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, an ...
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
Livonian town of
Walk was marked out in 1920 by an international jury headed by British Colonel
Stephen George Tallents. With the expansion of the
Schengen Agreement 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 ...
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
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 ...
was stretched from Valka to Estonian city of
Pärnu.
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
Jānis Cimze (3 July/21 June 1814 — 22 October/10 October 1881) was a Latvian pedagogue, collector and harmoniser of folk songs, organist, founder of Latvian choral music and initiator of professional Latvian music. He is buried at the Lugaž ...
(1814–1881), pedagogue, founder of Vidzeme teacher's seminary - first higher education institution in Latvia's territory
*
Aigars Fadejevs (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 (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 Parish ...
*
Roberts Ķīlis
Roberts Ķīlis (14 March 1968 – 18 March 2022) was a Latvian politician and social anthropologist who served as Minister for Education and Science of Latvia.
Biography
Ķīlis received a bachelor's degree from the University of Latvia (1991) ...
(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 (born 1963), former Minister of Finance (2009-2014)
*
Arturs Neikšāns (born 1983), Latvian chess player, commentator, and coach, multiple-time Latvian champion.
Twin towns — sister cities
Valka is
twinned with:
*
Braslaw, Belarus
*
Çamlıyayla
Çamlıyayla is a town and district of Mersin Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. The district has a population of 10,558 of which 3335 lives in the town of Çamlıyayl
Çamlıyayla is a small district high in the Taurus Mountains. I ...
, 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 was ...
, Israel
*
Kutaisi, Georgia
*
Marijampolė, 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
See also
*
Valka Town Theatre
*
Valga, Estonia
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Towns in Latvia
Divided cities
Estonia–Latvia border crossings
1584 establishments in Europe
Kreis Walk
Valka Municipality