Ventspils apriņķis explained

Ventspils County
Settlement Type:County
Mapsize:225px
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:Russian Governorate
Subdivision Name1:Courland
Established Title:Established
Established Date:1819
Extinct Title:Abolished
Extinct Date:1949
Seat Type:Capital
Seat:Windau
Area Total Km2:3126.59
Population As Of:1897
Population Total:48,275
Population Density Km2:auto

Ventspils County was a historic county of the Courland Governorate and of the Republic of Latvia. Its capital was Ventspils (Windau).

History

Created from northern parts of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and District of Pilten after incorporation into the Russian Empire. In 1819, County of Ventspils (Kreis Windau) became one of the ten counties of the Courland Governorate.

After establishment of the Republic of Latvia in 1918, the Ventspils apriņķis[1] existed until 1949, when the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR split it into the newly created districts (rajons) of Ventspils, Alsunga (dissolved in 1956) and Dundaga (dissolved in 1956).

Demographics

At the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897, Kreis Windau had a population of 48,275. Of these, 85.2% spoke Latvian, 7.9% German, 2.9% Yiddish, 2.8% Lithuanian or Livonian (Livonian-speakers were recorded in this census as Lithuanian-speakers), 0.6% Russian, 0.3% Estonian, 0.2% Romani, 0.1% Polish and 0.1% Ukrainian as their native language.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Letonika.lv. Vārdnīcas - Latviešu—angļu vārdnīca. Apriņķis = district or county. www.letonika.lv. 2019-10-14.
  2. Web site: Первая всеобщая перепись населения Российской Империи 1897 г. Распределение населения по родному языку и уездам 50 губерний Европейской России. Демоскоп Weekly. ru. 22 December 2013.