An eldership: "The local governmental system in Lithuania has passed through several changes since the restoration of independence, and its future is still being debated. There are three levels of local government: apskritys (plural apskritis, usually translated as 'counties'); municipalities; and elderates, sometimes given as elderships." (, plural: ; also known in English as elderate,: "One of the major accomplishments of the Business Information Centre has been the involvement of Švenčionys people into the project on poverty and social exclusion reduction in Northern Ireland, stirring up life in the countryside and training of initiative people from all elderates who later have naturally started leading the foundation of rural communities." · "The centre of Birštonas elderate which consists of 46 villages is Birštonas individual-farm settlement. The territory of the elderate is 111 km²." • : "Lithuania established its administrative organization in 1994 and in 2000 introduced some modification in order to meet EU requirements. It is divided into 10 Apskritys (counties), 60 (municipalities) and more than 500 seniūnijos (elderates)." • : "Municipalities are subdivided into elderates, some 546 in all. An elderate, which comprises a village, several small villages, a small town, or a city neighborhood, is responsible for small-scale matters, such as sidewalk cleaning. Elderates are run by an official (an elder) appointed by the municipality; in cities, the elder is elected." • : "In Lithuania and Uzbekistan, where the size of the lowest administrative tier is large, some functions are delegated to territorial subunits of the local governments (wards or elderates in Lithuania, and mahallas in Uzbekistan)." • : "In terms of levels of governance, since 2000 the country has been divided according to a three-tiered administrative structure in order to meet with EU requirements. The national territory is divided into ten counties, which are in turn subdivided into 60 municipalities, comprising over 500 'elderates', which manage small-scale local matters." ward, • : "Because municipalities are relatively large (over 60,000 inhabitants, on average), some municipalities have set up wards as structural territorial units of the municipal administration, covering a certain part of the municipal territory. The number of wards in a municipality, their boundaries, and the functions delegated to the wards are established through decisions of the municipal councils. The activities of the wards are funded by the municipal budget." parish, or subdistrict) is the smallest administrative division of Lithuania. An eldership may comprise a very small region consisting of few villages, one single town, or a part of a big city. Elderships vary in size and population depending on their location and nature. A few elderships make up a municipality. Šilainiai, Dainava, Verkiai, Žirmūnai, and Pašilaičiai are the most populous elderates, with population counts over , around twice the population of some entire municipalities.
Elderships manage small-scale local matters, such as repairing pavements and dirt roads, and keep records on all families living in the eldership. The premise of the concept is that — unlike in higher administrative divisions — an elder (the leader of the eldership) could have time to talk to every person in the eldership who wants to.
Modern Lithuania is divided into 10 counties, 60 municipalities, and 546 elderships. Elderships function as municipal districts. In cities, an elder is elected to each eldership district, along with a mayor for the city.
In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the term referred to significantly larger administrative units, such as the Eldership of Samogitia, the name of the Duchy of Samogitia during 1422–1441.
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