Vilnius County (, ) is the largest of the 10
counties of
Lithuania, located in the east of the country around the
city Vilnius.
History
Until the
Partitions of Poland in late 18th century the area belonged to the
Vilnius Voivodship and
Trakai Voivodship of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In
Russian Empire it belonged to the
Northwestern Krai and approximately corresponded to its
Vilna Governorate (as of 1843). During
World War I, following the German offensive of 1915, it was occupied by the
German army. After the war, some parts of 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 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 (see
Vilnius region,
Central Lithuania).
In the effect of the
Nazi-Soviet Alliance and the
Polish Defensive War of 1939, the area was captured by the
Soviet Union, which transferred parts of present
Vilnius County and
Utena County 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 Vilniaus Apskritis 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. Thus only 31.3% of inhabitants of the area left for Poland. Today Poles constitute 29.01% of population of the Vilniaus Apskritis (as per the 2001 census).
After the reestablishment of Lithuania in 1990, Vilnius county was established differently in 1994. This entity has different boundaries than any previous entity and is not directly related to previous entities in this area; mission of the county is different as well, its primary goal (same as that of other counties of Lithuania) is to oversee that municipalities in its area follow the laws of Lithuania.
Municipalities
The county is subdivided into 6 district municipalities, 1 municipality and 1 city municipality:
Twin Towns - Sister Cities
Vilnius County is
twinned with:
