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Smiltene Municipality

*Smiltenes novads*
Smiltene Municipality Smiltenes novads
Municipality
	Flag Coat of arms
Country	Latvia
Formed	2009
Reformed	2021
Centre	Smiltene
Government
• Council Chair	Edgars Avotiņš (NA)
Area
• Total	1,801.32 km2 (695.49 sq mi)
• Land	1,764.56 km2 (681.30 sq mi)
Population (2024)
• Total	17,697
• Density	9.8/km2 (25/sq mi)
Website	www.smiltene.lv

Smiltene Municipality (Latvian: Smiltenes novads) is a municipality in Vidzeme, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging the town of Smiltene with the rural parishes of Bilska, Blome, Branti, Grundzāle, Launkalne, Palsmane, Smiltene and Variņi. During the 2021 Latvian administrative reform, the previous municipality was merged with Ape Municipality and Rauna Municipality.

The administrative centre is in the town of Smiltene. The population in 2020 was 11,985.^[3] It borders Estonia.

Geography

Smiltene Municipality is located in the northern part of the Vidzeme Highland^[4] on the banks of the river Abuls (Abula). The largest natural lake is Lake Klievezers (3.3 ha^[5]) in the southern part of the municipality.^[6] In the municipality there are three artificial lakes (reservoirs) created on the river.^[5] The largest (10 ha) and most popular is Lake Teperis [lv] just east of the town.^[7]

History

In 1904, Baltic German Count Paul Lieven (Pauls Līvens) built the first hydroelectric power plant in the Baltics on Lake Teperis.^[8]^[9]

Twin towns — sister cities

Smiltene is twinned with:^[10]

Donnery, France
Drohobych, Ukraine
Lviv, Ukraine
Navapolatsk, Belarus
Pincara, Italy
Písek, Czech Republic
Porkhov, Russia
Pustomyty, Ukraine
Rovigo, Italy
Steinkjer, Norway
Wiesenbach, Germany
Willich, Germany

Symbols

The coat of arms and the flag used until the 2021 administrative reform were abolished after the changes in the boundaries of the municipality, with new sketches presented for an online vote in August 2022.^[11] The sketches will need to be approved by the Heraldry Commission of Latvia before use.

Coat of arms (2010–2021)
Flag (2012–2021)

References

^ "Reģionu, novadu, pilsētu un pagastu kopējā un sauszemes platība gada sākumā". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
^ "Iedzīvotāju skaits pēc tautības reģionos, pilsētās, novados, pagastos, apkaimēs un blīvi apdzīvotās teritorijās gada sākumā (pēc administratīvi teritoriālās reformas 2021. gadā)". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
^ "ISG020. Population number and its change by statistical region, city, town, 21 development centres and counties". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
^ Tisenkopfs, Talis; Lace, Ilze (2010). "Smiltene Municipality: the Construction of Social Capital". In Milone, Pierluigi; Ventura, Flaminia (eds.). Networking the Rural: The Future of Green Regions in Europe. Assen: Van Gorcum. pp. 129–150, page 129. ISBN 978-90-232-4727-2.
^ ^a ^b "Smiltene". Latvijas enciklopēdija: sēj. Rojas-Žvīgu (in Latvian). Belokoņs. 2002. p. 250.
^ "Smiltene. Klievezers" (in Latvian). National Library of Latvia.
^ Apsītis, Aldis. "Tepera ezers Smiltenē" (in Latvian). National Library of Latvia. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020.
^ grāfs Ikauniece, Sandra, ed. (2011). Ziemeļvidzemes ainavas noklusētie stāsti [North Vidzeme landscapes: Silent Stories] (PDF) (in Latvian). Valsts meža dienests [National Forest Service]. p. 98. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2016.
^ "100 interesanti fakti par Latviju" (in Latvian). 3 October 2021.
^ "Sadraudzības pilsētas". smiltene.lv (in Latvian). Smiltene. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019.
^ v2, Olegs Boldirevs v1, Emils Brass. "Smiltenes novadam izstrādāti jaunā ģerboņa meti, kas tiek nodoti iedzīvotāju balsojumam". Smiltene.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2022-09-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)