Varėna District Municipality Explained

Varėna District Municipality
Native Name:	Varėnos rajono savivaldybė
Native Name Lang:	lt
Settlement Type:	Municipality
Image Map1:	VarenosRajonoSeniunijos.png
Map Caption1:	Map of Varėna district municipality
Coordinates:	54.2167°N 58°W
Subdivision Type:	Country
Subdivision Name:	Lithuania
Subdivision Type1:	Ethnographic region
Subdivision Name1:	Dzūkija
Subdivision Type2:	County
Subdivision Name2:	Alytus County
Seat Type:	Capital
Seat:	Varėna
Parts Type:	Elderships
Parts Style:	para
P1:	8
Government Type:	City Council
Governing Body:	Varėna Council
Leader Title:	Mayor
Leader Name:	Algis Kašėta (PAC)
Leader Title1:	Leading
Leader Name1:	Political Committee^[1]
Unit Pref:	Metric
Area Total Km2:	2218
Area Rank:	1st
Population Footnotes:	^[2]
Population Total:	19918
Population As Of:	2024
Population Rank:	41st
Population Density Km2:	auto
Population Density Rank:	60th
Timezone1:	EET
Utc Offset1:	+2
Timezone1 Dst:	EEST
Utc Offset1 Dst:	+3
Area Code Type:	Telephone code
Area Code:	310
Blank Name Sec1:	Major settlements
Blank Info Sec1:	Varėna (pop. 7,794)

Varėna District Municipality (Lithuanian: Varėnos rajono savivaldybė) is a municipality in Alytus County in southern Lithuania.

History

Along with Vilnius region, a large part of Varėna District Municipality was on the Polish side of not-mutually recognized border during the interwar period. This was mainly due to the strategic Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway. Unlike in neighboring regions, where the number of Poles is high, the territories now comprising the municipality always had a Lithuanian majority. The Varėna District, as it was then called, was formed during the Soviet Union, with the small town of Varėna chosen as the capital. Varėna was chosen over the then much larger Senoji Varėna (literally "Old Varėna") as the capital, due to its proximity to a railroad. It only became the center of region in the 1970s when it underwent industrialization under Soviet leadership. During a municipality reform the territory was renamed to Varėna District Municipality and the westernmost parts of it ceded to Druskininkai Municipality.

Geography

Most of the municipality is covered by forests and swamps, it is the largest and least densely populated municipality of Lithuania. It borders Druskininkai Municipality to the west, Alytus District Municipality to the northwest, Trakai District Municipality to the northeast, and Šalčininkai District Municipality also to the west. To the south it shares a border with Belarus.

The district is in the Nemunas Basin. The Nemunas itself passes by its western edge while the Merkys (with its tributaries Ūla, Grūda, Varėnė) is the main watercourse. There is the largest march in Lithuania the Čepkeliai March which is declared as a strict natural reserve. There are more than 100 lakes. Most of them are small, endorhetic, while some, like Ilgis, Nedingis, Lavysas, Glėbas, are larger.

68.9% of the district's territory is occupied by forests, mostly, by the Dainava Forest (ancient Hrodna Wood), the largest in the country. There are circa 40 nature monuments - old pine trees used for beekeeping, some outcrops, unique geological landforms.

The main part of the district is in the Dainava Plain. North-western side is covered by the Dzūkian Highland, while eastern side is in the Eišiškės Plateau where is the highest point of Varėna District Municipality - the Riliškiai Hill (193 m).

Rivers: Nemunas, Merkys, Ūla, Varėnė, Grūda, Strauja, Katra.
Lakes and ponds: Ilgis, Nedingis, Lavysas, Glėbas, Grūda Lake, Varėna 1st Reservoir.
Marches: Čepkeliai March, Pastalikė March.
Forests: Dainava Forest, Subartonys Forest.
Protected areas: Dzūkija National Park, Čepkeliai Natural Reserve, Ūla Landscape Sanctuary, Merkys Ichtiological Sanctuary, Pelesa Botanical-Zoological Sanctuary, etc.

Economics

Tourism is on rise, as Dzūkija National Park is located in the region. Also, forestry, construction materials, textile, food (milk) industry is being developed.

Council

Varėna district municipality council currently has 25 seats. The last elections took place in December 2002, and the term limit is 4 years.
The results of the 2002 elections:

Lithuanian Center Union - 18
Christian Coalition with Algis Kašėta - 2
Social Democratic Party of Lithuania - 2
New Union Social Liberals - 2
Liberal democrat party - 1

Transportation

The road network is sparse, but a railway connects the district with Vilnius. There are stations in Valkininkai, Matuizos, Varėna, Marcinkonys, and stops in Kalviai, Pamerkiai, Zervynos, Darželiai, Margionys, Kabeliai, Senovė (the last three recently closed after the train route to Hrodna was discontinued).

Elderships

Varėna District Municipality is divided into 8 elderships:

Eldership	Area	Population (2021)^[3]	Population density (per km²)
Jakėnai	149km2	957	6
Kaniava	263km2	1,009	4
Marcinkonys	565km2	1,021	2
Matuizos	148km2	1,833	12
Merkinė	390km2	2,552	6
Valkininkai	156km2	1,572	10
	350km2	11,084	32
Vydeniai	140km2	1,109	8

Population

Demography

Ethnic makeup (2011 census):^[4]

Lithuanians - 22967 (90.5%)
Poles - 1612 (6.35%)
Russians - 307 (1.02%)
Belarusians - 237 (0.93%)
Others less than 0.5% each

Largest settlements

Population by locality

2011 Census^[5]
Locality	Status	Total	Male	Female
Total
			586	616
	K	0	0	0
	K	11	7	4
	K	18	8	10
Bytautonys	K	15	9	6
Burbonys	K	12	7	5
Damononys	K	12	8	4
Ginakiemis	K	15	8	7
Gruožninkėliai	K	0	0	0
	K	10	6	4
Kalėnai	K	17	10	7
	K	35	15	20
	K	99	50	49
Karpiškės	K	13	6	7
	K	33	19	14
Laukiapušis	K	0	0	0
Maskauka	K	22	12	10
Miletonys	K	0	0	0
Norvydiškės	K	2	1	1
Paakmenė	K	0	0	0
	K	2	1	1
Pajuodikys	K	0	0	0
Palielukis	K	0	0	0
	K	12	5	7
Paspengliai	K	0	0	0
Petrauskai	K	0	0	0
	K	322	150	172
	K	4	2	2
Salos	K	8	3	5
Strielčiškės	K	6	4	2
Užtilčiai	K	10	6	4
	K	75	37	38
Verbiciškės	K	0	0	0
	K	34	18	16
Voniškės	K	3	1	2
Zakoriai	K	0	0	0
	K	392	184	208
	K	20	9	11
			660	730
	K	12	5	7
	K	39	15	24
Būdos	K	9	4	5
Dalina	K	16	6	10
Daržininkai	K	26	14	12
Drucminai	K	11	5	6
	K	291	146	145
Gribaša	K	7	4	3
Grišoniškės	K	0	0	0
	K	60	27	33
	K	47	19	28
	K	23	9	14
	K	14	8	6
	K	36	23	13
Karaviškės	K	5	3	2
	K	19	8	11
Kaziukonys	K	6	2	4
Kašėtos	K	15	8	7
	K	50	21	29
Krukliai	K	30	18	12
	K	24	9	15
Mantotai	K	16	5	11
Margiai	K	3	2	1
Mikalčiūnai	K	30	15	15
Molinė	K	4	1	3
	K	41	19	22
	K	13	5	8
Pakaniavys	K	9	5	4
Pakuliškės	K	7	4	3
	K	284	136	148
Paramėlis	K	20	7	13
Pauosupė	K	4	3	1
Podubičiai	K	3	0	3
Prauda	K	5	3	2
Rakai	K	114	53	61
	K	74	35	39
Stojai	K	10	4	6
Stoniūnai	K	2	1	1
Šiliniai	K	0	0	0
Šulai	K	0	0	0
	K	11	8	3
			671	718
	K	43	19	24
Bižai	K	1	0	1
	K	63	25	38
	K	22	9	13
Dubas	K	7	4	3
	K	4	3	1
	K	26	16	10
	K	168	83	85
	K	40	19	21
	K	14	5	9
Lavysas	K	2	1	1
	K	15	10	5
	K	640	310	330
	K	26	10	16
	K	58	30	28
	K	61	25	36
	K	9	5	4
Piesčiai	K	0	0	0
Pogarenda	K	0	0	0
	K	57	31	26
Randamonys	K	0	0	0
Rudnia	K	1	1	0
	K	7	1	6
	K	41	24	17
	K	7	2	5
Viršurodukis	K	4	2	2
	K	47	25	22
	K	26	11	15

Beržupis	VS	18	11	7
Biekšios	K	21	8	13
Burneikos	VS	0	0	0
	K	50	23	27
	K	87	44	43
Giniūnai	K	22	11	11
	K	61	31	30
Jakėnai	K	17	8	9
	K	59	30	29
	K	174	88	86
Kukiškės	K	2	1	1
Likonys	K	0	0	0
Marijanavas	K	6	4	2
	K		561	640
	K	11	6	5
Moliai	K	7	2	5
Pabaronė	K	10	6	4
	K	87	43	44
Papiškės	K	29	16	13
Pasgrinda	K	34	16	18
	K	41	25	16
Semoškos	VS	4	2	2
Smalninkai	VS	2	2	0
	K	48	30	18
Šlaitas	K	10	7	3
	K	125	59	66
	K	103	50	53
Žagariai	K	0	0	0

Apsingė	K	7	3	4
Aušrinė	K	7	5	2
	K	10	4	6
Burokaraistėlė	K	7	2	5
	K	17	9	8
	K	6	3	3
Degsnės	K	2	1	1
Dubaklonis	K	39	12	27
Dvaralaukis	K	0	0	0
Gelovinė	K	1	1	0
	K	14	10	4
Giraitė	K	1	0	1
	K	123	63	60
Gudaraistis	K	0	0	0
	K	10	6	4
	K	96	47	49
Jablanavas	K	0	0	0
Jakubiškiai	K	43	23	20
Janauka	K	9	4	5
	K	48	24	24
Kačingė	K	3	2	1
Kaibūčiai	K	3	1	2
Kamintiškės	K	0	0	0
Kampai	K	19	9	10
	K	7	4	3
	K	146	68	78
Krušonys	K	0	0	0
	K	18	9	9
	K	6	2	4
Kučiūnai	K	2	1	1
Lankininkai	K	5	2	3
Laukininkai	K	16	7	9
Laukininkėliai	K	8	4	4
Lemkaraistis	K	9	5	4
Lesagūrai	K	5	4	1
Levūnai	K	0	0	0
	K	57	29	28
	K	9	5	4
	K	22	8	14
	K	15	6	9
	K	17	10	7
	K	37	17	20
	MST		559	669
Merkinė	VS	17	10	7
Mikniūnai	K	23	11	12
Milioniškės	K	19	7	12
Navasodai	K	5	1	4
	K	4	2	2
Netiesos	K	10	4	6
	K	28	14	14
	K	6	2	4
Pagronyčys	K	11	6	5
Panara	K	213	107	106
	K	8	3	5
Parudnia	K	5	1	4
Paulenka	K	0	0	0
Pašilingė	K	0	0	0
Pelekiškė	K	1	0	1
	K	172	90	82
Purpliai	K	2	1	1
Puvočiai	K	5	3	2
	K	44	22	22
Raitininkai	K	6	4	2
	K	13	5	8
Rudnia	K	2	0	2
	K	23	8	15
	K	35	14	21
Sarkajiedai	K	4	1	3
Savulkos	K	14	7	7
Spyriai	K	4	1	3
	K	45	20	25
Sukarepka	K	27	13	14
Šunupis	K	17	8	9
Tetervinė	K	11	7	4
	K	4	3	1
Ulčičiai	K	2	1	1
Utieka	K	5	2	3
Vaičiškė	VS	5	1	4
	K	0	0	0
	K	288	130	158
Voverys	K	0	0	0
	K	11	6	5
	K	61	30	31
			915
	K	129	65	64
	K	252	129	123
	K	40	18	22
	K	66	33	33
	K	54	26	28
Maceliai	K	20	10	10
Naujieji Valkininkai	K	370	157	213
Naujosios Naniškės	K	49	26	23
	K	150	69	81
	K	75	32	43
Pošalčiai	K	51	25	26
	K	20	7	13
Senosios Naniškės	K	41	22	19
Spengla	K	39	18	21
	K	343	178	165
Vaitakarčmis	K	4	1	3
	MST	229	99	130

Aleksandrava	K	1	0	1
	K	18	11	7
Arčiūnai	K	1	0	1
	K	16	6	10
Biniūnai	K	11	4	7
Diržamenys	K	4	3	1
	K	89	41	48
Dubaklonis	K	4	2	2
Dvarčiai	K	10	5	5
	K	13	5	8
	K	39	19	20
	K	20	7	13
Girežeris	K	6	3	3
	K	7	4	3
Gojus	K	0	0	0
Grumiškės	K	0	0	0
	K	348	172	176
	K	14	6	8
Kazimieravas	K	30	20	10
	K	6	3	3
Kucakiemis	K	12	6	6
Laičiai	K	27	13	14
Martinava	K	4	1	3
	K	30	15	15
	K	3	1	2
Miguičionys	K	9	3	6
Milioniškė	K	22	9	13
Moliadugnis	K	5	3	2
	K	244	120	124
Padaugė	K	23	12	11
Pagirės	K	7	4	3
Pakaršys	K	45	21	24
Pamusėliai	K	35	13	22
	K	62	28	34
Panedingys	K	9	6	3
Papiškiai	K	22	9	13
Pavardaunys	K	10	5	5
	K	3	0	3
	K	586	277	309
Rudnia	K	3	1	2
Salovartė	K	18	10	8
Sapiegiškė	K	11	5	6
	K	160	76	84
	K		571	632
	K	11	7	4
Sokonys	K	2	1	1
	K	158	80	78
Ūta	K	14	7	7
Vadėnai	K	10	7	3
	M
Vartavalakis	K	2	2	0
Vilgučiai	K	0	0	0
Želniūnai	K	1	1	0
Žilinčiškės	K	0	0	0
			669	716
Aladauka	K	0	0	0
	K	5	3	2
	K	148	70	78
Cibonys	K	4	1	3
Čepelūnai	K	9	5	4
	K	66	33	33
Dipiškės	K	4	2	2
Gojus	K	16	6	10
Gumbiškės	K	0	0	0
Juočiai	K	8	3	5
Kalėdonys	K	0	0	0
Kamaraučiškės	K	5	3	2
Kamorūnai	K	37	19	18
	K	165	84	81
Kijutiškės	K	18	11	7
	K	358	177	181
Melekonys	K	3	1	2
Meškadonys	K	0	0	0
Milvyda	K	6	1	5
	K	16	6	10
Papiškės	K	39	20	19
Pavainikės	K	0	0	0
Pikiškės	K	1	1	0
Puišys	K	0	0	0
Ramonai	K	0	0	0
Ramoniškiai	K	0	0	0
Razumna	K	25	15	10
Riliškiai	K	25	15	10
Senkonys	K	0	0	0
Strėžiūnai	K	50	28	22
Ulbinai	K	3	1	2
Vaidagai	K	0	0	0
	K	374	164	210
Žukonys	K	0	0	0

Status: M - city; MST - town; K, GST - village; VS - homestead

External links

Official page of Varena district

Notes and References

https://rinkimai.maps.lt/rinkimai2023/savivaldybes/
Web site: Resident population on 1 July . 2024-07-19 . osp.stat.gov.lt.
Web site: GYVENTOJAI GYVENAMOSIOSE VIETOVĖSE. XLSX. Osp.stat.gov.lt. 17 July 2022. 7 March 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220307204851/https://osp.stat.gov.lt/documents/10180/9601028/Gyventojai_gyvenamosiose_vietovese.xlsx. dead.
News: Lithuania 2011 Census . Lietuvos statistikos departamentas . 2011 . 2013-03-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120111175440/http://www.stat.gov.lt/lt/pages/view/?id=2630&PHPSESSID=a54605f41010fbb7fdbba253cd60f330 . 2012-01-11 . dead .
Web site: Population by locality . . 2011 Population and Housing Census . Statistics Lithuania . 10 September 2013 . ward (seniūnija) . https://web.archive.org/web/20130922204407/http://web.stat.gov.lt/uploads/docs/Population_by_locality.xls . 22 September 2013 . dead . dmy-all .