Talsi Municipality (; Livonian: ) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

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 ...

. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Abava parish, Balgale parish, Ģibuļi parish, Īve parish, Ķūļciems parish, Laidze parish,

Lauciene parish Lauciene parish () is an administrative unit of Talsi Municipality in the Courland region of Latvia. Towns, villages and settlements of Lauciene parish * See also * Nurmuiža Castle Nurmuiža Castle is a castle in the Lauciene Parish of ...

, Lībagi parish, Lube parish, Strazde parish, Valdgale parish, Vandzene parish,

Virbi parish Virbi parish () is an administrative unit of Talsi Municipality, 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 ...

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 ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Stende Stende (; ) is a town in Talsi Municipality, in the Courland region of Latvia. History The settlement was on the land of the manor Stende since the 14th century. The whole of it was owned originally by the lord of the manor Philipp von der B ...

town,

Sabile Sabile (; ) is a town in Talsi Municipality, in the Courland region of Latvia. Sabile was first mentioned in chronicles in 1253. From the 14th century to the 16th century, it was a site of a castle of the Livonian Order and a village near the cas ...

town and

Valdemārpils Valdemārpils (; , ) (called Sasmaka until 1926) is a town in the Courland region of Latvia, in Talsi Municipality. The town is named after Krišjānis Valdemārs, born in nearby Valdgale parish (then part of Ārlava parish), who was one of the l ...

town with its countryside territory. In 2021 the municipality was expanded to include the former

Dundaga municipality Dundaga Municipality (, ) is a former municipality in Courland, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Dundaga parish and Kolka parish, the administrative centre being Dundaga. As of 2020, the population was 3,571. On 1 July 20 ...

Mērsrags municipality Mērsrags Municipality () is a former administrative unit of Latvia, formed in 2011. As of 2020, the population was 1,407. History In 2009, Roja Municipality was formed by Merger (politics), merging Mērsrags Parish and Roja Parish, both at the ...

and

Roja municipality Roja Municipality (, ) was a former municipality in Courland, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Mērsrags parish and Roja parish the administrative centre being Roja. Since 2010 a separate Mērsrags municipality has been cr ...

. The administrative centre of the municipality is

city. The population in 2022 was 35,194. On 25 January 2023, a traffic sign was erected with the municipality's Livonian name to reflect its Livonian cultural heritage as part of the

Livonian language revival The Livonian language, spoken for centuries in Latvia, gradually declined until the death of its last fluent native speaker, Grizelda Kristiņa, on 2 June 2013. Nevertheless, today there are several ethnic Livonians that are striving for the rev ...

process. The sign is notable for being the first Livonian-language traffic sign in Latvia; similar signs are planned to be placed at villages along the

Livonian Coast Livonian Coast (; ), also known as Livonia, is a culturally protected territory of Latvia that was historically inhabited by Livonian people. It is located in Northern Courland and encompasses twelve Livonian villages. The protected area is ab ...

Population

Twin towns — sister cities

Talsi is twinned with: *

Alanya Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort town, resort city, a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. It is on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean R ...

, Turkey *

Lejre Lejre is a railway town in the northwestern part of the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in eastern Denmark. It has a population of 3,165 (1 January 2024) inhabitants.

, Denmark *

Orhei Orhei (), also formerly known as Orgeev (), is a city, municipality and the administrative centre of Orhei District in the Moldova, Republic of Moldova, with a population of 21,065. Orhei is approximately north of the capital, Chișinău. Hist ...

, Moldova *

Prienai Prienai () is a city in Lithuania situated on the Nemunas River, south of Kaunas. In 2023, the city had 8,894 inhabitants. The name of the city is a derivative from the surname ''Prienas''. Pociūnai Airport is associated with the city. Histor ...

, Lithuania *

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

, Estonia *

Shchyolkovo Shchyolkovo ( rus, Щёлково, p=ˈɕːɵlkəvə) is a city and the administrative center of Shchyolkovsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River ( Oka's tributary), northeast of Moscow. Population: 112,865 ( 20 ...

, Russia *

Söderköping Söderköping is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Söderköping Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 6,992 inhabitants in 2010. Söderköping is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still refe ...

, Sweden *

Telavi Telavi (; ) is the main city and administrative center of the eastern Georgian province of Kakheti. As of the 2017 Census, its population was 19,751. The city is located on the foothills of the Tsiv-Gombori Range at above sea level. History Th ...

, Georgia

Symbols

After the 2021 administrative reform, the previous coat of arms and flag of the municipality were abolished and work began on creating new ones. The new coat of arms was adopted on 20 October 2022, with the new flag following on 29 June 2023. File:LVA Talsu novads COA.png, Coat of arms (2010–2021) File:Flag of Talsi Municipality 2010-2021.png, Flag (2010–2021)

References

Livonians Municipalities of Latvia {{courland-geo-stub