Kuldīga District () is an
administrative division of
Latvia, located in
Courland region, in the country's west. It is organized into a city and thirteen parishes, each with a local government authority. The main city in the district is
Kuldīga.
The district is located in the western part of Latvia on both sides of the
Venta River. It has borders with 5 other districts:
Ventspils,
Talsi,
Tukums,
Saldus and
Liepāja. The current borders of the district were established in 1950.
The district occupies an area of 2,499.87
km², has a population of 37,119 — 13,335 in the main town of Kuldīga.
Economy
Railroads in Kuldīga district connect
Riga to
Liepāja and Liepāja to
Ventspils, the latter being closed for public traffic. Also, one of the main roads in Latvia — route A9 from Riga to Liepāja goes through the territory. The main industries are
agriculture,
wood processing,
forestry, and
fish farming.
Terrain
The Piejuras Plains lie in the north-western part of the district. In the middle of the district are the Rietumkurzemes Heights with hills that are 100-120
m above sea level, the highest point being Vardupe Kalns with a peak at 140 m. In the northeast side of the district are the Austrumkurzemes Heights at 60-110 m above sea level. Hilly relief covers 35% of the district territory. There are more than 40 rivers longer than 5 km, and 48 lakes bigger than 1 km². The largest rivers are the
Venta River and the
Abava River. Forests cover about 48% of the district territory.
The average temperature in January is about -3
°C, in July +16.8 °C. The amount of precipitation is 600-700
mm per year.
Cities and parishes of the Kuldīga District
