Utena County
Utena County
Utenos apskritis | |
|---|---|
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Location of Utena County | |
| Country |  Lithuania |
| Administrative centre | Utena |
| Municipalities | |
| Area | |
| • Total | 7,201 km2 (2,780 sq mi) |
| (11% of the area of Lithuania) | |
| Population (2008) | |
| • Total | 172,580 |
| • Rank | 9th of 10 (5.1% of the population of Lithuania) |
| • Density | 24/km2 (62/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| ISO 3166 code | LT-UT |
Utena County (Lithuanian: Utenos apskritis) is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is the most sparsely-populated county in Lithuania. The capital and the largest city in the county is Utena, which is located 95 km (59 mi) from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished[1], and since that date, Utena County remains as the territorial and statistical unit.
History
Utena is one of the oldest settlements in Lithuania and is mentioned in historical chronicles as early as in 1261.
Municipalities
It is divided into 6 municipalities:
- Anykščiai district municipality
- Ignalina district municipality
- Molėtai district municipality
- Utena district municipality
- Visaginas municipality
- Zarasai district municipality
Economy
The County has a well-developed network of roads. Main branches of economy are textile, food and timber processing, beer and wine production, power engineering. Outstanding feature of region's economy is Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant.
Tourism
Utena county is the second most popular tourism destination in Lithuania (after the seaside). Approximately 31% of territory is covered with forests. There are 1002 lakes in the county. They are connected by rivers and provide good opportunities for water tourism. One of the biggest tourism attractions is Aukštaitija National Park. In addition, county has 6 other regional parks. There are a number of unique places of interest that can be found only in Utena county, e.g. Asveja, the longest lake in Lithuania and Lake Tauragnas, the deepest one; Horse Museum, Ancient Beekeeping Museum, Ethnocosmological Museum, narrow gauge railway, a burial mound exposition, an exhibition of stone dust pictures.
References
- ^ "Dėl apskričių viršininkų administracijų likvidavimo". Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
External links
- Social and demographic characteristics of Utena County
- Economy of Utena County
- Environment of Utena County
