Šiauliai district municipality is in the north-west of Lithuania and closely surrounds the city of Šiauliai, also called the capital of northern Lithuania.
The territory of Šiauliai district municipality covers the area of 1 807 km2. Data of the Lithuanian Department of Statistics suggests that 41 447 residents were registered in Šiauliai district municipality in the beginning of 2020.
There are 10 899 residents in a single town of the district, Kuršėnai (www.kursenai.lt) (2019).
Some other small towns: Gruzdžiai, Meškuičiai, Kužiai, Kairiai, Šakyna, Kurtuvėnai, Bazilionai. Some larger settlements: Ginkūnai, Aukštelkė, Bubiai, Raudėnai, Verbūnai, Naisiai, Bridai.
The territory of the district is divided into 11 subdistricts.
There are 579 villages in the district.
The district borders 6 other administrative units: in the northwest – Akmenė, in the northeast – Joniškis, in the west – Telšiai, in the southwest – Kelmė, in the southeast – Radviliškis, and in the east – Pakruojis districts.
In the beginning of 2020, 1096 business entities, including 873 small and medium, were operating in Šiauliai district.
In the beginning of 2020, 6622 employees were employed.
The level of entrepreneurship (number of operating small and medium companies per 1,000 residents) came to 21.07 units in Šiauliai district municipality in the beginning of 2020.
There are around 500 objects of protected cultural value.
A larger area of the territory of Šiauliai district is the flat area and the landscape is diversified by hills only in the south, where the Samogitian upland starts.
The highest area in the district is Girnikai hill situated not far from Bubiai – 183,4 m, whereas the lowest area is Šakynos lowland – 82 m above sea level.
Some part of Kurtuvėnai regional park is located within the district.
The rivers Venta (41,7 km) and Dubysa (17,2 km) flow in the district.
There are 27 natural lakes, water bodies occupy 2,6% of the district area. In total, there are 29 fish species in lakes, rivers and ponds.
Forest coverage comes to 31,8%. There are 46 species of small and big animals living in forests and shrublands.