Olaine (; german: Olai) is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Olaine Municipality Olaine Municipality ( lv, Olaines novads) is a municipality in Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Olaine parish and Olaine town the administrative centre being Olaine. The population in 2020 was 19,667. Twin towns — sister ...

in 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 ...

region of Latvia. Olaine gained town rights in 1967. The name comes from the Saint Olai Church, built by the

Misa river MISA may refer to: *Maintenance of Internal Security Act, an act of Parliament in India *Media Institute of Southern Africa Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) is a non-governmental organisation with members in 11 of the Southern Africa Dev ...

under Swedish rule in the 17th century. An old cemetery remains at this site. After 1868, a railway stop "Olai" was built on the Riga-

Mitau Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united ...

line. After Latvian independence, in 1919 "Olai" was renamed to "Olaine", in line with the Latvianisation of topological names all over Latvia. The population in 2020 was 10,668. The history of Olaine is closely connected to a nearby

peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

first taken into use in 1940. Thereafter, more production facilities were built, increasing numbers of workers needed accommodation, and the first dwellings were built in what is currently known as Olaine. Previously, Olaine was the name of a village just two kilometers away. This village now has the name of Jaunolaine (''New Olaine''). Olaine is home of

Olainfarm Olainfarm AS is a Latvian leading manufacturer in the chemical and pharmaceutical sector of the Baltic States. The company was founded in 1972 as state enterprise "Olaines ķīmiski – farmaceitiskā rūpnīca" (Olaine Chemical-Pharmaceutical ...

, the second largest pharmaceutical company in Latvia.

Twin towns — sister cities

Olaine is twinned with: *

Karlskoga Karlskoga () is a locality and the seat of Karlskoga Municipality, Sweden. Located within Örebro County, 45 km (28 mi) west of Örebro, and 10 km (6 mi) north of Degerfors. With a 2020 population of 27,386 distributed over 10.55 square miles (2 ...

, Sweden * Nowa Sarzyna, Poland * Ödeshög, Sweden *

Riihimäki Riihimäki (literally "Drying barn hill") is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to ...

, Finland *

Vadstena Vadstena () is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,613 inhabitants in 2010. From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality. Despite its small population, Vadstena ...

, Sweden

Notable people

* Gunta Baško - Latvian basketball player *

Rustams Begovs Rustams Begovs (born June 26, 1993) is a Latvian ice hockey player currently playing for the HK Rīga of the MHL. Playing career Begovs began his hockey career playing in minor and junior Latvian hockey leagues. In 2011/2012 season he began play ...

- Latvian hockey player * Žaneta Jaunzeme-Grende - Latvian politician *

Dmitrijs Miļkevičs Dmitrijs Miļkevičs (born 6 December 1981 in Riga) is a former Latvian track athlete who competed in 400 metres and 800 metres. Biography Miļkevičs ran a career-best 46.44 in the 400 metres at the 2003 European Athletics U23 Championships in ...

- Latvian athlete * Jānis Kuzmins - World champion in slalom skateboarding

Literature

*Vilīte, Valda: Olaines pagasts (2008)

References

Towns in Latvia Populated places established in 1967 Olaine Municipality Vidzeme {{Vidzeme-geo-stub

Twin towns — sister cities

Notable people

Literature

See also

References