Riga county (, , ) was a historic

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

of the

Duchy of Livonia The Duchy of Livonia, also referred to as Polish Livonia or Livonia, was a territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that existed from 1561 to 1621. It corresponds to the present-day areas of northe ...

, the

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a province (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, Baltic Governorate-General until 1876. Governorate of Livonia bordered Governorate of E ...

, and the

Republic 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 ...

which was dissolved during the administrative territorial reform of the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

in 1949.

History

The first iteration of Riga County (''distrikt'') was formed in 1566 as a subdivision of the Duchy of Livonia of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. After the Treaty of Drohiczyn Riga county merged into the

Wenden Voivodeship Wenden Voivodeship (, ) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Duchy of Livonia, part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was formed in 1598 by King Sigismund III Vasa, out of Wenden Presidency (Province), whi ...

(Wenden Presidency until 1598) of Poland–LIthuania in 1582. The County of Riga was later restored in 1629 as a subdivision of Swedish Vidzeme as a consequence of the

Truce of Altmark __NOTOC__ The six-year Truce of Altmark (or Treaty of Stary Targ, , ) was signed on 16 (O.S.)/26 (N.S.) September 1629 in the village of Altmark ( Stary Targ), in Poland, by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden, with helped by Riche ...

. After the incorporation of Livonia by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

in 1721, it became one of the nine subdivisions of the

. Its capital was

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 ...

, which was the capital of the governorate as well. After establishment of the Republic of Latvia in 1918, the ''Rīgas apriņķis'' existed until 1949, when the Council of Ministers of the

split it into the newly created districts (''rajoni'') of

Baldone Baldone (; ) is a town in Ķekava Municipality, in the Semigallia region of Latvia. The town is famous for its sulfur water springs and was a spa resort. Viktors Arājs was born here in 1910. Gallery File:Mercendarbes muiža.jpg, Mencendarb ...

(dissolved in 1959),

Saulkrasti Saulkrasti (; ) (literally ''Sun shores'' in Latvian) is a town in Saulkrasti Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the east coast of the Gulf of Riga. It is the administrative centre of Saulkrasti Municipality. Made up of a number o ...

(dissolved in 1956) and

Sigulda Sigulda (; ; Polish Zygwold) is a town in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, from the capital city Riga. Overview Sigulda is on a picturesque stretch of the primeval Gauja river valley. Because of the reddish Devonian sandstone which forms steep r ...

(dissolved in 1962).

Demographics

At the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, County of Riga (''Kreis Riga'') had a population of 396,101. Of these, 58.2% spoke Latvian, 18.2%

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 11.9%

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, 4.7%

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

, 3.5%

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, 1.6% Lithuanian, 1.1%

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

, 0.2%

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

, 0.1%

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

, 0.1% Ukrainian, 0.1% English and 0.1%

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

as their native language.Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г.
/ref>

References

{{coord missing, Latvia Counties of Latvia Uezds of the Governorate of Livonia