List of cities and towns in Latvia
 | Parts of this article (those related to article) need to be updated. The reason given is: population statistics model has been changed by the Latvian CSB in 2025, numbers need to be updated by skilled editors. (September 2026) |
There are 10 state cities (Latvian: valstspilsēta, pl. valstspilsētas) and 72 towns (Latvian: novada pilsēta, "municipality city/town", pl. novada pilsētas) in Latvia.
Under the Latvian Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas of 2020, cities and towns (in the Latvian language both use the same word - pilsēta) are settlements that are centers of culture and commerce with a well-developed architectural infrastructure and street grid, and have at least 5,000 residents. A settlement can still be designated a town if it has fewer residents, but fulfills all other requirements (or has been a historic town).[1] After the adoption of the 2020 law, new towns that gain town rights afterwards can technically lose their status if their population drops below 2,000 residents. Existing towns were given an exemption.[1]
To become a state city, towns should have a well-developed commercial district, transport, public utilities, social infrastructure, and be a significant center of culture. However, these requirements may be disregarded if there is sufficient population. The 2012 law stipulated that a (republic) city must typically have at least 25,000 residents, but this was not retained in the 2020 law.[2][3]
In 2020, an agreement was reached in Latvian parliament, Saeima, to rename the previous nine "republic cities" (Latvian: republikas pilsētas, sing. republikas pilsēta) to "state cities". It was at this time that a tenth state city, Ogre (formerly a town), was added to the list.[4] The seven largest state cities, have their own municipal administrations and councils (e.g. Riga City Council), whereas the smallest three (Jēkabpils, Ogre and Valmiera) belong to their wider corresponding municipalities.[5]
State cities
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| City | Population (2013)[6] | Population (2019)[7] | Population (2025)[8] |
|---|---|---|---|
Rīga ⓘ  |
658,640 | 632,614 | 591,882 |
Daugavpils ⓘ  |
93,312 | 82,604 | 78,112 |
Liepāja ⓘ  |
76,731 | 68,945 | 67,398 |
Jelgava ⓘ  |
59,511 | 55,972 | 54,821 |
Jūrmala ⓘ  |
50,840 | 49,325 | 51,933 |
Ventspils ⓘ  |
38,750 | 34,377 | 32,719 |
Rēzekne ⓘ  |
32,328 | 27,820 | 26,425 |
Valmiera ⓘ  |
25,130 | 23,125 | 22,811 |
Ogre ⓘ  |
26,167 | 24,768 | 22,753 |
Jēkabpils ⓘ  |
24,635 | 22,076 | 21,014 |
Towns
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See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 "Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas of 2020". LIKUMI.LV. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
- ↑ "No longer in force - Law On Administrative Territories and Populated Areas of 2012". LIKUMI.LV (in Latvian). Retrieved 2026-09-25.
- 1 2 Law On Administrative Territories and Populated Areas of 2012on the Internet Archive
- ↑ "Vienojas par desmit valstspilsētām". LA.LV (in Latvian). Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- ↑ "Levits izsludina Administratīvi teritoriālās reformas likumu". Sabiedrība un politika (in Latvian). 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
- 1 2 "Latvijas iedzīvotāju skaits pašvaldībās" (PDF). Centrālās statistikas pārvaldes datubāzes (in Latvian). Retrieved 2019-10-25.
- 1 2 "Iedzīvotāju skaits un tā izmaiņas statistiskajos reģionos, republikas pilsētās, novadu pilsētās un novados". Centrālās statistikas pārvaldes datubāzes (in Latvian). Retrieved 2019-06-16.
- 1 2 3 "Population by ethnicity in regions, cities, municipalities, towns, neighbourhoods and densely populated areas at the beginning of year 2012 - 2026". National Statistical System of Latvia. Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia.
External links
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- Vietas.lv - Map and information of cities and districts
- MillionMetersAroundLatvia.Com - Map, information and photos of cities
- Deprecated link at archive.today (archived 2012-12-04)
- Searchable map