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The current administrative division of Latvia came into force on 1 July 2021.

On 10 June 2020, the Saeima approved a municipal reform that would reduce the 110 municipalities and nine republic cities to 43 local government units consisting of 36 municipalities (Latvian: novadi, sg. novads) and seven state cities (valstspilsētas, sg. valstspilsēta). The municipalities are also further divided into 71 cities/towns (pilsētas, sg. pilsēta) and 512 parishes (pagasti, sg. pagasts).

On 1 June 2021, the Constitutional Court of Latvia ruled that the annexation of Varakļāni Municipality to Rēzekne Municipality was unconstitutional. In response, the Saeima decided to preserve the existence of Varakļāni Municipality as a 43rd local government unit until 2025. In June 2024 the Saeima decreed that Varakļāni Municipality will be merged into Madona Municipality immediately after the 2025 Latvian local elections.

Previous municipal reforms after the restoration of Latvian independence were enacted in 2009 [lv] and 1990 (when parishes were restored).

State cities with independent governments as of 2021

The 2020 law on administrative territories and populated areas designated Ogre and the previous nine republic cities as state cities. It also provided for the promotion of Iecava and Koknese to state city status on 1 July 2021. However, under the same law, only the seven state cities listed in the following table will have local governments which are independent of any municipality. Of the remaining three state cities, Jēkabpils and Valmiera became part of Jēkabpils Municipality and Valmiera Municipality respectively on 1 July 2021, while Ogre is similarly a part of the Ogre Municipality.

City name	Population (2021 estimate)	GDP (mil. €), 2018	GDP per capita (€), 2018
Daugavpils	80,627	693	8,400
Jelgava	55,336	583	10,400
Jūrmala	50,248	421	8,600
Liepāja	67,964	897	13,000
Rēzekne	26,839	283	10,100
Riga	614,618	16,395	25,800
Ventspils	33,372	470	13,600

Municipalities as of 2021

As of 1 July 2021, there are 36 municipalities in Latvia:

See also

• Administrative divisions of Latvia (2009–2021)
• Administrative divisions of Latvia before 2009

References

1. "Saeima finally approves major regional reforms". Latvian Public Broadcasting. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
2. ^ "Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas, 2020 version". Likumi. Latvijas Vēstnesis. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
3. ^ Upleja, Sanita (1 June 2021). "Varakļāni paliek kā atsevišķs novads; Rēzeknes un Varakļānu novadā vēlēšanas pārceltas (plkst. 16.15)". Delfi (in Latvian). Retrieved 7 June 2021.
4. "Law on Administrative Territories and Populated Areas, 2021 version". Likumi. Latvijas Vēstnesis. 1 July 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
5. "Varakļāni, Madona municipalities merge". eng.lsm.lv. 2024-07-14. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
6. ^ "Population by sex and age group in regions, cities, municipalities, towns, rural territories, neighbourhoods and densely populated areas at the beginning of the year by Sex, Age group, Territorial unit and Time period". Official Statistics Portal.
7. ^ "Meklēt | Oficiālās statistikas portāls".
8. ^ "Grozījumi Administratīvo teritoriju un apdzīvoto vietu likumā". Likumi (in Latvian). Latvijas Vēstnesis. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.

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