Regions of Lithuania - Regions in Politics

Regions in Politics

No region, except for Samogitia, has ever been a political or an administrative entity. However some work was done recently to delimit their boundaries more clearly, as there is a project to change the system of counties in Lithuania into ethnographic regions, which would be called lands (singular - žemė, plural - žemės). This project is also supported by the fact that with the limited functions of counties, 10 of them are not needed for Lithuania. Another supporting argument is that in other countries historical territories are being revived, while in Lithuania artificially made counties exist. The project was supported by the former president Rolandas Paksas, yet now it is not clear when or if the project will be completed at all. However, Dzūkija quite recently adopted the coat of arms and emblem which would be used in case the reform were to be implemented. Alytus County, which lies almost entirely within Dzūkija, adopted soon thereafter a coat of arms that is based on the Dzūkija coat of arms. Samogitia has a flag and a coat of arms dating from the time of the Duchy of Samogitia; these symbols are considerably older than the flag of Lithuania. Lithuania Minor has a flag used since the 17th century, and an anthem originating from the 19th century. However, if the reform were to be implemented, most likely there would be just 4 lands, not 5, because most of Lithuania minor is occupied by Russia and many Lithuanians were expelled from there. The relatively small remaining part is also populated mostly by relative newcomers, as much of the local population died in the Second World War or was expelled. Therefore Lithuania minor would probably be attached to Samogitia.

Despite the fact that the regions are not political/administrative entities, most regions have their "capitals" (cities which are commonly considered to be capitals). These cities are not necessarily the largest in the region.