 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Neringa Municipality" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Neringa municipality Neringos savivaldybė | |
|---|---|
City Municipality | |
 Coast of Nida | |
 Flag .svg) Coat of arms | |
 Location of Neringa Municipality within Lithuania | |
| Coordinates:55°33′20″N21°07′00″E / 55.55556°N 21.11667°E /55.55556; 21.11667 | |
| Country |  Lithuania |
| Ethnographic region | Lithuania Minor |
| County |  Klaipėda County |
| Capital | Nida |
| Elderships | 2 |
| Area | |
• Total | 90 km2 (35 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 55th |
| Population (2024)[1] | |
• Total | 4,401 |
| • Rank | 60th |
| • Density | 49/km2 (130/sq mi) |
| • Rank | 39-40th |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
| Telephone code | 469 |
| Major settlements | Nida (pop. 3,530) |
| Website | www |
 | |
Neringa (pronunciationⓘ) orNeringa Municipality (Lithuanian:Neringos savivaldybė) is amunicipality ofKlaipėda County in westernmostLithuania, comprising several villages in theCuronian Spit. In terms of population, it is the smallest municipality of the country.Nida is the seat of government and largest settlement in Neringa Municipality.
The name of the city is relatively new and is not found in old scriptures in this form. The name is derived from a German wordNeringe, Nerunge, Nehrung which itself is a derivative of acuronian wordnerija meaning a longpeninsularspit.[2]
Until the 2000 Lithuanian municipality reform,[clarification needed] it was known as Neringa City, although there was never a true "city" there. It was made a city in theSoviet Union in 1961 by formally combining 4 settlements into one administrative unit.
Neringa is located south ofKlaipėda, separated from the mainland Lithuania byCuronian Lagoon. It is accessible from the mainland Lithuania byferry crossing the lagoon or overland throughKaliningrad Oblast,Russia.
The villages in Neringa municipality comprise:
They are tourist resorts and by then it was popular to grant more self-government to resorts.The municipality is the only one in Lithuania which is not called after a town or city. The name Neringa was created at Soviet time for the new city municipality.
Since 1252 the region was part of theState of the Teutonic Knights. In 1454, Polish KingCasimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region to theKingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-TeutonicPrussian Confederation.[3] After the subsequentThirteen Years' War (1454–1466), it was a part of Poland as afief held by the Teutonic Knights,[4] and thus was located within thePolish–Lithuanian union, later elevated into thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 1701 onwards it was part of theKingdom of Prussia, and from 1871 it was also part ofGermany. Already in 1569 a "confusion of languages" was noticed: German, Lithuanian,Latvian-Curonian (Nehrungs-Kurisch) andPrussian. Nehrungs-kurisch was the language of the fishers.
Liudvikas Rėza, one of the most prominentLithuanian language propagators and a linguist professor was born and living on theCuronian spit the 18th century, who added himself the second name –Gediminas in the honour of theGrand Duke of Lithuania.
The colours of the typical houses are handed down from the pagan religion and symbolize Divinities: Earth (brown), Sky and Water (blue), Clouds and Spray (white). At the top two crossed "žirgeliai" (horse heads).
The census of 1897 showed that about 60% used the Curonian language, on sea even 65%. In 1923, when sovereignty over the spit came toLithuania, the inhabitants had problems with their nationality. Only few opted for Lithuania, many emigrated to Germany and others stayed as German "resident foreigners" in their villages. The result of the census of 1956: 59% Lithuanians, 21% Russians and only 15% (22 families) of theautochtone inhabitants.
The Coat of Arms from the year 1968 shows the black and white symbols of theKlaipėda Region,Kurenwimpel,Nida,Preila,Pervalka,Juodkrantė,Purvinė. The N stands for the new name.
