Planning regions of Latvia
Latvia is divided into five planning regions : Kurzeme, Latgale, Riga, Vidzeme, and Zemgale. They are equivalent to the five statistical regions in Latvia. The boundaries of these regions correspond to the borders of Latvia's municipalities. However, the planning regions are not considered administrative territorial divisions, as they are not mentioned in the law governing Latvia's administrative territorial structure.
Following the 2021 reform, certain areas of the Riga Region were incorporated into the Kurzeme and Vidzeme regions.
History
Regional institutions began formation 1997 according to municipal initiatives on the planning of common development. Following legislation on regional development, the five planning regions were created according to the 5 May 2009 decision no. 391 of the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers: "Decisions on Territories of the Planning Regions.Statistical regions were established according to the main principles set out in the Regulation No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics, further amended. This NUTS Regulation directly concerns all Member States of the European Union and from 1 May 2004 it is also binding upon Latvia.
The statistical regions of Latvia are not administrative regions, as they have been formed for statistical purposes. Therefore, they are not mentioned in the law that determines the administrative divisions of Latvia.
NUTS Regulation was established to divide economic territory of EU into similar territorial units for the purpose of collection, compilation and dissemination of harmonised regional statistics in the EU. Shortly before accession to EU, Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development and representatives of the planning regions came to an agreement about the structure of statistical regions
Statistical regions of Latvia were approved by Regulation No 1888/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 amending Regulation No 1059/2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia to the European Union.
The four statistical regions Kurzeme, Latgale, Vidzeme and Zemgale aligned with the planning regions of Latvia, but Rīga and Pierīga statistical regions comprise the territory of the Rīga planning region. After new planning regions were introduced in 2021, the borders no longer align.
; Planning regions before 2021
| Regions | Largest city | Area | Population | |
| Riga | Riga | 10,132 km² | 989,525 | |
| Kurzeme | Liepāja | 13,596 km² | 233,229 | |
| Latgale | Daugavpils | 14,549 km² | 247,220 | |
| Zemgale | Jelgava | 10,733 km² | 225,017 | |
| Vidzeme | Valmiera | 15,246 km² | 180,766 | |
| Latvia | Riga | 64,256 km² | 1,875,757 |
The 2021 reformed territories of the planning region are determined by the Cabinet of Ministers' regulations of 22 June 2021 No. 418: "Rules on the Territories of the Planning Region".
The structure of Statistical Regions is approved by order No. 911 of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 7 December 2021 "On the Statistical Regions of the Republic of Latvia and Administrative Units Therein", further amended.