Jonava was officially established as a city in the 18th century during the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1750 first wooden church has been built in Jonava. In 1778 beer brewery was operating in the town. Around 1812 Napoleon and his army invaded the town and its surrounding villages. In 1923 Jonava officially recognised as city-status settlement and in 1950 it became centre of municipality. The city had a large Jewish population before World War II - in 1893 92% of the population was Jewish and in 1941 it was 80%. In 1932 there were 250 shops owned by Jewish families, a Jewish bank, 7 synagogues and a Jewish school. During World War II Jonava was attacked by Nazi Germany. A Christian church and five Jewish synagogues were destroyed. The Jews of the city were killed in two massacres, in August and September 1941. A total of 2,108 people were executed by an Einsatzgruppen of Germans and Lithuanian Self-Defence Units. 200 remaining Jews were kept prisoners at the Kaunas ghetto. After the war the city built the largest fertilizer factory in the Baltic states and Jonava become one of 4 biggest industrial cities in Lithuania.
An explosion occurred in the chemical fertilizers factory on 20 March 1989, causing a leakage of nearly 7,500 tonnes of liquid ammonia. The catastrophe developed further into a fire within the nitrophosphate facility and fertilizer storehouses polluting the atmosphere with products of their combustion, such as nitrous oxide and chlorine. The toxic cloud drifted towards Ukmergė, Širvintos and Kėdainiai. The concentration of ammonia surpassed the permissible level by a factor of 150 in Upninkai, at 10 km from the disaster site. One day after the accident, a toxic cloud 7 km wide and 50 km long was recorded between Jonava and Kėdainiai. Seven people died during the fire and leakage of ammonia immediately afterward, 29 people became handicapped, and a large number of people suffered from acute respiratory and cardiac attacks. The true extend of damages and health impact from the event is however unknown. What is known is that exposure to ammonia prenatally, especially at a young age can cause serious brain damage.
Administrative divisions
Jonava is divided into 13 city regions:
Demography
Historical population
Sport
The city has its own "physical culture and sports center" with stadium, swimming pool and indoor arena. It has already been announced that the city is going to build a new large indoor arena "BC Jonava".
Jonava has a strong women's volleyball team Achema-KKSC that playing in the highest league A Grupė. In 2010 Jonava held the international "Alfredas Ogonauskas Memorial Volleyball Championship".
Competitions
Jonava also hosts some less regular competitions. During the traditional midsummer holiday there was "Jonas's Republic President Cup" of RallySlalom events. In summer seasons there are some occasional cycling tournaments or cross country competitions.
