About the Šiauliai district

Facts and figures

• Šiauliai district municipality is in the northwest of Lithuania and closely surrounds the city of Šiauliai, so called the capital of Northern Lithuania.
• The territory of Šiauliai district municipality covers the area of 1 807 square kilometers. In total, 40 775 inhabitants were registered in Šiauliai district municipality in 2022.
• Kuršėnai (www.kursenai.lt) is a single town of the district with 11 062 inhabitants (beginning of 2023). Kuršėnai is the capital of potters and ancient crafts. The town is 25 km from Šiauliai, situated on both banks of the river Venta, at the road „Šiauliai–Palanga“ and on the important railway siding to Vilnius, Klaipėda and Mažeikiai. Area of the town covers 1567 ha.
• Larger towns: Gruzdžiai, Meškuičiai, Kužiai, Kairiai, Šakyna, Kurtuvėnai, Bazilionai. Larger settlements: Ginkūnai, Aukštelkė, Bubiai, Raudėnai, Verbūnai, Naisiai, Bridai.
• The territory in the district is divided into 11 sub-districts.
• There are 579 villages in the district.
• The district adjoins 6 other administrative units: Akmenė district in the northwest, Joniškis district in the northeast, Telšiai district in the west, Kelmė district in the southwest, Radviliškis district in the southeast, and Pakruojis district in the east.
• Within 2023, 165 new business entities were registered.
• In the beginning of 2024, the number of small and medium companies came to 1375.
• In 2023, the number of employees working in small and medium companies came to 6 280.
• There are 549 sites granted protection of a cultural heritage site in Šiauliai district municipality.
• The Hill of Crosses, so called Jurgaičiai, Domantai Mound is the most significant cultural heritage site in Šiauliai district which by the resolution of the Government was entered into the List of National Historical, Archaeological and Cultural Sites on 19 June 2007.
• A larger part of the territory of Šiauliai district lies in the plains; the landscape is diversified only on the south side where the Samogitian highlands commence.
• The highest place of the district is Girnikai Hill located not far from Bubiai which is 183,4 m high, whereas the lowest is Šakyna lowland, 82 m above sea level.
• There are two regional parks in the district: Kurtuvėnai and Venta. Territory of Kurtuvėnai regional park covers two districts, Kelmė and Šiauliai. The area of the park in Šiauliai district covers 8742,20 ha, the area of Venta regional park in Šiauliai district covers 236,42 ha.
• There are nature reserves of 8 types in the territory of Šiauliai district.
• The rivers Venta (41,7 km) and Dubysa (17,2 km) flow through the district.
• There are 27 natural lakes, water bodies cover 2,6% of the district area. In total, 29 fish species breed in lakes, rivers and ponds.
• Forest coverage – 31,8 %. As many as 46 small and large wild animal species live in forests and shrubland.