Aizputes apriņķis (, ) was a historic

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of the

Courland Governorate The Courland Governorate, also known as the Province of Courland, Governorate of Kurland (german: Kurländisches Gouvernement; russian: Курля́ндская губерния, translit=Kurljándskaja gubernija; lv, Kurzemes guberņa; lt, K ...

and of the

Republic 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 ...

. Its capital was

Aizpute Aizpute (german: Hasenpoth) is a town in western Latvia's South Kurzeme Municipality in the valley of the Tebra River, northeast of Liepāja. History The territory of modern Aizpute was inhabited by ancient Curonians since the 9th century. St. ...

(''Hasenpoth'').

History

Created as the Chief Captaincy of Aizpute () in 1819 was from southwestern parts of the

Duchy of Courland and Semigallia The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia ( la, Ducatus Curlandiæ et Semigalliæ; german: Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen; lv, Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste; lt, Kuršo ir Žiemgalos kunigaikštystė; pl, Księstwo Kurlandii i Semigalii) was ...

and

District of Pilten The District of Pilten ( pl, Powiat piltyński, ger, Kreis Pilten) was an autonomous district of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and also in union with the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. History The district was created after the deat ...

after incorporation into the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. In 1864, County of Aizpute (''Kreis Hasenpoth'') became one of the ten counties of the Courland Governorate. After establishment of the Republic of Latvia in 1918, the ''Aizputes apriņķis'' existed until 1949, when the Council of Ministers of the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

split it into the newly created districts (''rajons'') of

(dissolved in 1962) and

Alsunga Alsunga (also Alšvanga, german: Alschwangen) is a village in Alsunga Parish, Kuldīga Municipality in the Courland region of Latvia. Alsunga is the center of the Suiti, a small Catholic community in the Lutheran western part of Latvia. The ...

(dissolved in 1956).

Demographics

At the time of the

Russian Empire Census The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897 ( pre-reform Russian: ) was the first and only nation-wide census performed in the Russian Empire (the Grand Duchy of Finland was excluded). It recorded demographic data as ...

of 1897, ''Kreis Hasenpoth'' had a population of 53,209. Of these, 90.4% spoke Latvian, 5.4%

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, 2.5%

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

, 1.0% Lithuanian, 0.4%

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, 0.2%

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

and 0.1%

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

as their native language.

References

External links

{{List of former Latvian counties and districts Uezds of Courland Governorate