Kandava (pronunciationⓘ; German: Kandau; Livonian: Kāndav) is a town in Tukums Municipality, in the Courland region of Latvia.

[3] The territory of modern Kandava was inhabited by Finnic tribes until the 10th century when Curonian expansion to the north started.

As a settlement (villa Candowe), it is first mentioned in 1230 in a peace treaty between the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, citizens of Riga, and the Curonian residents of the Abava valley.

[citation needed] Local residents kept their lands but were forced to accept Christianity, pay annual tribute and participate in crusading campaigns against pagans.

However, after several uprisings, a new treaty was signed between Livonian Order and Bishopric of Courland in 1253, and the lands of the Vanema were partitioned.

There were a town school, water mill, power station, a lime kiln, and several sawmills in Kandava.

After the start of the First World War, 75% of the town population fled from the advancing German army to Vidzeme or further east into Russia.

During the Latvian War of Independence, Kandava was occupied by the Red Army and later by the Baltic German Landeswehr.