Kurzeme Region (), officially Kurzeme Planning Region (), is one of the five planning regions of Latvia, it is situated in the western part 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 ...

, at the shores of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

and

Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia (, , ) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main connection between the gulf and t ...

. The state institution was founded on 2 October 2006, based on the creation of the region territory as prescribed by Regulations No. 133 of the

Cabinet of Ministers A cabinet in governing is a group of people with the constitutional or legal task to rule a country or state, or advise a head of state, usually from the executive branch. Their members are known as ministers and secretaries and they are ...

as of 25 March 2003, the "Regulations on Territories of Planning Regions". As of 2020, the region's population was 237,407.

Organisation

According to the "Law on Regional Development Kurzeme Planning Region", Kurzeme Region is supervised by the Ministry of Regional Development and Local Government, and the decision-making authority is Kurzeme Planning Region Development Council (KPRDC), which consists of 19 deputies appointed by the heads of the region's component municipalities.

Geography

The territory of the Kurzeme Region was created in 2006 utilising and now includes: Dienvidkurzeme,

Kuldīga Kuldīga () () is a town in the Courland region of Latvia, in the western part of the country. It is the center of Kuldīga Municipality with a population of approximately 13,500. Kuldīga was first mentioned in 1242. It joined the Hanseatic L ...

Saldus Saldus (; , ) is a Latvian town located in Courland () region of Latvia, and the largest town in Saldus Municipality. The name Saldus has been noted in historical sources as far back as the mid-13th century, but the founding year for the establis ...

Talsi Talsi (; , ) (population 11,371) is a town in the Courland region of Latvia. It is the administrative centre of Talsi Municipality. It is nicknamed the "green pearl of Courland". Etymology It is believed that the name is derived from an old Livo ...

Tukums Tukums (; ; ) is a town in Latvia and serves as the administrative center of Tukums Municipality. It is located in the eastern part of the historical region of Courland, and with more than 16,000 inhabitants Tukums is the 13th largest settlem ...

and Ventspils districts as well as the

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

and

Ventspils Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

. As of 1 July 2009 the region consist of 6 municipalities and 2 cities within an area of 13,596 km².

Economy

The

gross regional product Gross regional domestic product (GRDP), gross domestic product of region (GDPR), or gross state product (GSP) is a statistic that measures the size of a region's economy. It is the aggregate of gross value added (GVA) of all resident producer unit ...

(GRP) of the region was €2.8 billion in 2020.

Demography

Kurzeme Region had a population of 240,113 inhabitants in 2019 and a population density of 17.66/km².

Tourism

The

Pedvale Open Air Museum The Pedvāle Open Air Art Museum () is a State Historical Monument near Sabile, Talsi Municipality, Latvia. It was founded in 1992 by Ojārs Arvīds Feldbergs as a setting for environmental art. Abava River Valley The museum preserves the cul ...

, near Sabile is a national sculpture park. It preserves the historic landscape, and is a showcase for contemporary sculpture.

References

External links

* Subdivisions of Latvia States and territories established in 2006 2006 establishments in Latvia {{Courland-geo-stub