County	Vilnius County
Capital	Vilnius
Number of elderships	21
Area	400.6 sq. km
Population	554,400
Pop. density	1383.9 per sq. km
Location	Coat of arms

Historical view

In 1387 the Grand Duke Jogaila awarded the Magdeburg Rights Vilnius.

The first Magistracy of Vilnius was formed at the beginning of the XV century and called the Council of the City. It represented the town and regulated the life of the inhabitants, trade activity of handicraftsmen and carried out the functions of Law and Police.

After 1795 Lithuania was attached to Russia. According to the structure of administration of Russia, the Duma began to govern the Magistracy of Vilnius.

After the capture of Vilnius and a large area of Eastern Lithuania by the Polish army, Vilnius became a province town of Poland.

In 1939 Vilnius was attributed to Lithuania. The economical life was reorganized and the Municipality dealt with different problems.

In the period of June 1940 to June 1941 Vilnius was under the Russian power again. A lot of people were arrested, put in prison and deported to Siberia. During the first day of WWII on the 22 of June 1941, the German invaders bombarded the City. Soon the new occupation of Germany began, but even then some Municipalities functioned.

In 1944, Vilnius, occupied by the USSR, became the capital of the Soviet Lithuania. The Council of People's deputies, which formed its own executive committee, solved the local cultural and economical problems. It had limited rights. Everything was decided by the central power. Such situation existed until the Revival.

Self-governing of the City was restored again after March 11, 1990 when Lithuania became an independent country.

In 1997 the ownership of the City Hall was returned to the Municipality. The City Hall is also home to the Mayor's official reception hall and a place where many grand sessions of the City Council are held.

Vilnius City Council was elected democratically in the spring of 1990.

The present Vilnius City Council, elected on December 2002, for a four-year term, has 51 members.

The Mayor of Vilnius is Vilius Navickas since February 2009.