Historical Latvian Lands
Regions of Latvia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Historical Latvian Lands?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Historical Latvian Lands (Latvian: Latviešu vēsturiskās zemes) or formerly Cultural regions of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas kultūrvēsturiskie novadi) are several areas within Latvia formally recognised as distinct from the rest of the country. These are: Kurzeme (Courland), Zemgale, Latgale, Vidzeme, and Sēlija (Selonia). While some of these regions are seen purely as culturally distinct, others have historically been parts of different countries and have been used to divide the country for administrative and other purposes.
On 16 June 2021, the Saeima adopted the Historical Latvian Lands Law [lv] which aims to create the necessary preconditions for strengthening the common identity of the population and for the preservation and sustainable development of the cultural and historical environment and cultural spaces of the historical Latvian lands. The Law assigns each parish and town in Latvia to one of the five historical Latvian regions: Vidzeme, Latgale, Kurzeme, Zemgale, and Sēlija. The state city of Riga, a Baltic metropolis, is a historical part of Vidzeme and the special identity and the particularities of the cultural and historical environment of Riga should be supported and promoted.[1][2]