Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county [ pl ] in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Palatinate since In the Russian Empire , it was the capital of the Kaunas Governorate from to During the interwar period , it served as the temporary capital of Lithuania , when Vilnius was seized and controlled by Poland between and The city is the capital of Kaunas County , and the seat of the Kaunas city municipality and the Kaunas District Municipality.
It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaunas. Kaunas is located at the confluence of the two largest Lithuanian rivers, the Nemunas and the Neris , and is near the Kaunas Reservoir , the largest body of water in the whole of Lithuania.
As defined by Eurostat, the population of Kaunas functional urban area , is estimated at , as of [update] , [18] while according to statistics of Kaunas territorial health insurance fund, there are , permanent inhabitants as of in Kaunas and Kaunas district municipalities combined. The city's name is of Lithuanian origin and most likely derives from a personal name. Before Lithuania regained independence, the city was generally known in English as Kovno , the traditional Slavicized form of its name.
The city and its elderates also have names in other languages see Names of Kaunas in other languages and names of Kaunas elderates in other languages. A 16th century legend claims that Kaunas was established by the Romans in ancient times.
These Romans were supposedly led by a patrician named Palemon, who had three sons: Barcus, Kunas and Sperus. Palemon, his sons and other relatives travelled to Lithuania. After Palemon's death, his sons divided his land. Kunas got the land where Kaunas now stands. He built a fortress near the confluence of the Nemunas and Neris rivers and the city that grew up there was named after him.
