Standard vehicle registration plates in Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

bear three letters and three numbers (e.g. ABC 123) in black lettering on a white background. The plates are usually of the standard EU dimensions, but can also be manufactured in the American dimensions for special import vehicles. All plates issued since 2004 also bear a blue EU identification stripe on their left-hand edge. Those issued between the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990 and the country's accession to the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 in 2004 bore a similar stripe with a small Lithuanian flag

Flag of Lithuania

The flag of Lithuania consists of a horizontal tricolor of yellow, green and red. It was adopted on March 20, 1989, almost two years before the reestablishment of Lithuania's independence following the end of the Soviet Union. Before its readoption, the flag had been used from 1918 until 1940 when...

 in place of the EU's 12 golden stars.

Area designations

Before 2004 the second of the three letters in each registration mark indicated the geographical administrative area in which the vehicle had been registered, as follows:

Code	County	Example
A	Alytus County Alytus County Alytus County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is the southernmost county, and its capital is the city of Alytus. Its territory lies within the ethnographic region of Dzūkija...	AAA 123
J	Tauragė County Taurage County Tauragė County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Tauragė...  (but code from first letter of Jurbarkas Jurbarkas Jurbarkas is a city in Tauragė County, Lithuania. It is on the right-hand shore of the Neman River at its confluence with the tributaries Mituva and Imsre... )	AJA 123
K	Kaunas County Kaunas County Kaunas County is one of ten counties of Lithuania. It is in the centre of the country, and its capital is Kaunas...	AKA 123
L	Klaipėda County Klaipeda County Klaipėda County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It lies in the west of the country and is the only county to have a coastline. Its capital is Klaipėda...	ALA 123
M	Marijampolė County Marijampole County Marijampolė County is one of the ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the south of the country in the historical Suvalkija region, and its capital is the town Marijampolė...	AMA 123
P	Panevėžys County Panevežys County Panevėžys County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the north-east of the country, and its capital is Panevėžys. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Panevėžys County remains as the territorial and statistical unit.- History :Historical documents...	APA 123
S	Šiauliai County Šiauliai County Šiauliai County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the north of the country, and its capital is Šiauliai...	ASA 123
T	Telšiai County Telšiai County Telšiai County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is in the west of the country, and its capital is Telšiai...	ATA 123
U	Utena County Utena County Utena County is one of ten counties in Lithuania. It is the most sparsely-populated county in Lithuania. The capital and the largest city in the county is Utena, which is located from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania...	AUA 123
V	Vilnius County Vilnius County Vilnius County is the largest of the 10 counties of Lithuania, located in the east of the country around the city Vilnius. On 1 July 2010, the county administration was abolished, and since that date, Vilnius County remains as the territorial and statistical unit.-History:Until the Partitions of...	AVA 123

Temporary Vehicle Registration

Vehicles issued temorary registration in Lithuania are noted by red alphanumeric characters on white background.

Types

• Vehicles imported to Lithuania or vehicles exported from Lithuania (For up to 60 days):

  LT

  24214AA

  • vehicles sold by vehicle selling companies or organizations (professional or trade number plates):

    LT

    P3044 55

    
    

    Diplomatic Corps

    Reserved and used by diplomatic corps. Have green background and white letters. The letters are grouped 01 3 123 and do not have blue sidebar on the left side of the plates. First two numbers denote embassy code.
    

    : 01 3 444

    
    

    Taxicabs

    
    Taxicab
    Taxicab
    A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
    
    s have special plates, with yellow background and black text. The first letter is "T" (corresponds to the first letter of the word "taksi" in Lithuanian) and is followed by five numbers
    

    Military transport

    Military transportation has black background and white text registration plates. They do not have side-field, only flag
    Flag
    A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...
    
     instead.
    

    LK321A

    
    

    The technical check sticker

    The registration plate has a special spot, usually between the letters and numbers but occasionally to the left of the letters, to attach a sticker certifying the compulsory biannual technical inspection to check for compliance with safety/emissions standards.
    

    Confusion with Swedish plates

    
    Lithuanian standard plates are almost identical to Swedish standard plates. The Stockholm congestion tax
    Stockholm congestion tax
    The Stockholm congestion tax , also found referred to as the Stockholm congestion charge, is a congestion pricing system implemented as a tax levied on most vehicles entering and exiting central Stockholm, Sweden...
    
     system uses automatic number plate recognition
    Automatic number plate recognition
    Automatic number plate recognition is a mass surveillance method that uses optical character recognition on images to read the license plates on vehicles. They can use existing closed-circuit television or road-rule enforcement cameras, or ones specifically designed for the task...
    
    to identify plates, and this system can not distinguish between Swedish and Lithuanian plates. Non-Swedish cars do not have to pay this tax, but a Swedish owner will be charged if there is one with same number, which is likely. The false tax will be cancelled after a manual check if the owner complains. Swedish taxes must be paid on time anyway and will be refunded if there is an error.
    

    External links

    • State Enterprise "Regitra", the administrative branch of the government in charge of vehicle registrations, vehicle operator licensing and technical inspections (in English and Lithuanian)
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