Utena County

Utena county
Utenos apskritis
County

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 (2016-01-20)
  Total 137,260 ()
  Rank 9th of 10 (5.0% of the population of Lithuania)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
  Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
ISO 3166 code LT-UT
GDP (nominal) 2014
 - Total €1.2($1.5) billion
 - Per capita €8,100($9,800) ()

Utena County (Lithuanian: Utenos Apskritis) is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is the country's most sparsely populated county. The capital and the largest city in the county is Utena, which is 95 km (59 mi) from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished.[1] 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 six municipalities:

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.

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, the county has six 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

  1. "Dėl apskričių viršininkų administracijų likvidavimo". Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. Retrieved 21 August 2011.

Coordinates: 55°30′01″N 25°36′32″E / 55.50028°N 25.60889°E / 55.50028; 25.60889

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