Historical region in Latvia
Place in Latvia
Vidzeme
(
pronounced
[?vid??z?eme]
;
Old Latvian orthography
:
Widda-semme
,
Livonian
:
Vid?m?
[3]
) is one of the
Historical Latvian Lands
. The capital of
Latvia
,
Riga
, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-central Latvia north of the
Daugava River
. Sometimes in
German
, it was also known as
Livland
, the German form from Latin
Livonia
, though it comprises only a small part of
Medieval Livonia
and about half (the Latvian part) of
Swedish Livonia
. Most of the region's inhabitants are
Latvians
(85%), thus Vidzeme is the most ethnically Latvian region in the country.
[4]
The historic
Governorate of Livonia
is also larger than Vidzeme, since it corresponds roughly to
Swedish Livonia
.
History
[
edit
]
In ancient times, the territory of Vidzeme was inhabited by
Latgalians
and
Livs
(near the coast of the Gulf of Riga and along the lower reaches of the
Daugava
and
Gauja
rivers).
Until the
German conquest
in the 13th century the Daugava, which now forms the south-east border of Vidzeme, was the boundary between the lands of the Livs and Latgalians on the right bank and those of the
Semigallians
and
Selonians
on the left bank of the river. The most notable Latgalian region in today's Vidzeme was
T?lava
.
After the
Livonian War
, part of the
Livonian Confederation
on the right bank of the Daugava river and the
Patrimony of Riga
was ceded to the
Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth
, and the
Duchy of Livonia
(the left bank forming the
Duchy of Courland and Semigalia
).
Afterwards, the region was invaded by Sweden in
1600
,
1617
and
1621
. After the
Polish-Swedish War
concluded by the
Truce of Altmark
in 1629, Sweden acquired the western part of the Duchy of Livonia roughly as far as the
Aiviekste River
, since then forming Vidzeme's eastern border.
During the course of the
Great Northern War
, Swedish Livonia was conquered by the
Russian Empire
and ceded to Russia at the
Treaty of Nystad
in 1721. In place of Livonia the Russians created the Riga Governorate, but in 1796 the Riga Governorate was renamed the
Governorate of Livonia
, administered autonomously by the local German
Baltic nobility
through a feudal
Landtag
. After the end of
World War I
it was split between the newly independent countries of Latvia and Estonia.
During
World War II
, the region was occupied by the
Soviet Union
from 1940, and then by
Nazi Germany
from 1941 to 1944.
Subregions
[
edit
]
The territory of the region of Vidzeme is defined by Latvian law as follows:
[5]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Vidzeme
.