The Latvian nation was formed from the cultures of peoples that inhabited the Historical Latvian Lands:
Livonians,
Curonians, Latgalians (
ancient and
modern),
Selonians, and
Semigalians, under the influence of the
Baltic German culture. The Appendix 1 to the Historical Latvian Lands Law enumerates the cities (or city parts) and parishes according to the historical lands. •
Courland (,
Livonian:
Kurāmō), the westernmost part of Latvia, consisting of the cities of
Liepāja and
Ventspils and the municipalities of
Kuldīga,
Saldus,
South Kurzeme,
Talsi and
Ventspils. Traditional Courland also includes environs of
Klaipėda County and
Telšiai County in the northwestern part of Lithuania. •
Semigallia () is the central part of Latvia. Zemgale is bounded by Kurzeme in the west, the
Gulf of Riga, the
Daugava river and Vidzeme in the north, Selonia in the east and the
Lithuanian border in the south. It consists of the city of
Jelgava and the municipalities of
Ķekava,
Bauska,
Dobele,
Jelgava and
Tukums. Traditional Semigallia also includes the northern part of
Šiauliai County in Lithuania. •
Selonia () is often considered a part of Semigallia. Selonia comprises the eastern part of the 1939 province of Semigallia, roughly corresponding to parts of the former
Aizkraukle,
Daugavpils and
Jēkabpils districts south of Daugava river. Traditional Selonia also includes a portion of north east Lithuania. Named after the
Selonians. •
Vidzeme (
Livonian:
Vidūmō), meaning "Middle land", is also known as
Livonia or Livland, though it comprises only the Latvian part of
Swedish Livonia and the city of Riga. It roughly corresponds to the former
Alūksne,
Cēsis,
Gulbene,
Limbaži,
Madona,
Valka,
Valmiera districts and parts of
Aizkraukle,
Ogre and
Riga districts north of Daugava river. •
Latgallia (,
Latgalian:
Latgola), the part of Livonia still in the hands of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth after the
Treaty of Altmark in 1629, then called
Polish Livonia or
Inflanty Voivodeship. It roughly corresponds to
Balvi,
Krāslava,
Ludza,
Preiļi,
Rēzekne districts and parts of
Daugavpils and
Jēkabpils districts north of Daugava river. The
Latgalian language, a dialect of Latvian, is based on this territory. In some cases, Kurzeme, Sēlija and Zemgale are combined into one region. This reflects the political division of Latvia between 1629 and 1917, when Kurzeme and Zemgale were together, first as the
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, then as the
Courland Governorate in the
Russian Empire while Vidzeme and Latgale as parts of the
Duchy of Livonia were politically separate, both from Courland and one from another since the 17 century. From this perspective, there are three regions: Kurzeme (including Zemgale and Sēlija), Vidzeme and Latgale. Such division is no longer commonly used but it can be seen in the
coat of arms of Latvia and the
Monument of Freedom in Riga both of which contain three stars: for Kurzeme, Vidzeme and Latgale, which were united into
Latvia in 1918. == Regional symbols ==