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Zemgale
Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, ( lv, Zemgale; german: Semgallen; lt, Žiemgala; pl, Semigalia; liv, Zemgāl) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located in the south of the Daugava river and the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic tribe. They are noted for their long resistance (1219–1290) against the German crusaders and Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades. Semigallians had close linguistic and cultural ties with Samogitians. Name The name of Semigallia appears in sources such as ''Seimgala'', ''Zimgola'' and ''Sem'' 'e'''gallen''. The -gal element means "border" or "end", while the first syllable corresponds to ''ziem'' ("north"). So the Semigallians were the "people of the northern borderlands" i.e. the lower parts of the Mūša and Lielupe river valleys. Territory 1st - 4th centuries Between the 1st and the 4th century the cultural area of Semigallia ...
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Historical Latvian Lands
Historical Latvian Lands ( lv, Latviešu vēsturiskās zemes) or formerly Cultural regions of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas kultūrvēsturiskie novadi) are several areas within Latvia formally recognised as distinct from the rest of the country. While some of these regions are seen purely as culturally distinct, others have historically been parts of different countries and have been used to divide the country for administrative and other purposes. The Constitution of Latvia recognises four distinct regions: Kurzeme, Zemgale, Latgale and Vidzeme. On 16 June 2021, the Saeima adopted the Historical Latvian Lands Law which aims to create the necessary preconditions for strengthening the common identity of the population and for the preservation and sustainable development of the cultural and historical environment and cultural spaces of the historical Latvian lands. The Law underscores the belonging of each parish and town in Latvia to one of the five historical Latvian lands: Vidzeme, Latga ...
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Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the Baltic states; and is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of , with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts; and speak Latvian, one of the only two surviving Baltic languages. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population. After centuries of Teutonic, Swedish, Polish-Lithuanian and Russian rule, which was mainly executed by the local Baltic German aristocracy, the independent R ...
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Mūša
Mūša ( lv, Mūsa; German: Muhsse) is a river in Northern Lithuania and Southern Latvia (Zemgale region). At its Confluence (geography), confluence with the river Nemunėlis ( lv, Mēmele) in Latvia, near city Bauska, the river Lielupe, Lielupė is formed. The river is 164 kilometers (146 km in Lithuania, 18 km in Latvia) long. References LIETUVOS RESPUBLIKOS UPIŲ IR TVENKINIŲ KLASIFIKATORIUS (Republic of Lithuania- River and Pond Classifications)
Ministry of Environment (Lithuania). Accessed 2011-11-17. Rivers of Lithuania Rivers of Latvia International rivers of Europe Latvia–Lithuania border {{Latvia-river-stub ...
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Semigallians
Semigallians ( Latvian ''Zemgaļi''; lt, Žiemgaliai, also ''Zemgalians, Semigalls, Semigalians'') were the Baltic tribe that lived in the southcentral part of contemporary Latvia and northern Lithuania. They are noted for their long resistance (1219–1290) against the German crusaders and Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades. Semigallians had close linguistic and cultural ties with Samogitians. Name The name of Semigallia appears in contemporary records as ''Seimgala'', ''Zimgola'' and ''Sem'' 'e'''gallen''. The -gal element means "border", while the first syllable corresponds to ''ziem'' ("north") or ''zem'' ("low"). So the Semigallians were the "people of the northern borderlands" or "people of the low borderlands", i.e. the lower parts of the Mūša and Lielupe river valleys. History During the Viking Age, the Semigallians were involved in battles with Swedish Vikings over control of the lower part of the Daugava waterway. In ''Gesta Danorum'' the Danish chron ...
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Lielupe
The Lielupe ( in Latvian literally: ''Large River'', lt, Lielupė, german: Kurländische Aa) is a river in central Latvia. Its length is (the length would reach if the Mēmele River were counted as part of the Lielupe). The surface area of its drainage basin is . The average fall of the Lielupe is about () and its average flow is , although a maximum of has been reached during floods. Physical geography The Lielupe begins at the confluence of the Mēmele and Mūsa rivers near Bauska. For the upper part of its course, the river flows through a dolomite valley with a few small rapids, until it reaches Mežotne, where it widens and deepens over the flat Zemgale Plain. For many years the Lielupe would frequently overflow its shallow banks and flood surrounding fields and villages, particularly during the spring thaw. Today many parts of the Lielupe's banks are contained with earthen dikes to prevent disastrous floods. Much of the Lielupe is covered in river grasses. At its ...
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Šiauliai
Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different languages: Samogitian ''Šiaulē'', Latvian ''Saule'' (historic) and ''Šauļi'' (modern), German (outdated) ''Schaulen'', Polish ''Szawle'', Russian Шавли (Shavli – historic) and Шяуля́й (Shyaulyai – modern), Yiddish שאַװל (Shavel). History The city was first mentioned in written sources as ''Soule'' in Livonian Order chronicles describing the Battle of Saule. Thus the city's founding date is now considered to be 22 September 1236, the same date when the battle took place, not far from Šiauliai. At first, it developed as a defence post against the raids by the Teutonic and Livonian Orders. After the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, the raids stopped and Šiauliai started to develop as an agricultural settlement. ...
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Panevėžys
Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population of Panevėžys functional urban area, that stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 127,471 (as of 2017) The largest multifunctional arena in Panevėžys, Cido Arena, hosted the Eurobasket 2011 group matches. The city is still widely known, if indirectly, in the Jewish world, for the eponymous Ponevezh Yeshiva. Coat of arms Historical facts allow to state that the first seal of the city of Panevėžys appeared when the city self-government was established. It is clear that until the end of the 18th century, Panevėžys did not have the right of self-government, therefore it could not had its coat of arms. All the preconditions for the establishment of self-government arose during the period of the Four-year Seimas (1788–1 ...
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Žagarė
Žagarė (, see also other names) is a city located in the Joniškis district, northern Lithuania, close to the border with Latvia. It has a population of about 2,000, down from 14,000 in 1914, when it was the 7th largest city in Lithuania. Žagarė is famous for ''Žagarvyšnė'' - a cherry species originated in Žagarė. Etymology Žagarė's name is probably derived from the Lithuanian word ''žagaras,'' meaning "twig". Other renderings of the name include: lv, Žagare, pl, Żagory, yi, זאַגער, translit=Zager. History The foundation of Žagarė dates back to the 12th century. A settlement of the Baltic tribe Semigallians ''Sagera'' was mentioned for the first time in March 1254 in the documents of the partitioning of the Semigallia. In 13th century it was a Semigalian fortress ''Raktuvė'' (or ''Raktė'', first mentioned in 1272-1289 documents). It was an important centre of Semigallian warriors, who fought against the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the Livonian O ...
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Pakruojis
Pakruojis () is a city in Lithuania. It is situated on the Kruoja River, which has a dam above the city. Forty three buildings of the manor, mentioned in 1531 still survive. History Pakruojis and it neighbourhood are within the boundaries of the inhabited area of the Semigallian tribe. For a long time it was thought that the town was founded in 1585, when the town and Pakruojis manor were mentioned in land ownership records. This date has entered several encyclopedias. However, historian Algimantas Miškinis discovered that Pakruojis was first mentioned in 1531. On July 10, 1613 the first church of Pakruojis had inaugural service in it new building. Sigismund III Vasa granted rights for two annual fairs. Landowners von Ropa, who owned Pakruojis Manor from the beginning of 19th century, had a great influence on the development of the city. In 1801 the oldest wooden synagogue of Pakruojis in Lithuania was built. In July and August, 1941, German soldiers with the help of local wh ...
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Pasvalys
Pasvalys () is a town in Panevėžys County, Lithuania, located near the bank of the Svalia River. History In 1557, the Treaty of Pasvalys was signed in the town, which provoked Ivan IV of Russia to start the Livonian War. Pasvalys has mineral spring waters – in 1923 physician K. Armonas created a small sanatorium. At this time about 200 people spent time in sanatorium yearly. Soviet occupation and mass deportations in 1941 were devastating – most of the most active teachers and civil servants, intellectuals were deported to remote regions in Russia and Central Asia. In August 1941, 1349 Jews from the village and the surroundings were executed by an Einsatzgruppen of Germans and local collaborators as mentioned in the Jäger Report. After 1944 Soviet mass deportations started again – the main target were farmers and their families. Hundreds of families were deported. The program of forced collectivisation has started. Since 1947 partisans of Pasvalys district fought ag ...
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Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 10°E to 30°E longitude. A marginal sea of the Atlantic, with limited water exchange between the two water bodies, the Baltic Sea drains through the Danish Straits into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, Great Belt and Little Belt. It includes the Gulf of Bothnia, the Bay of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga and the Bay of Gdańsk. The " Baltic Proper" is bordered on its northern edge, at latitude 60°N, by Åland and the Gulf of Bothnia, on its northeastern edge by the Gulf of Finland, on its eastern edge by the Gulf of Riga, and in the west by the Swedish part of the southern Scandinavian Peninsula. The Baltic Sea is connected by artificial waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea–Baltic Canal and to the German ...
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Linkuva
Linkuva (); is a list of cities in Lithuania, city in the Pakruojis district municipality, Lithuania. It is located north-east of Pakruojis.The town is more than 500 years old. Linkuva is a state-protected urbanistic monument. It is one of the oldest towns of Lithuanian Semigalia. 7 streets are coming into the central square of Linkuva. History The lands were inhabited by a Balts, Baltic tribe, the Semigallians. Linkuva was first mentioned in 1371 in Livonian chronicles by Hermann von Wartberge. Linkuva and its environs suffered from pillaging and attacks by the Livonian Order. The owner of Linkuva manor, Kotryna Mykolienė, built a church in 1500. Later it was taken over by Calvinism, Calvinists. In documents from 1605, a continental Reformed church is mentioned. A parish school operated in the second part of the 16th century and in the beginning of the 19th century. In 1634, a Carmelite monastery was established; it closed in 1832. In the spring of 1918, Linkuva hoster one ...
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