Šilutė District Municipality

Šilutė District Municipality
Šilutės rajono savivaldybė
Municipality


Coat of arms

Location of Šilutė district municipality within Lithuania

Map of Šilutė district municipality
Coordinates: 55°21′N 21°29′E / 55.350°N 21.483°E / 55.350; 21.483Coordinates: 55°21′N 21°29′E / 55.350°N 21.483°E / 55.350; 21.483
Country  Lithuania
Ethnographic region Lithuania Minor
County Klaipėda County
Capital Šilutė
Elderships 11
Area
 • Total 1,706 km2 (659 sq mi)
Area rank 7th
Population (2001 census)[1]
 • Total 4,270
 • Rank 13th
 • Density 2.5/km2 (6.5/sq mi)
 • Density rank 29th
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Telephone code 441
Major settlements
Website www.silute.lt

Šilutė District Municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It is known for spring floods when ice on Nemunas River starts melting. This is the only municipality in Lithuania that gets flooded on regular basis.

Unemployment rate in the municipality dropped from 10.9% in January 2003 to 7.7% in January 2005. However, the national rate remains 1.2-1.7% lower.

Geography

Total area of Šilutė District Municipality is 1706 km². Forests cover 340 km² or almost 20%, waters (most notably Nemunas Delta) - 348 km² or 20.4%, arable land - 611 km² or 35.8%, pastures and grasslands - 226 km² or 13.2%, buildings and roads - 60 km² or 3.5% of the territory.

Šilutė municipality includes the biggest part of Lithuania Minor in present-day Lithuania, with some Lietuvninkai' heritage. There are areas of unique nature in the district, dominated by lowland pastures. The picturesque Nemunas Delta and Ventė Cape is home to many local and migrating birds. Rusnė, a settlement located in the Nemunas Delta, is the only island town in Lithuania; some part of it situated below the sea level.

There are 318 villages with 33,800 residents in the municipality. During the 2001 census, 12 villages had no residents. About 14,000 of the municipality residents are children younger than 15 year old and about 10,000 are elderly.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was designed in 1968. It depicts a white sailing ship. On top there is a traditional weathercock (Lithuanian: vėtrungė) used by local fishermen. At the bottom there is a horn, an old symbol of postal services. These symbols hint to the Curonian Lagoon, traditional fishing business, and Šilutė as the old sea port. For a while Šilutė was along an important postal route.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.silute.lt

International relations

Šilutė district municipality maintains sister city relationships with the following cities:

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