Smiltene Municipality


Smiltene Municipality 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. It borders Estonia.

Geography

Smiltene Municipality is located in the northern part of the Vidzeme Highland on the banks of the river Abuls. The largest natural lake is Lake Klievezers in the southern part of the municipality. In the municipality there are three artificial lakes created on the river. The largest and most popular is just east of the town.

History

After the Great Northern War in 1721, the region came under the control of the Russian Empire and became part of the Valka county of the Livonia Governorate.
In 1904, Baltic German Count Paul Lieven built the first hydroelectric power plant in the Baltics on Lake Teperis.
Between 1949 and 1959, the Smiltene district existed as an administrative unit.

Twin towns — sister cities

Smiltene is twinned with:
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. The sketches will need to be approved by the Heraldry Commission of Latvia before use.