The current administrative division of

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 ...

came into force on 1 July 2021. On 10 June 2020, the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the po ...

approved a municipal reform that would reduce the 110 municipalities and nine republic cities to 43 local government units consisting of 36 municipalities (''novadi'') and seven state cities (''valstspilsētas,

plural The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...

''). On 1 June 2021, the

Constitutional Court of Latvia Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republikas Satversmes tiesa) is an independent court, which was established in 1996 on basis of amendments in law "On Judicial Power" and in the Constitution of Latvia made in 1994. ...

ruled that the annexation of Varakļāni Municipality to

Rēzekne Municipality Rēzekne Municipality ( lv, Rēzeknes novads) is a municipality in Latgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Audriņi parish, Bērzgale parish, Čornaja parish, Dricāni parish, Feimaņi parish, Gaigalava parish, Griškā ...

was unconstitutional. In response, the Saeima decided to preserve the existence of Varakļāni Municipality as a 43rd local government unit. Previous municipal reforms after the restoration of Latvian independence were enacted in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

(when parishes were restored).

State cities with independent governments as of 2021

Latvia administrative divisions labelled

The 2020 law on administrative territories and populated areas designated

Ogre An ogre ( feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the wor ...

and the previous nine republic cities as state cities. It also provided for the promotion of

Iecava , native_name = , nickname = , motto = , image_skyline = Iecavas luterāņu baznīca.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = Lutheran church in Iecav ...

and

Koknese Koknese () is a town in Aizkraukle Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava River. It has a population of nearly 3,000. According to the provisions of the 2021 Latvian administrative reform, Koknese gained ...

to state city status on 1 July 2021. However, under the same law, only the seven state cities listed in the following table will have local governments which are independent of any municipality. The state cities of

Jēkabpils Jēkabpils (; german: Jakobstadt; pl, Jakubów) is a state city in Jēkabpils Municipality in southeastern Latvia roughly halfway between Riga and Daugavpils and spanning the Daugava River. Historic Jēkabpils lies on the left bank, in Selonia ...

and

Valmiera Valmiera (; german: link=no, Wolmar; pl, Wolmar see other names) is the largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020 – 24 879. It is a state city ...

became part of

Jēkabpils Municipality Jēkabpils Municipality ( lv, Jēkabpils novads) is a municipality in Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Ābeļi Parish, Dignāja Parish, Dunava Parish, Kalna Parish, Leimaņi Parish, Rubene Parish and Zasa Parish. Dur ...

and

Valmiera Municipality Valmiera Municipality ( lv, Valmieras novads) is one of the 35 municipalities established in Latvia in 2021, located approximately west of the national capital Riga. Its first elected municipal council took office on 1 July 2021. Its seat is th ...

respectively on 1 July 2021.

Municipalities as of 2021

As of 1 July 2021, there are 36 municipalities in Latvia:

References

{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of European countries

Latvia geography-related lists 2021 establishments in Latvia States and territories established in 2021

State cities with independent governments as of 2021

Municipalities as of 2021

See also

References