At the end of its tenure as a Soviet Socialist Republic, Lithuania's administrative divisions consisted of 44 regions, 12 cities, 80 towns, 19 settlements, and 426 rural districts.
[2] The Constitution of Lithuania, ratified in 1992, delegated the power of establishing future administrative units to the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas).
[3] Ordinary municipal councilors are elected every four years from electoral lists using proportional representation.
According to the abovementioned Republic of Lithuania Law on Local Self-Government, the functions of municipalities are "functions related to local government, public administration and provision of public services defined by the Constitution and attributed to municipalities by this and other laws".
The processes of integration into international organizations - like the EU and NATO - are considered to be important external factors influencing the development of municipal powers in the country.