The regions and cities of Latvia

Latvia’s territory is divided into regions consisting of districts and cities. After the completion the of  administrative and territorial reform in 2009, five regions have been created: Riga’s, Kurzeme’s, Vidzeme’s, Zemgale’s and Latgale’s region; 110 districts and 76 cities, of which 9 cities - Riga, Daugavpils, Jelgava, Jurmala, Jekabpils, Liepaja, Rezekne, Valmiera and Ventspils  are major cities of national importance.

Today, the established regions do not coincide with the historic - ethnographic Latvian regions / provinces, as mentioned in "Heinrici Chronicon Livoniae". In the 13th century Latvia’s territory was divided in five regions: Latgale, Zemgale, Kurzeme, Liv land and Selia, of which by 2009 over history and national development, it was developed into 4 regions: Vidzeme, Kurzeme, Zemgale and Latgale. Each region name was related with the tribe that once lived there.

Although the established regions do not match the historic - ethnographic Latvian regions, each of them has kept its specific characteristics - cultural elements (language dialect, house construction, costumes and songs).

Find out each region’s specific characteristics in the region description.