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Latvian Towns
Latvian Towns
Introduction
Introduction
The map below shows the historical areas of Latvia, Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzeme, and Latgale. Kurzeme and Zemgale together made up the area known as Courland (Kurland), which was a gubernia (province) under the Russian Empire. Vidzeme was the area that comprised Livland gubernia. The area known as Latgale (Latgalia) was the only area of Latvia that was part of the Pale of Settlement under the Russian Empire, the area of restricted Jewish settlement established by Catherine the Great in 1791. Latgale was located in the northwest part of Vitebsk gubernia, which extended into what is now Belarus.
The Latvian towns listed below are those which have archival records dating from the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the period when Latvia was part of the Russian empire. The towns are divided by region, so consider this page an index to the detailed town listings found on each separate regional page within this website. Follow this procedure:
1) Find the town in the list below.
2) Then scroll up to the regional heading and click on the link, which will take you to the regional page where the town was/is located.
Each regional page has a list of towns with detailed information. Every town entry shows alternate names for the town, and whether the town has a yizkor book translation, JewishGen Kehilalinks page, and/or is included within the JewishGen Online Burial Registry (JOWBR) or another cemetery website.
Due to the history of the area, towns frequently have multiple names - German (for the historically Germanic regions), Russian, Yiddish, and the modern names, which are in Latvian. Names listed below are first given in their modern form, along with the most common historical names. Full details for naming variations may be found on the JewishGen Jewish Communities Database.
Aizpute/Hasenpot/Hasenpoth
Bauska/Bausk - Zemgale
Grīva/Griwa
Grobina/Grobin
Ilukste/Illuxt
Jaunjelgava/Friedrichstadt
Jēkabpils/Jakobstadt - Zemgale
Jelgava/Mitau - Zemgale
Kandava/Kandau
Kuldiga/Goldingen
Liepāja/Libau
Piltene/Pilten
Sabile/Zabeln
Saldus/Frauenburg
Skaistkalne/Schoenberg
Subate/Shubitz/Subbat
Talsi/Talsen
Tukums/Tuckum - Zemgale
Valdemārpils/Sassmacken
Ventspils/Windau
Cēsis/Wenden
Limbazi/Lemsal
Riga
Riga - Bolderāja/Bolderaa
Riga - Daugavgrīva/Dünamünde
Rūjiena/Rujen
Sloka/Schlock
Smiltene/Smilten
Valka/Walk
Valmiera/Wolmar
Dagda/Dagden
Daugavpils/Dvinsk/Dinaburg
Gostini/Dankere/Glazmanka
Kārsava
Kraslava/Kreslavka
Krustpils/Kreuzburg
Livani/Liwenhof
Ludza/Lutsin
Pleili/Preil
Rezekne/Rositten/Rezhitsa
Riebiņi/Ribenishki
Simala/Malta
Varakļāni/Varklan
Viļaka/Marienhausen
Viļāni/Welonen
Viški
Estonian Towns
Estonian Towns
Under construction - coming soon
Under construction - coming soon
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