Vilnius.

History

Vilnius county was first established in 1566. During the centuries the boundaries and the jurisdiction constantly changed. Until the Partitions of Poland in late 18th century the area belonged to the Wilno Voivodship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During World War I, following the German offensive of 1915, it was occupied by the German army. After the war, the area was ruled by local Polish self-government established after the German Ober-Ost army withdrew from the area.

Following the start of the Polish-Bolshevik War, in 1919 it was occupied by the Red Army, which was pushed back by the Polish Army. In 1920 it was again occupied by the Red Army, but Soviets officially recognized the sovereignty of Lithuanian Republic over the city immediately after defeat during Battle of Warsaw. During their retreat, the Bolsheviks passed the sovereignty over the area to Lithuania. The Polish commander Józef Piłsudski, which was born in Lithuania and was Lithuanian Pole, ordered his subordinate general Lucjan Żeligowski to "rebel" his Lithuanian-Belarusian division and capture the city of Vilnius, without declaring war on Lithuania. The area of the future Vilnius County was seized by the Polish forces without significant opposition from Lithuanian forces and Gen. Żeligowski created a short-lived state called Republic of Central Lithuania. Following the elections held there in 1922 the state was incorporated into Poland.

In the effect of the Nazi-Soviet Alliance and the Polish Defence War of 1939, the area was captured by the Soviet Union, which transferred the bigger part of present Vilnius County and Utena County (but without the town of Utena itself) to Lithuania, only to annex it the following year. In 1941 it was conquered by the Nazi Germany. During the World War II the area saw formation of many resistance units, most notably the Polish Home Army and, since 1943, the Soviet partisans .

After the war Vilnius County existed as a relic of the pre-war independent state in Lithuanian SSR between 1944 and 1950. In this period, significant part of its population moved to Poland during so called repatriation. 80% of Poles living in the city itself were forcibly expelled. However, the inhabitants of the rural areas surrounding it were in large part allowed to stay, as the Lithuanian authorities believed that many of the repatriated Poles were of Lithuanian or Belarusian origin. Thus only 31,3% of inhabitants of the area left for Poland. Today Poles constitute 61,3% of population of the area (as per the 2001 census).

After reestablishment of Lithuania in 1990, Vilnius county also was reestablished in different borders in 1994. It is currently composed of 23 communes.

Districts

The county is subdivided into 6 districts

• Salcininkai
• Sirvintos
• Svencionys
• Trakai
• Ukmerge
• Vilnius

External link

• Vilnius county statistical office