Valka (; german: Walk) is a town and municipality in northern

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 ...

, on the border with

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

along both banks of the river Pedele. Valka and the Estonian town Valga are twins, separated by the Estonian/Latvian border but using the slogan "One Town, Two Countries". The border dividing the

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

n town of Walk was marked out in 1920 by an international jury headed by British Colonel

Stephen George Tallents Sir Stephen George Tallents (20 October 1884 – 11 September 1958) was a British civil servant and public relations expert. Biography Born in London, Tallents was educated at Harrow and Balliol. He began his career as a civil servant at the ...

. With the expansion of the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

and abolition of the Estonian/Latvian border in 2007, it was announced that common public bus transport would be established between Valka and Valga. Also, all border crossing-points were removed and roads and fences opened. In 2016 it was announced that due to better welfare and higher salaries in Estonia, many Valka inhabitants have registered themselves as inhabitants of Valga.

History

The town of Walk (in German) was first mentioned in 1286 and from 1419 was the seat of the

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...

of the Livonian Confederation. City rights were granted by the Polish-Lithuanian king Stefan Batory in 1584. However, the town gained its importance only at the end of the 19th century when the

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 n ...

teacher's seminary was operating here, and the important railway junction was developed. Furthermore, the first narrow-gauge railway line in the territory of modern

was stretched from Valka to Estonian city of

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...

. On 15 November 1917 the decision of the Latvian Provisional National Council to proclaim the independent Republic of Latvia was made in Valka. The red-white-red flag of Latvia was raised here for the first time. The town was a subject of a dispute between the newly born Latvian and Estonian states; on 1 July 1920 the town was divided between the two states as a compromise.

Education

There is one primary school and a gymnasium in Valka. The Institute of Latvia-Estonia provides further education.

Notable people

* Jānis Cimze (1814–1881), pedagogue, founder of Vidzeme teacher's seminary - first higher education institution in Latvia's territory *

Aigars Fadejevs Aigars Fadejevs (born December 27, 1975) is a former Latvian athlete, competing in 20 km, 50 km walk and marathon running, and a rehabilitologist for sprinters. Fadejevs competed in 1996 Summer Olympics, finishing 6th in the 20 km walk and ...

(born 1975), Olympic race-walker, winner of silver medal at Olympic Games of 2000 in Sydney * Vents Armands Krauklis (born 1964), musician, politician, former mayor of Valka city (2001–2006), member of

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the 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 popular ...

(2006-2010), current mayor of

Valka municipality Valka Municipality ( lv, Valkas novads; et, Valka piirkond) is a municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Valka town, Ērģeme Parish, Kārķi Parish, Valka Parish, Vijciems Parish and Zvārtava Paris ...

* Roberts Ķīlis (born 1968), social anthropologist, former Minister of Education and Science (2011-2013) * Pavel Loskutov (born 1969), Estonian long-distance runner *

Gatis Smukulis Gatis Smukulis (born 15 April 1987) is a Latvian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2018 for the , , , and teams. Smukulis won the Latvian National Road Race Championships in 2016, and won six cons ...

(born 1987), road bicycle racer *

Andris Vilks Andris Vilks (born 15 June 1963) is a Latvian politician, member of the Unity party, and Minister of Finance of Latvia The Minister of Finance of Latvia is a member of the Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia, and is the political leader of the Min ...

(born 1963), former Minister of Finance (2009-2014) *

Arturs Neikšāns Arturs Neiksans ( lv, Arturs Neikšāns, born 16 March 1983) is a Latvian chess player who has held the FIDE title of Grandmaster since 2012. He is a four-time Latvian champion, one of the leading Latvian chess players, an FIDE-accredited ches ...

(born 1983), Latvian chess player, commentator, and coach, multiple-time Latvian champion.

Twin towns — sister cities

Valka is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Braslaw, Belarus * Çamlıyayla, Turkey *

I'billin I'billin ( ar, إعبلين, he, אִעְבְּלִין) is a local council in the Northern District of Israel, near Shefa-'Amr. 'Ibillin was granted municipal status in 1960. The municipality's area is 18,000 dunams. In its population wa ...

, Israel *

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...

, Georgia *

Marijampolė Marijampolė (; also known by Marijampolė#Names, several other names) is a cultural and industrial city and the Capital city, capital of the Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake ...

, Lithuania * Novoye Devyatkino, Russia * Valga, Estonia * Valga, Spain

Gallery

File:Valka, Semināra iela (1).JPG, ''Semināra iela'' File:Valka, Rīgas iela (3).JPG, ''Rīgas iela'' (Riga Street) at the Estonian border. File:Valka, Ausekļa iela (4).JPG, Apartment building from the Soviet era. File:Valka, Pedele (2).JPG, Pedele River in Valka. File:Valkas pamatskola.JPG, Valka Primary school

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Latvia Divided cities Estonia–Latvia border crossings 1584 establishments in Europe Kreis Walk Valka Municipality