Since the first period of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n independence,

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

has never had an official territorial division of the city that would be smaller than six

administrative divisions Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

, even though a division of Riga into 47 micro regions () was initiated during the Soviet occupation. The borders of the micro regions only partly coincide with the borders of the districts and suburbs, and common borders were only at an initial stage. Historically, even smaller micro region divisions were used. An example would be Spilve, that consisted of Beķermuiža, Krēmeri, Voleri, Rātsupe and Lielā muiža. The fact, that these smaller regions had no officially existing borders often created trouble as the interpretation of them among inhabitants and civil servants were quite different. In 2008, the

Riga City Council Riga City Council () is the government of the city of Riga, the capital of Latvia. Its meeting place is in the Riga Town Hall (''Rīgas rātsnams)'' at the Town Hall Square (''Rātslaukums'') in the very heart of Riga. The Riga City Council con ...

Development Agency began work on the new Riga regions, according to the new plan — definition of neighbourhoods. This plan is not yet officially confirmed, but when it is, Riga will consist of 58 neighbourhoods (, sing. ''apkaime''), each with its own centre, its own unique

architectural form In architecture, form refers to a combination of external appearance, internal structure, and the Unity (aesthetics), unity of the design as a whole, an order created by the architect using #Space and mass, space and mass. External appearance Th ...

and landscape. However, they are not intended to be a form of administrative division.

Map of neighbourhoods in Riga

References

{{Riga's neighbourhoods