Kedainiai is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It is located 51 km (32 mi) north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevežis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population as of 2020 is 23,667. Its old town dates to the 17th century.

The city is the administrative centre of the Kedainiai District Municipality. The geographical centre of the Lithuanian Republic is in the nearby village of Ruošciai, located in the eldership of Dotnuva.

The Kedainiai Regional Museum, established in 1922, now operates four branches: a Multicultural Centre, the Mausoleum of the Dukes Radziwill, the House of Juozas Paukštelis, and the Museum of Wooden Sculptures of V.Ulevicius.

Since the city is known as the cucumber capital of Lithuania, it sponsors an annual cucumber festival.

In 2013, the band Bastille shot a music video for their single "Things We Lost in the Fire" in the location.

A small Polish minority of 329 (0,61%) people live in Kedainiai district municipality, but only 30 people participate in Stowarzyszenie Polaków Kiejdan (The Kedainiai Polish Association), the elder people; their cultural activities involve public celebrations of Polish Day of Independence and Day of the Constitution of Third of May, as well as organizing a festival of Polish culture. Since 1994 a School of Polish Language exists.