There are five planning regions of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas plānošanas reģioni); Kurzeme, Latgale, Riga, Vidzeme and Zemgale. The boundaries of the regions aligns to the boundaries of the municipalities of Latvia following the municipality reform of 1 July 2009. The planning regions of Latvia are not administrative territorial divisions, since they are not mentioned in the law that prescribes the administrative territorial divisions of Latvia.[1] They were replaced with new planning regions in 2021.
They are identical in area to the statistical regions of the country, except with different names and the city of Riga being separate from the rest of Riga Planning Region.
| Regions | Largest city | Area | Population | (per km²)[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riga | Riga | 10,132 km² | 989,525 | (98/km²) |
| Kurzeme | Liepāja | 13,596 km² | 233,229 | (17/km²) |
| Latgale | Daugavpils | 14,549 km² | 247,220 | (17/km²) |
| Zemgale | Jelgava | 10,733 km² | 225,017 | (21/km²) |
| Vidzeme | Valmiera | 15,246 km² | 180,766 | (12/km²) |
| Latvia | Riga | 64,256 km² | 1,875,757 | (29/km²) |
Regional institutions began formation 1997 according to municipal initiatives on the planning of common development. Following legislation on regional development, the five planning regions were created according to the 5 May 2009 decision no. 391 of the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers: "Decisions on Territories of the Planning Regions.[3] [4]