county, etc. In 1920 they were also entrusted to preside over county police. In 1931, in an effort to centralize the government, county governors also became the chairmen of a three-member county governing body (Lithuanian: ), an executive institution of a county council. That way power in a county became centralized in the hands of a governor. County councils (Lithuanian: ) were elected by local population for a three-year term. The number of representatives from a township depended upon the number of residents in that township. These were the counties, their territory and residents according to the 1923 census: Soviet system (1940–1994) Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union on June 15, 1940. However, due to ensuring World War II the authorities did not introduce major changes to the administrative divisions, just elderates were renamed to apylinkė. After the second occupation in 1944, the number of counties grew from 26 to 41: eleven counties were added in 1946–47 and four more were introduced in 1949. At the end of 1947 there were 37 counties subdivided into 320 townships that were further subdivided into approximately 2,900 apylinkės. The entire interwar system was scrapped for the 10th anniversary of the first occupation. The new system matched that of other Soviet Republics. On July 20, 1950 Lithuanian SSR was divided into four regions (Russian: oblast, Lithuanian: sritis). The regions were further subdivided into 87 districts (Russian: raion, Lithuanian: rajonas): Kaunas Region with 23 districts, Klaipėda Region with 16 districts, Šiauliai Region with 24 districts, and Vilnius Region with 24 districts. The townships were abolished and the districts were further subdivided into apylinkės. In 1984 there were 527 apylinkės in Lithuania. Both regions and districts were named after their capitals. Three exceptions were: Smėliai District had its capital in Ukmergė (also capital of Ukmergė district), Panemunė District – capital Garliava, and Klaipėda District – capital Gargždai. In addition to districts, there were five (Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, and Panevėžys) region-administered cities (Lithuanian: ). They had similar rights as a district. The regions were short-lived and on May 28, 1953, they were abolished, leaving the districts as the first-level administrative division. The number of districts was reduced several times, and in 1962 it settled at 44. The region-administered cities were renamed to republic-administered cities (Lithuanian: ). The number of such cities grew to eleven in 1979. These cities became the city municipalities after the reform