Jonava
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Author: A.Grigaliunas. |
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Author: R.Budrys |
Jonava District is located in the centre of Lithuania within a 30 kilometre radius from Kaunas, Kedainiai, Kaisiadorys, Ukmerge and Sirvintos districts. The population of Jonava District numbers 51 745 residents and the population of Jonava Town alone numbers 34 446 inhabitants (2008-01-01, data of Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania). The geographical location of the District is convenient in regard to transportation: an international highway Kaunas-Daugavpils intersects Jonava District enabling excellent connection with international transport corridors Klaipeda-Kaunas-Vilnius-Minsk-Moscow (Kiev) and Via Baltica (Berlin-Warsaw-Kaunas-Riga-Tallinn (Helsinki)), same as highway Vilnius-Panevezys-Siauliai-Palanga. Jonava Town is located at a distance of approximately 30 - 40 km from these highways. Moreover, railway lines connecting Jonava not only with Lithuanian, but also with Latvian, Estonian, Byelorussian and Ukrainian towns, intersect Jonava District. Furthermore, Kaunas International Airport is located only 16 km from Jonava Town.
Jonava has long-time traditions as an industrial town. Currently, there are two industrial zones in Jonava: northern zone of furniture and grain storage, and warehouses; and eastern zone of construction organizations and chemical industry (there are possibilities to expand eastern zone in the direction of Rukla). Exceptional feature of Jonava Town is abundance of highly-qualified engineers and technicians. Another feature of Jonava is that it is becoming suburban territory of Kaunas City with increasing number of people moving in from Kaunas to Jonava. The main industries in Jonava District are chemistry, furniture and construction industries, but also food processing and light industries are being developed as well. The largest company in Jonava District is the stock company "Achema" which is the biggest producer of nitrogen fertilizers in the Baltic countries.
Jonava is famous for celebrations of the Midsummer Day. This festival is called Saint Jonas’ Day (Jonines) and is the most important in the District. The festival follows the traditions of a pagan festival of Rasa (a Dew) and gives particular attention to rituals. More than 15 thousand spectators from Lithuania and abroad come to the Festival each year. Another attraction in Jonava District is an adventure park "Lokes peda" (The Bear's Paw), where visitors are challenged to pass 60 obstacles that one can find in remote exotic tours only: Monkey bridges, moving logs, Tibetan bridges, etc.
For more information, please, look at www.jonava.lt