Kaunas urban area

Kaunas urban area
Kauno aglomeracija
Urban area
Kaunas City (red) and District (orange) Municipalities
Country Lithuania
Largest cityKaunas
Area
 • Urban
250 km2 (100 sq mi)
Population
 • Urban
403,375
GDP
 • Metro€14.7 billion (2023)
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)

The Kaunas urban area (known in Lithuanian as Kauno aglomeracija) is the metropolitan area of Kaunas. The metropolitan area covers two municipalities in the Kaunas County, with a total built-up area of around 250 km2.

Demographics

The largest cities or towns within the metropolitan area are Kaunas, Garliava, Domeikava and Raudondvaris.

Subdivision Area (km2) Population
Kaunas 157 304,459
Kaunas District Municipality 1496 100,032

Dual city

The dual city of Vilnius and Kaunas (known in Lithuanian as Vilniaus ir Kauno dvimiestis) is an idea to combine the resources of Vilnius and Kaunas in order to compete with larger European cities like Warsaw, Budapest, Bucharest and Prague for Western investments. The plan includes various forms of collaboration and vocalizes the idea (among other projects) of fast commuting between the two (most notably the construction of high speed rail). The plan has not been fully realized, but the idea is slowly being implemented (see: Rail Baltica) and is brought up by politicians every year. The combined metropolitan area of both cities would have a population of more than 1.5 million and would produce more than a half of Lithuania's total GDP.[3][4][5][6]

Economy

In 2023, Kaunas' gross metropolitan product was €14.7 billion. This puts Kaunas in 200th place among cities in the European Union.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Population on 1 January by age groups and sex - functional urban areas". ec.europa.eu. 11 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices by metropolitan regions". ec.europa.eu.
  3. ^ "Vilniaus-Kauno didmiesčio projektas vėl kaitina aistras: paaiškino, ką mano apie idėją", www.lrytas.lt
  4. ^ "Kauno ir Vilniaus dvimiestis: vizija ar netolima ateitis?", www.sa.lt, 20 December 2019
  5. ^ "VILNIAUS IR KAUNO DVIMIESTIS: // ATNAUJINO STRATEGINIO PLANAVIMO KOMISIJĄ", www.pilotas.lt, 19 March 2012
  6. ^ "Gaivinama Vilniaus ir Kauno dvimiesčio idėja", www.tv3.lt
  7. ^ "Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices by metropolitan regions".