Ventspils (; ) is a city in northwestern
Latvia in the
Kurzeme (Courland) region of Latvia, the sixth largest city in the country. As of 2006, Ventspils had a population of 43,806. Ventspils is situated on the
Venta River and the
Baltic Sea, and has an
ice-free port.
History
Ventspils developed around the
Livonian Order castle, built along the
Venta River. It was chartered in 1314 and became an important mercantile city of the
Hanseatic League.
As part of the
Duchy of Courland, Ventpils blossomed as a shipbuilding center. 44 warships and 79 trading ships were built in the town, and it was from Ventspils that the
Duke's fleet set out to colonize
Gambia and
Tobago. Metal, amber, and wood-working shops also became important to the city's development.
During the
Polish-Swedish War and the
Great Northern War, Ventspils was destroyed, and in 1711 a plague wiped out most of the remaining inhabitants. Ventspils' fell under the control of Imperial Russia and its re-growth was stalled.
It was not until about 1850 that shipbuilding and trade became important again. The port was modernized in the 1890s and connected to Moscow by rail. It became one of Imperial Russia's most profitable ports, by 1913 turning a yearly profit of 130 million rubles. The population soared as well, growing from 7,000 in 1897, to 29,000 in 1913.
thumb|left|180px|Ventspils 1944During the German occupation from 1915-1919, the population decreased almost by half, though some returned home during the First Republic of Latvia (1918-1940).
In 1939, the
Red Army established a base in Ventspils. Under Soviet rule, an oil pipeline was built to Ventspils, and became USSR's leading port in crude oil export. Thirty kilometres north of Ventspils is the ex-Soviet
radioastronomy installation
VIRAC (
Ventspils Starptautiskais Radioastronomijas Centrs or
Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre). The existence of the
Centrs was unknown to most Latvians until 1994. After independence, the Latvian government began a city-beautification process to make the city more attractive to tourists.
In 2004 Ventspils was a host city for a multi-national (United States, United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden, Russia, Latvia, Denmark, Finland, Norway) naval exercise called
Baltic Operations XXXIII (BALTOPS). The force was led by the
guided missile cruiser USS Anzio and the destroyer . The US vessels were the first American warships to visit the port of Ventspils since Latvian independence was declared.
Cityscape
Ventspils is situated at the mouth of the
Venta River, where it empties into the
Baltic Sea, and is an important
ice-free port. Large amounts of
oil and other mineral resources from
Russia are loaded aboard ships at Ventspils. The revenue from port services has made Ventspils the wealthiest city in Latvia.
Ventspils Airport, one of the three international airports in Latvia, is located in the city.
Ventspils High Technology Park provides infrastructure and services to IT and electronics companies.
The city has a university college, Ventspils Augstskola'', and a
basketball team that has won the Latvian championship in the last several years. In the 2001/2002 season, the team took third place in the North European
Basketball League (NEBL). Ventspils also has a
football team in
FK Ventspils who compete in the
Virsliga. In the 2006 season the team has won the Latvian championship for the first time.
Ventspils has a
Blue Flag Beach.
Residents
thumb|220px|Harbor Cow. Twin towns
See also
