Global Sourcebook for International Data Management

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Latvia

Global Sourcebook | Index | Properties

LATVIA

For supplementary information, see links to post office home pages here , to postal code pages here and to other personal name and addressing issues pages here .

Table of Contents

Latvia - Country information
Latvia - Number format
Latvia - Date and time formats
Latvia - Languages
Latvia - Personal names and forms of address
Latvia - Company legal forms
Latvia - Address formats
- Thoroughfare types
Latvia - Postal codes
Place names in Latvia
Latvia - Administrative districts
- Administrative districts graphic
Telephone numbers in Latvia

Latvia - Country information

Latvia - Number format

   1 234,45

(where , indicates the decimal separator and a space the thousands separator)

Latvia - Date and time formats

   Note: This section last updated 7th May 2021

The official format is:

   yyyy-mm-dd

though

   dd.mm.yyyy or
   dd/mm/yyyy

are often used.

   14:32

Latvia - Languages

   Note: This section last updated 25th June 2015

The national language, Latvian External , is spoken by some 1 394 000 people, or 51.6% of the population. Some 32% (861 600) of the population have Russian as their mother language. There are also 105 000 Belorussian-speakers; 3 000 Estonian-speakers; 35 000 Lithuanian-speakers; 57 000 Polish-speakers; 8 000 Baltic Romani -speakers; 5 000 Tatar-speakers and 78 000 Ukrainian-speakers.

Latvia - Personal names and forms of address

The forms of address used in Latvia are:

   Mr      kungs
   Mrs     kundze
   Miss    jaunkundze

Jaunkundzeis only used for female children – use kundze for all other females.

Male and female family names are written differently. Male names often end in -š, female in -a or -e.

The name with form of address is written in this order:

   given name[ ]family name[ ]form of address

When writing to a family (i.e., “Mr and Mrs”), use the form of address:

   family name[ ģimenei]

where ģimenei means “family”.

In a letter, “Dear “ is Ļoti cienījamais (Ļ. cien.) (“most respectable”) or augusti godātais (A. god) (“highly honoured”) for males and Ļoti cienījamaor augusti gogātā for females, in this way:

   Ļoti cienījamais Janis Smita kungs.

For informal use, the letter headings are Miļais (male) and Miļā (female).

Note that the family name is declined when used with a form of address, so that Janis Smits becomes Janis Smita kungs.

When addressing an envelope, the form of address as above is used (usually abbreviated) followed by the person’s job title and then the name and form of address in this way:

   [Ļ. cien.]job title[ ]given name[ ]family name[ ]form of address

When addressing somebody with a professional degree, the title is also included:

   Arhitekta (m) / Arkitektes (f)             Architect
   Inženiera (m) / Inženieres (f)             Engineer
   Profesora (m) / Profesores (f)             Professor

Women usually take their husband’s family name upon marriage (with a feminised ending), but may also hyphenate this to their maiden family name.

   Tables of names can be acquired: given names , surnames/family names , family name prefixes , forms of address , job titles

Latvia - Company legal forms

   Note: This section last updated 10th July 2013

Latvian company types include:

Sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību (SIA, Limited liability company)

   Akciju sabiedrība  (A/s, Joint stock company)  
   Branch
   General partnership
   Individuālais komersants (IK, Sole Trader)
   Individualais Uznemums (IU) 
   Komandītsabiedrība  (KS, Limited partnership)  
   Pilnsabiedrība (PS, Partnership) 
   Representative office
   Sabiedrība ar ierobežotu atbildību (SIA, Limited liability company)

   Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http:www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm

Latvia - Address formats

   Note: This section last updated 24th March 2021

Latvian addresses have the format:

   Recipient information 
   Thoroughfare name[ ]thoroughfare type[ ]building number{[, ]sub-building information}{[, ]Sub-locality] 
   MUNICIPALITY{[-]sorting code}[, ]POSTAL CODE

For example:

dz. is an abbreviation of dzīvoklis, meaning “apartment”. Latvian thoroughfare types are written with a lower-case first letter.

Building numbers often cover more than one building, indicated by the number being followed by a letter:

This may also be indicated by a number, preceded by k (korpuss, building), like this:

   62 k-1
   62 k-2
   ...

The postal code is written to the right of the city name. Addresses for a number of the larger cities may also include a sorting number indicating the post office, but this is no longer much used as it often duplicated within the postal code. The building number may sometimes be found written before the thoroughfare name, and the postal code may sometimes be found written before the municipality name.

   A table containing information about the relevant position of elements within address blocks can be acquired

Thoroughfare types

Common Latvia thoroughfare types are bulvaris, gatve, iela and prospekt.

Latvia - Postal codes

   Note: This section last updated 5th April 2020

Postal codes (Pasta Indeksa) consist of a block of 4 digits, usually preceded by LV-. The first two indicate the routing area, mostly corresponding to the pre 1st July 2009 district boundaries, the last two the post office. Postal codes cannot begin with 0, 22-29, 35, 49, 55 or 58-99.

   Metadata containing postal code formatting rules, exceptions and regular expressions can be acquired

Latvia - Postal code format graphic

Latvia - Postal code format

9999, (LV-)9999

Latvia - Postal code specifics

Postal codes do not begin with 0, 22-29, 35, 49, 55 or 58-99.

Latvia - Postal code regular expression

\A((1)[0-9][0-9][0-9]|(2)[0-1][0-9][0-9]|(3)[0-4][0-9][0-9]|(3)[6-9][0-9][0-9]|(4)[0-8][0-9][0-9]|(5)[0-4][0-9][0-9]|(5)[6-7][0-9][0-9]|(LV-1)[0-9][0-9][0-9]|(LV-2)[0-1][0-9][0-9]|(LV-3)[0-4][0-9][0-9]|(LV-3)[6-9][0-9][0-9]|(LV-4)[0-8][0-9][0-9]|(LV-5)[0-4][0-9][0-9]|(LV-5)[6-7][0-9][0-9])\Z

Latvia - Postal code level of coverage

Latvia - Postal code map

Place names in Latvia

   Note: This section last updated 5th December 2016

Refer to Exonyms in Latvia for full lists of place names in Latvia in other languages.

   Alternate place name forms/postal code tables can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/settlements.htm

   Other language place name data can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/otherlanguageplace.htm

Latvia - Administrative districts

   Note: This section last updated 18th August 2021

Constitutional changes from 1^st June 2021 reduced the number of novadi (singular novads, amalgamated municipalities) from 110 to 36 and the number of pilsēti (singular pilsēta, republican cities), shown in the list below with an asterisk, from 9 to 7.

*Municipality from 1^st June 2021*	*Postal code zone(s)*	*Municipality 2011-2021*	*Postal code zone(s)*
Ādaži	10, 21 (shared with Ķekava, Mārupe, Olaine, Ropaži, Riga, Salaspils, Saulkrasti, Sigulda)	Ādaži	21
		Carnikava	21
		Garkalne	10, 21
Aizkraukle	51	Aizkraukle	51
		Jaunjelgava	51
		Koknese	51
		Nereta	51
		Pļaviņas	51
		Skrīveri	51
Alūksne	43 (shared with Smiltene)	Alūksne	43
Augšdaugava	54 (shared with Daugavpils)	Daugavpils	54
		Ilūkste	54
Balvi	45	Baltinava	45
		Balvi	45
		Rugāji	45
		Viļaka	45
Bauska	39	Bauska	39
		Iecava	39
		Rundāle	39
		Vecumnieki	39
Cēsis	41 (shared with Smiltene)	Amata	41
		Cēsis	41
		Jaunpiebalga	41
		Līgatne	41
		Pārgauja	41
		Priekuļi	41
		Vecpiebalga	41
Daugavpils *	54 (shared with Augšdaugava)	Daugavpils *	54
Dienvidkurzeme	34 (shared with Lipāja)	Aizpute	34
		Durbe	34
		Grobiņa	34
		Nīca	34
		Pāvilosta	34
		Priekule	34
		Rucava	34
		Vaiņode	34
Dobele	37	Auce	37
		Dobele	37
		Tērvete	37
Gulbene	44	Gulbene	44
Jēkabpils	52	Aknīste	52
		Jēkabpils *	52
		Jēkabpils	52
		Krustpils	52
		Sala	52
		Viesīte	51
Jelgava *	30 (shared with Jelgava)	Jelgava *	30
Jelgava	30 (shared with Jelgava *)	Jelgava	30
		Ozolnieki	30
Jūrmala *	20	Jūrmala *	20
Ķekava	10, 21 (shared with Ādaži, Mārupe, Olaine, Ropaži, Riga, Salaspils, Saulkrasti, Sigulda)	Baldone	21
		Ķekava	10, 21
Krāslava	53 (shared with Līvāni), 56	Aglona	53
		Dagda	56
		Krāslava	56
Kuldīga	33	Alsunga	33
		Kuldīga	33
		Skrunda	33
Limbaži	40 (shared with Sigulda)	Aloja	40
		Limbaži	40
		Salacgrīva	40
Lipāja *	34 (shared with Dienvidkurzeme)	Liepāja *	34
Līvāni	53	Līvāni	53
Ludza	57	Cibla	57
		Kārsava	57
		Ludza	57
		Zilupe	57
Madona	48	Cesvaine	48
		Ērgļi	48
		Lubāna	48
		Madona	48
Mārupe	10, 21 (shared with Ādaži, Ķekava, Olaine, Ropaži, Riga, Salaspils, Saulkrasti, Sigulda)	Babīte	21
		Mārupe	10, 21
Ogre	50	Ikšķile	50
		Ķegums	50
		Lielvārde	50
		Ogre	50
Olaine	21 (shared with Ādaži, Ķekava, Mārupe, Ropaži, Riga, Salaspils, Saulkrasti, Sigulda)	Olaine	21
Preiļi	53 (shared with Krāslava)	Preiļi	53
		Riebiņi	53
		Vārkava	53
Rēzekne *	46 (shared with Rēzekne)	Rēzekne *	46
Rēzekne	46 (shared with Rēzekne *)	Rēzekne	46
		Viļāni	46
Rīga *	10 (shared with Ādaži, Ķekava, Mārupe, Olaine, Ropaži, Salaspils, Saulkrasti, Sigulda)	Rīga *	10
Ropaži	10, 21 (shared with Ādaži, Ķekava, Mārupe, Olaine, Riga, Salaspils, Saulkrasti, Sigulda)	Ropaži	21
		Stopiņi	10, 21
Salaspils	21 (shared with Ādaži, Ķekava, Mārupe, Olaine, Riga, Ropaži, Saulkrasti, Sigulda)	Salaspils	21
Saldus	38	Brocēni	38
		Saldus	38
Saulkrasti	21 (shared with Ādaži, Ķekava, Mārupe, Olaine, Riga, Ropaži, Salaspils, Sigulda)	Saulkrasti	21
		Sēja	21
Sigulda	21 (shared with Ādaži, Ķekava, Mārupe, Olaine, Riga, Ropaži, Salaspils, Saulkrasti), 40 (shared with Limbaži)	Inčukalns	21
		Krimulda	21, 40
		Mālpils	21
		Sigulda	21
Smiltene	41 (shared with Cēsis), 43 (shared with Alūksne), 47 (shared with Valka and Valmiera)	Ape	43
		Rauna	41
		Smiltene	47
Talsi	32	Dundaga	32
		Mērsraga	32
		Roja	32
		Talsi	32
Tukums	31	Engure	31
		Jaunpils	31
		Kandava	31
		Tukums	31
Valka	47 (shared with Smiltene and Valmiera)	Valka	47
Valmiera	42, 47 (shared with Smiltene and Valka)	Beverīna	42
		Burtnieki	42
		Kocēni (before 2010: Valmiera)	42
		Mazsalaca	42
		Naukšēni	42
		Rūjiena	42
		Strenči	47
		Valmiera *	42
Varakļāni	48	Varakļāni	48
Ventspils *	36 (shared with Ventspils)	Ventspils *	36
Ventspils	36 (shared with Ventspils *)	Ventspils	36

Administrative districts graphic

Telephone numbers in Latvia

Latvian numbers have no area codes and a length of 8 digits when called from abroad. Mobile numbers commence with a 2.

References

^ citypopulation.de/en/latvia/admin/ 20230120

Every effort is made to keep this resource updated. If you find any errors, or have any questions or requests, please don't hesitate to contact the author.

All information copyright Graham Rhind 2024. Any information used should be acknowledged and referenced.

Latvia

Latvia - Country information

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