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Updates: 

On 2009-07-01, Latvia reorganized its territory, replacing the 26 districts and 7 cities with 109 municipalities and 9 cities. Valentin Arzoumanian provided most of the data for the new divisions, with additional information from Sorin Cosoveanu and Tom Kirk. The Geohive  website has some of the same data, attributed to the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia and the Central Election Commission of Latvia.

Erratum: In "Administrative Divisions of Countries", page 214, the ISO codes for two districts were inadvertently switched. The correct codes appear in the table under Change history.

Country overview: 

Short name	LATVIA
ISO code	LV
FIPS code	LG
Language	Latvian (lv)
Time zone	+2 ~
Capital	Riga

 

Latvia in 1900 was part of the Russian Empire. On 1918-11-18, it declared its independence, with essentially its present borders. Latvia was occupied by the army of the Soviet Union in 1940, and became a constituent republic of the U.S.S.R. - the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic - on 1940-08-05. The United States never recognized the annexation. Latvia declared independence again, this time from a crumbling Soviet Union, on 1991-08-21.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Lettland, Letland
2. Dutch: Letland, Republiek Letland (formal)
3. English: Republic of Latvia (formal)
4. Finnish: Latvia
5. French: Lettonie f
6. German: Lettland n
7. Icelandic: Lettland
8. Italian: Lettonia f
9. Latvian: Latvija, Latvijas Republika (formal)
10. Norwegian: Latvia, Republikken Latvia (formal)
11. Portuguese: Letónia, Letônia (Brazil), República f da Letónia f (formal)
12. Spanish: Letonia
13. Swedish: Lettland

Origin of name: 

from ethnic name, possibly from Latve River near Vilnius

Primary subdivisions: 

Latvia is divided into 109 novadi (sing. novads: amalgamated municipalities) and 9 pilsēti (sing. pilsēta: republican cities).

Municipality	Typ	HASC	NUTS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital	Former
Ādaži	n	LV.AD	LV007	9,342	163	63	Ādaži	LV.RG
Aglona	n	LV.AG	LV005	4,561	393	152	Aglona	LV.PR
Aizkraukle	n	LV.AK	LV009	10,080	102	39	Aizkraukle	LV.AI
Aizpute	n	LV.AZ	LV003	10,517	640	247	Aizpute	LV.LP
Aknīste	n	LV.AN	LV009	3,303	285	110	Aknīste	LV.JK
Aloja	n	LV.AJ	LV007	6,152	631	244	Aloja	LV.LM
Alsunga	n	LV.AS	LV003	1,688	190	73	Alsunga	LV.KU
Alūksne	n	LV.AE	LV008	19,558	1,700	656	Alūksnē	LV.AL
Amata	n	LV.AM	LV008	6,369	742	286	Drabeši	LV.CE
Ape	n	LV.AP	LV008	4,379	545	210	Ape	LV.AL
Auce	n	LV.AU	LV009	8,772	518	200	Auce	LV.DO
Babīte	n	LV.BB	LV007	8,865	242	93	Piņķi	LV.RG
Baldone	n	LV.BD	LV007	5,502	179	69	Baldone	LV.RG
Baltinava	n	LV.BA	LV005	1,387	185	71	Baltinava	LV.BL
Balvi	n	LV.BV	LV005	15,834	1,045	403	Balvi	LV.BL
Bauska	n	LV.BK	LV009	28,421	785	303	Bauska	LV.BU
Beverīna	n	LV.BE	LV008	3,567	302	117	Kauguri	LV.VM
Brocēni	n	LV.BR	LV003	7,215	499	192	Brocēni	LV.SA
Burtnieki	n	LV.BT	LV008	8,657	710	274	Matīši	LV.VM
Carnikava	n	LV.CR	LV007	6,261	80	31	Carnikava	LV.RG
Cēsis	n	LV.CS	LV008	19,977	172	66	Cēsis	LV.CE
Cesvaine	n	LV.CV	LV008	3,172	191	74	Cesvaine	LV.MA
Cibla	n	LV.CI	LV005	3,410	509	197	Cibla	LV.LU
Dagda	n	LV.DD	LV005	9,559	949	366	Dagda	LV.KR
Daugavpils	r	LV.DV	LV005	104,809	72	28	Daugavpils	LV.DV
Daugavpils	n	LV.DP	LV005	28,733	1,878	725	Daugavpils	LV.DG
Dobele	n	LV.DB	LV009	24,521	890	344	Dobele	LV.DO
Dundaga	n	LV.DN	LV003	4,878	676	261	Dundaga	LV.TA
Durbe	n	LV.DR	LV003	3,484	321	124	Tadaiķi	LV.LP
Engure	n	LV.EN	LV007	8,058	398	154	Smārde	LV.TU
Ērgļi	n	LV.ER	LV008	3,570	380	147	Ērgļi	LV.MA
Garkalne	n	LV.GA	LV007	6,722	151	58	Rīga	LV.RG
Grobiņa	n	LV.GR	LV003	10,154	490	189	Grobiņa	LV.LP
Gulbene	n	LV.GU	LV008	25,546	1,876	724	Gulbene	LV.GU
Iecava	n	LV.IE	LV009	9,845	312	120	Iecava	LV.BU
Ikšķile	n	LV.IK	LV007	8,346	132	51	Ikšķile	LV.OG
Ilūkste	n	LV.IL	LV005	9,231	648	250	Ilūkstē	LV.DG
Inčukalns	n	LV.IN	LV007	8,504	112	43	Inčukalns	LV.RG
Jaunjelgava	n	LV.JJ	LV009	6,543	685	264	Jaunjelgava	LV.AI
Jaunpiebalga	n	LV.JA	LV008	2,721	251	97	Jaunpiebalga	LV.CE
Jaunpils	n	LV.JU	LV007	2,814	210	81	Jaunpils	LV.TU
Jēkabpils	n	LV.JP	LV009	5,866	906	350	Jēkabpils	LV.JK
Jēkabpils	r	LV.JB	LV009	26,573	26	10	Jēkabpils	LV.JK
Jelgava	n	LV.JL	LV009	27,276	1,319	509	Jelgava	LV.JG
Jelgava	r	LV.JE	LV009	65,597	60	23	Jelgava	LV.JE
Jūrmala	r	LV.JM	LV007	56,054	100	39	Jūrmala	LV.JM
Kandava	n	LV.KN	LV007	10,057	651	251	Kandava	LV.TU
Kārsava	n	LV.KA	LV005	7,128	628	243	Kārsava	LV.LU
Ķegums	n	LV.KG	LV007	6,386	492	190	Ķegums	LV.OG
Ķekava	n	LV.KK	LV007	20,945	270	104	Ķekava	LV.RG
Koknese	n	LV.KO	LV009	6,091	361	139	Koknese	LV.AI
Krāslava	n	LV.KS	LV005	20,217	1,078	416	Krāslava	LV.KR
Krimulda	n	LV.KM	LV007	5,803	339	131	Ragana	LV.RG
Krustpils	n	LV.KT	LV009	6,827	812	314	Jēkabpils	LV.JK
Kuldīga	n	LV.KD	LV003	27,430	1,757	678	Kuldīga	LV.KU
Lielvārde	n	LV.LL	LV007	11,466	226	87	Lielvārde	LV.OG
Liepāja	r	LV.LJ	LV003	85,121	60	23	Liepāja	LV.LJ
Līgatne	n	LV.LG	LV008	4,063	168	65	Līgatne	LV.CE
Limbaži	n	LV.LI	LV007	19,728	1,171	452	Limbaži	LV.LM
Līvāni	n	LV.LV	LV005	14,292	625	241	Līvāni	LV.PR
Lubāna	n	LV.LB	LV008	2,881	347	134	Lubāna	LV.MA
Ludza	n	LV.LZ	LV005	15,986	965	373	Ludza	LV.LU
Madona	n	LV.MD	LV008	28,110	2,153	831	Madona	LV.MA
Mālpils	n	LV.ML	LV007	4,103	221	85	Mālpils	LV.RG
Mārupe	n	LV.MR	LV007	13,958	104	40	Mārupe	LV.RG
Mazsalaca	n	LV.MZ	LV008	4,042	418	161	Mazsalaca	LV.VM
Naukšēni	n	LV.NA	LV008	2,316	281	108	Naukšēni	LV.VM
Nereta	n	LV.NE	LV009	4,425	646	249	Nereta	LV.AI
Nīca	n	LV.NI	LV003	3,886	351	135	Nīca	LV.LP
Ogre	n	LV.OR	LV007	39,117	993	384	Ogre	LV.OG
Olaine	n	LV.OL	LV007	20,085	296	114	Olaine	LV.RG
Ozolnieki	n	LV.OZ	LV009	10,237	286	111	Ozolnieki	LV.JG
Pārgauja	n	LV.PG	LV008	4,502	488	188	Stalbe	LV.CE
Pāvilosta	n	LV.PT	LV003	3,256	515	199	Pāvilosta	LV.LP
Pļaviņas	n	LV.PL	LV009	6,447	377	145	Pļaviņas	LV.AI
Preiļi	n	LV.PI	LV005	11,973	365	141	Preiļi	LV.PR
Priekule	n	LV.PK	LV003	6,687	520	201	Priekule	LV.LP
Priekuļi	n	LV.PU	LV008	9,550	302	117	Priekuļi	LV.CE
Rauna	n	LV.RN	LV008	4,112	309	119	Rauna	LV.CE
Rēzekne	n	LV.RE	LV005	32,130	2,524	975	Rēzekne	LV.RZ
Rēzekne	r	LV.RK	LV005	35,568	17	7	Rēzekne	LV.RK
Riebiņi	n	LV.RB	LV005	6,331	631	244	Riebiņi	LV.PR
Rīga	r	LV.RA	LV006	715,606	307	119	Rīga	LV.RA
Roja	n	LV.RO	LV003	6,271	310	119	Roja	LV.TA
Ropaži	n	LV.RP	LV007	6,832	322	124	Ropaži	LV.RG
Rucava	n	LV.RC	LV003	2,013	449	173	Rucava	LV.LP
Rugāji	n	LV.RJ	LV005	2,679	512	198	Rugāji	LV.BL
Rūjiena	n	LV.RU	LV008	6,252	352	136	Rūjiena	LV.VM
Rundāle	n	LV.RD	LV009	4,384	231	89	Pilsrundāle	LV.BU
Sala	n	LV.SL	LV009	4,415	318	123	Sala	LV.JK
Salacgrīva	n	LV.SC	LV007	9,581	638	246	Salacgrīva	LV.LM
Salaspils	n	LV.SS	LV007	22,810	127	49	Salaspils	LV.RG
Saldus	n	LV.SD	LV003	28,915	1,683	650	Saldus	LV.SA
Saulkrasti	n	LV.SU	LV007	6,082	48	18	Saulkrasti	LV.RG
Sēja	n	LV.SE	LV007	2,464	228	88	Murjāņi	LV.RG
Sigulda	n	LV.SI	LV007	17,579	360	139	Sigulda	LV.RG
Skrīveri	n	LV.SR	LV009	4,117	105	41	Skrīveri	LV.AI
Skrunda	n	LV.SK	LV003	6,057	553	214	Skrunda	LV.KU
Smiltene	n	LV.SM	LV008	14,376	949	366	Smiltene	LV.VK
Stopiņi	n	LV.SP	LV007	9,577	54	21	Ulbroka	LV.RG
Strenči	n	LV.ST	LV008	4,277	376	145	Strenči	LV.VK
Talsi	n	LV.TL	LV003	34,871	1,763	681	Talsi	LV.TA
Tērvete	n	LV.TE	LV009	4,173	224	86	Tērvete	LV.DO
Tukums	n	LV.TK	LV007	33,608	1,198	463	Tukums	LV.TU
Vaiņode	n	LV.VD	LV003	2,976	307	119	Vaiņode	LV.LP
Valka	n	LV.VA	LV008	10,678	910	351	Valka	LV.VK
Valmiera	r	LV.VE	LV008	27,440	18	7	Valmiera	LV.VM
Valmiera	n	LV.VR	LV008	7,031	498	192	Kocēni	LV.VM
Varakļāni	n	LV.VX	LV008	3,941	279	108	Varakļāni	LV.MA
Vārkava	n	LV.VV	LV005	2,412	289	112	Vecvārkava	LV.PR
Vecpiebalga	n	LV.VB	LV008	4,776	543	209	Vecpiebalga	LV.CE
Vecumnieki	n	LV.VC	LV009	9,910	844	326	Vecumnieki	LV.BU
Ventspils	n	LV.VN	LV003	13,786	2,462	951	Ventspils	LV.VN
Ventspils	r	LV.VS	LV003	43,087	55	21	Ventspils	LV.VS
Viesīte	n	LV.VT	LV009	4,705	651	251	Viesīte	LV.JK
Viļaka	n	LV.VL	LV005	6,545	640	247	Viļaka	LV.BL
Viļāni	n	LV.VI	LV005	7,243	285	110	Viļāni	LV.RZ
Zilupe	n	LV.ZI	LV005	3,799	309	119	Zilupe	LV.LU
118 divisions				2,266,917	64,588	24,938
Typ: n = municipality, r = republican city. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. NUTS: See Further subdivisions. Population: 2009-07-01 estimate. Former: HASC code of old district containing this division (see Change history).

Further subdivisions:

There are five planning regions, roughly corresponding to the old provinces (shown under Change history). The coverage areas are a bit different. Daugavpils district and city (now in Latgale planning region) were in Zemgale province; Dobele district (now in Zemgale) and Tukums (now in Riga) were in Kurzeme province; and Limbaži and Ogre districts (now in Riga) were in Vidzeme. There are also six NUTS regions (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics), defined by Eurostat. They are the same as the planning regions, except that Riga planning region is split into Riga (the city) and Pieriga (the remainder) for NUTS:

NUTS	Region
LV003	Kurzeme
LV005	Latgale
LV006	Riga
LV007	Pieriga
LV008	Vidzeme
LV009	Zemgale

Origins of names: 

1. Daugavpils: Latvian Daugava: Western Dvina (river), pils: palace
2. Riga: possibly Old Lithuanian ringi: curve (in the river)

Change history: 

1. 1900: Present-day Latvia was in three Russian governments (guberniy): the southern part of Livonia, almost all of Courland (Kurland, Kurzeme), and the western part of Vitebsk.
2. 1918: Latvia was subdivided into provinces corresponding to its traditional regions.

Province	Population	Area(mi.²)
Kurzeme	292,659	5,099
Latgale	567,164	6,052
Riga	385,063	81
Vidzeme	406,247	8,905
Zemgale	299,369	5,258
5 provinces	1,950,502	25,395
Population: 1935 census

1. 1991-08-21: Latvia became independent of the Soviet Union. At some point after this date, status of apriņķis changed to rajoni. Latvia then consisted of 26 rajoni (districts) and seven lielpilsēti (cities), as shown below. (FIPS translated those types as counties and municipalities, respectively.) The seven independent cities were geographically in the districts, but administratively separate. In the book "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries" I considered the cities as belonging to their districts. Here, following the standards, I list them separately.
2. FIPS uses different names for the types of primary subdivision: county instead of district, and municipality instead of city.

District	Typ	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Post	Plan
Aizkraukle	d	LV.AI	AI	LG01	41,968	2,565	990	51	Z
Alūksne	d	LV.AL	AL	LG02	26,422	2,243	866	43	V
Balvi	d	LV.BL	BL	LG03	30,624	2,386	921	45	L
Bauska	d	LV.BU	BU	LG04	53,197	1,882	727	39	Z
Cēsis	d	LV.CE	CE	LG05	60,620	3,067	1,184	41	V
Daugavpils	c	LV.DV	DGV	LG06	115,265	72	28	54	L
Daugavpils	d	LV.DG	DA	LG07	42,758	2,525	975	54	L
Dobele	d	LV.DO	DO	LG08	40,246	1,633	631	37	Z
Gulbene	d	LV.GU	GU	LG09	28,194	1,877	725	44	V
Jēkabpils	d	LV.JK	JK	LG10	56,348	2,998	1,158	52	Z
Jelgava	c	LV.JE	JEL	LG11	63,652	60	23	29	Z
Jelgava	d	LV.JG	JL	LG12	37,371	1,604	619	30	Z
Jūrmala	c	LV.JM	JUR	LG13	55,718	100	39	20	R
Krāslava	d	LV.KR	KR	LG14	36,836	2,285	882	56	L
Kuldīga	d	LV.KU	KU	LG15	38,169	2,502	966	33	K
Liepāja	c	LV.LJ	LPX	LG16	89,448	60	23	34	K
Liepāja	d	LV.LP	LE	LG17	46,817	3,594	1,388	34	K
Limbaži	d	LV.LM	LM	LG18	40,164	2,602	1,005	40	R
Ludza	d	LV.LU	LU	LG19	35,125	2,412	931	57	L
Madona	d	LV.MA	MA	LG20	46,459	3,346	1,292	48	V
Ogre	d	LV.OG	OG	LG21	63,064	1,840	710	50	R
Preiļi	d	LV.PR	PR	LG22	41,735	2,041	788	53	L
Rēzekne	c	LV.RK	REZ	LG23	39,233	17	7	46	L
Rēzekne	d	LV.RZ	RE	LG24	43,090	2,812	1,086	46	L
Riga	c	LV.RA	RIX	LG25	764,329	307	119	00	R
Riga	d	LV.RG	RI	LG26	144,346	3,059	1,181	20	R
Saldus	d	LV.SA	SA	LG27	38,916	2,182	842	38	K
Talsi	d	LV.TA	TA	LG28	49,814	2,751	1,062	32	K
Tukums	d	LV.TU	TU	LG29	54,200	2,447	945	31	R
Valka	d	LV.VK	VK	LG30	34,317	2,437	941	47	V
Valmiera	d	LV.VM	VM	LG31	60,390	2,365	913	42	V
Ventspils	c	LV.VS	VEN	LG32	43,928	46	18	36	K
Ventspils	d	LV.VN	VE	LG33	14,620	2,472	954	36	K
33 divisions					2,377,383	64,589	24,938
Typ: c = city, d = district. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 2000-03-31 census (source [1]). Post: Postal code (see note). Plan: Planning region (first letter of name).

1. Note: Latvia uses four-digit postal codes. The numbers given represent the first two digits of the lowest postal code in the range for each division. "LV-" is prefixed to the postal code on correspondence from other countries.
2. The cities are all geographically situated in the districts of the same name, except for Jūrmala, which is in Riga district.
3. According to source [3], Latvia's local government consisted of seven cities (which we count as primary subdivisions in the table above), 72 towns, seven novads (amalgamated territories or amalgamated municipalities), and 475 pagasts (rural municipalities). Source [4] says there are 496 parishes, probably meaning the pagasts. Source [5] says, "the administrative subdivisions of the Republic of Latvia are the regions and municipalities: the great agglomerations, the towns and the pagasts (rural districts). There are in all 26 regions and 560 municipalities: seven great agglomerations, seventy towns and 483 pagasts." (My translation from the French.)
4. 2004-05-01: Latvia joined the European Union.
5. 2009-07-01: Latvia reorganized its local government, resulting in the divisions shown in the main table (yellow). Comparing before and after maps and areas, I conclude that part of Krāslava district was annexed to Aglona municipality (about 260 km.²); part of Valka district was annexed to Beverīna (about 210 km.²); part of Limbaži district was annexed to Krimulda (about 200 km.²); and part of Aizkraukle district was annexed to Vecumnieki (about 290 km.²). There were probably other smaller areas transferred.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Aizkraukle: Stuchka (Russian-obsolete)
2. Cēsis: Wenden (German)
3. Daugavpils: Dünaburg (German); Dvinsk (Russian-obsolete)
4. Jelgava: Mitau (German)
5. Jēkabpils: Jakobstadt (German)
6. Kuldīga: Goldingen (German)
7. Liepāja: Libau (German)
8. Ludza: Ludsen (German)
9. Rēzekne: Rositten (German); Ryezhitsa (Russian-obsolete)
10. Riga: Riia (variant)
11. Talsi: Talsen (German)
12. Tukums: Tukkum (German)
13. Valmiera: Wolmar (German)
14. Ventspils: Windau (German)

Sources:

1. [1] Geohive website (retrieved 2004-12-18 at http://212.204.253.230/cd/link.php?xml=lv&xsl=neo1&par1=1, now a dead link): population data attributed to the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia.
2. [2] The U.N. Economic Commission for Europe issued a study which says, "At present, Latvia is divided into 26 counties and seven municipalities.... However, the administrative structure at local and regional level is undergoing extensive restructuring and there are plans for a further decentralization." (Retrieved 2004-12-18 at http://www.unece.org/env/epr/studies/latvia/chapter00.pdf, now a dead link.)
3. [3] Baltic Sea States Subregional Co-operation (retrieved 2004-12-18 at http://www.bsssc.com/pages/subregions/latvia.htm, now a dead link).
4. [4] Latvia Tourism (retrieved 2004-12-18 at http://www.latviatourism.lv/celv/karte.php?chsmall=1, now a dead link).
5. [5] Structure and working of local and regional democracy: Latvia: Situation in 1998. European Council, 1998 (retrieved 2004-12-18 at http://www.coe.int/T/F/Affaires_juridiques/D%E9mocratie_locale_et_r%E9gionale/Comit%E9_directeur_(CDLR)/Publications/Structure_et_fonctionnement/Lettonie.pdf, now a dead link).
6. [6] The Ministry of Regional Development and Local Government of the Republic of Latvia  (retrieved 2009-11-16)
7. [7] The Central Election Commission of Latvia  (Latvian; retrieved 2009-11-16)
8. [8] Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia  (retrieved 2009-11-16)
9. [9] History and progress of territorial reform in Latvia  (retrieved 2009-09-28; has numerous maps)