Historical Latvian Lands

These are: Kurzeme (Courland), Zemgale (Semigallia), Latgale (Latgalia), Vidzeme, and Sēlija (Selonia).

The Law assigns each parish and town in Latvia to one of the five historical Latvian regions: Vidzeme, Latgale, Kurzeme, Zemgale, and Sēlija.

The state city of Riga, a Baltic metropolis, is a historical part of Vidzeme and the special identity and the particularities of the cultural and historical environment of Riga should be supported and promoted.

[1][2] 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.

From this perspective, there are three regions: Kurzeme (including Zemgale and Sēlija), Vidzeme and Latgale.