Ukmergė County

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

Ukmergė County (Russian: Вилькомирский уезд, Lithuanian: Ukmergės apskritis) was one of the subdivisions of the Kovno Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was a former administrative-territorial unit in eastern Lithuania lasting from 1795 to 1950, situated on both banks of the Šventoji River. Its administrative centre was Ukmergė.[1]

History

[edit]

Russian Empire

[edit]

The county evolved from the Vilkmergė District [lt] (pavietas) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After its reorganization into the Vilkmergė Uyezd, it belonged to the Vilnius Governate of the Russian Empire between 1795-1797 and 1801-1842, to the short-lived Lithuanian Governate between 1797-1801, and later to the Kovno Governate from 1842 to 1915. It subsequently became one of the administrative counties of the interwar Republic of Lithuania.[2]

Interwar and postwar period

[edit]

From 1916 to 1918 the territory was part of the German military administration known as Ober Ost.[3] During the German occupation of 1941-1944 it was incorporated into the Reichskommissariat Ostland, specifically into the Lithuanian General District (Generalbezirk Litauen) and the Panevėžys regional district [lt].[4]

In 1920 the Ukmergė region witnessed fighting between Lithuanian and Polish forces during the Polish–Lithuanian conflict of 1919–1920.[5]

In 1947, two parishes (valsčiai) were transferred to the newly formed Anykščiai County [lt]. In 1947 two rural parishes (valsčiai) of the county were transferred to the newly formed Anykščiai County.[6] On June 20, 1950, Ukmergė County was reorganized into the Ukmergė District Municipality, consisting of 27 rural subdistricts (apylinkės). Parts of its territory were transferred into neighboring districts: Jonava (4 subdistricts), Kavarskas [lt] (16), Ramygala [lt] (4), Smėliai [lt] (20), and Širvintos (1).[7]

Demographics

[edit]

At the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Ukmergė County had a population of 229,118. Of these, 72.3% spoke Lithuanian, 13.2% Yiddish, 10.0% Polish, 4.1% Russian, 0.2% German, 0.1% Belarusian, 0.1% Romani and 0.1% Ukrainian as their native language.[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ukmergės apskritis". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (VLE). Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  2. ^ "Ukmergės apskritis". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  3. ^ "Ober Ost". 1914-1918 Online (International Encyclopedia of the First World War). Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  4. ^ "Ukmergės apskritis". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  5. ^ "Lietuvos kariuomenės kelias (Ukmergė Regional Museum)". Ukmergė Regional Museum. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  6. ^ "Ukmergės apskritis". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  7. ^ "Ukmergės rajono savivaldybė (history)". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  8. ^ [1] Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей