K?dainiai (Kiejdany in Polish) situated by the Nev?is River, is one of the oldest towns in Lithuania. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermannum de Wartberge it has population of 32.048 (as of 2001). Many monuments of archaeology, history, architecture and art, together with the old town tell of K?dainiai’s glorious past.
The town is the administrative centre of the region. The geographical centre of the present Lithuanian Republic is in the nearby village of Ruo?iai, in Dotnuva subdistrict.
For a long time, K?dainiai has been famous for its chemical and food processing industries. Following the years of stagnation, old enterprises have come back to life, and new ones have been established.
In the medieval period, Union of K?dainiai was signed here.
For a while during 1940, the town served as home to about 300 students and teachers from the Mir Yeshiva.
Since 1989 K?dainiai has been twinned with the German town Smmerda.
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