Baloži (; german: Rollbusch) is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
of
Latvia situated in the
Ķekava Municipality
Ķekava Municipality ( lv, Ķekavas novads) is a municipality in Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Baloži town, Daugmale Parish and Ķekava Parish, the administrative centre being Ķekava.
On 1 July 2021, Ķekava Municip ...
just 12 kilometres from the centre of
Riga. In 2021, the city had a population of 6,746.
Baloži was founded soon after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
; as a village at the time, it was developed for the nearby
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...
factory workers. The oldest part of the town is built in a
Stalinist style. During the 1970s, territory of the village was expanded towards the
A7 highway. During the 1980s this part was built as a modern residential district and called
Titurga. In 1991 Baloži received town rights. After the Latvian administrative territorial reform of 2009, Baloži became part of
Ķekava Municipality
Ķekava Municipality ( lv, Ķekavas novads) is a municipality in Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Baloži town, Daugmale Parish and Ķekava Parish, the administrative centre being Ķekava.
On 1 July 2021, Ķekava Municip ...
and thus became one of the few Latvian towns which are not municipal centres. Baloži is defined by Latvian law as a part of the region of
Vidzeme
Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in ...
.
Rail network
Baloži had a small rail network. It was 28 kilometres long and was built to transport peat from the local factory.
See also
*
List of cities in Latvia
References
Towns in Latvia
Populated places established in 1991
1991 establishments in Latvia
Ķekava Municipality
Vidzeme
{{Vidzeme-geo-stub