The city of Kaunas has a number of parks and public open spaces. It devotes 7.3% of its total land acreage to parkland. Ąžuolynas (literally, "Oak Grove") park is a main public park in the heart of Kaunas. It covers about 63 hectares and is the largest urban stand of mature oaks in Europe. To protect the unique lower landscape of Kaunas Reservoir, its natural ecosystem, and cultural heritage Kaunas Reservoir Regional Park was established in the eastern edge of Kaunas in 1992. By the initiative of a prominent Lithuanian zoologist Tadas Ivanauskas and biologist Konstantinas Regelis the Kaunas Botanical Garden was founded in 1923. It serves not only as a recreational area for public, but also serves as a showcase for local plant life, and houses various research facilities.
Lithuania's premiere last resting place formally designated for graves of people influential in national history, politics, and arts is Petrašiūnai Cemetery in Kaunas. It is also the burial site of some signatories of the 1918 Act of Independence. There are four old Jewish cemeteries within city limits.
Economy
Kaunas is a large center of industry, trade and services in Lithuania. The most developed industries in Kaunas are: food and beverage industry, textile and light industry, chemical industry, publishing and processing, pharmaceuticals, metal industry, wood processing and furniture industry. Recently information technology and electronics have become an important area of business activities in Kaunas. The city also has large construction industry, including commercial, housing and road construction.
Primary foreign investors in Kaunas are companies from the USA, Finland, and Estonia.[citation needed] Head offices of several major International and Lithuanian companies are located in Kaunas, including "Kraft Foods Lietuva", largest Generic Pharmaceuticals producer in Lithuania "Sanitas group", producer of sportsweare AB "Audimas", one of the largest construction companies "YIT Kausta", JSC "Senukai", largest producer in Lithuania of strong alcoholic drinks JSC "Stumbras", Finnish capital brewery JSC "Ragutis", JSC "Fazer Gardesis", largest wholesale, distribution and logistics company in Lithuania and Latvia JSC "Sanitex", JSC "Stora Enso Packaging", "UBIG group" - a management company of diversified holdings that operates in the property development, banking, aluminium, mining, logistics, textiles, sports, financial intermediary, and other sectors; producer of pharmaceuticals, and the only producer of homoeopathic medicines in Lithuania JSC "Aconitum".
There are also some innovative companies located in Kaunas, such as leading wholesaler of computer components, data storage media "ACME group", internet and TV provider, communications JSC "Mikrovisata group", developer and producer original products for TV and embedded technologies JSC "Selteka". Joint Lithuanian-German company "Net Frequency", based in Kaunas, is a multimedia and technology service provider. Kaunas is also home to JSC "Baltijos Programinė Įranga", a subsidiary of No Magic, Inc., producing world-leading software modeling tools. A LED lighting assembly plant was opened in Kaunas by South Korean company LK Technology in February 2011. Kaunas Free Economic Zone[40] established in 1996 has also attracted some investors from abroad. Before its disestablishment, Air Lithuania had its head office in Kaunas. Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant is the largest one in Lithuania.
Some notable changes are under construction and in the stage of disputes. The construction of a new landmark of Kaunas - the Žalgiris Arena - began in the autumn of 2008. Due to the delay of construction it is expected to be completed by 19 May 2011. Currently discussions are underway about the further development of the Vilijampolė district on the right bank of the Neris river and the Nemunas River, near their confluence.
Infrastructure
Airports
Kaunas International Airport
Kaunas International Airport (KUN) is one of the biggest airports in the Baltic states. In 2010 it handled 809,732 passengers and 4,449 tonnes of cargo. An Irish low-cost airline Ryanair announced Kaunas Airport as their 40th base and first in the Central Europe in February, 2010. Kaunas Airport is the fastest growing airport in the Baltic states in 2009 and 2010. They believe that the airport will handle up to one million passengers in 2011. The smaller S. Darius and S. Girėnas Airport, established in 1915, is located about three kilometers south of the city center. It is one the oldest still functioning airports in Europe used for tourism and air sports purposes and now hosts the Lithuanian Aviation Museum.
Highways
Kaunas is served by a number of major motorways. European route E67 is a highway running from Prague in the Czech Republic to Helsinki in Finland by way of Poland, Kaunas Lithuania, Riga (Latvia), and Tallinn (Estonia). It is known as the Via Baltica between Warsaw and Tallinn, a distance of 670 kilometres (420 mi). It is the most important road connection between the Baltic states. Kaunas also is linked to Vilnius to its east and Klaipėda, on the Baltic Sea, via the A1 motorway and Daugavpils (Latvia), via E262(A6) highway.
Bridges
Since Kaunas is located at the confluence of two rivers, there were 34 bridges and viaducts built in the city at the end of 2007, including:
Vytautas the Great Bridge, connecting Old Town with Aleksotas across the Nemunas;
M. K. Čiurlionis Bridge, an automotive bridge across the Nemunas;
Lampėdžiai Bridge across the Nemunas that serves as western bypass of Kaunas;
Petras Vileišis Bridge, connecting Old Town with Vilijampolė across the Neris River;
Varniai Bridge, connecting Žaliakalnis with Vilijampolė across the Neris River;
The Green railway bridge, built in 1862.
Railways
Kaunas Railway Tunnel
Kaunas is an important railway hub in Lithuania. First railway connection passing through Kaunas was constructed in 1859-1861 and opened in 1862. It consisted of Kaunas Railway Tunnel and the Railway bridge across the Nemunas river. Kaunas Railway Station is an important hub serving direct passenger connections to Vilnius and Warsaw as well as being a transit point of Pan-European corridors I and IX. Some trains run from Vilnius to Šeštokai, and, Poland, through Kaunas. International route connecting Kaliningrad, Russia and Kharkiv, Ukraine, also crosses Kaunas. The first phase of the Standard gauge Rail Baltica railway section from Šeštokai to Kaunas is under construction, and it is expected to be completed by 2013.
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