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'Liepāja' is a city in western Latvia on the Baltic sea. It is the third-largest city in Latvia and an important ice-free port. As of 1 January 2006, Liepāja has a population of 85,915.
Liepāja is located straight at 21° longitude.
The Coat of Arms of Liepāja was adopted four days after it gained city rights on 22 March 1625.[1] The Coat of Arms is described as: "on a silver background, the lion of Kurzeme (Courland) with a divided tail, who leans upon a Linden tree with its forelegs." The flag of Liepāja has the coat of arms in the center, with red in the top half and green in the bottom. Images are available at the Liepāja homepage.

Contents

History

Coastline

Economy

Culture

Notable natives

Liepaja in other languages

Sister cities

External links

History

Liepāja was founded by Curonian fishermen and was first known by the name ''Lyva'' (from the name of river Lyva on which Liepāja was located) in 1253. The Livonian Order under the aegis of the Teutonic Order established the settlement as the town of ''Libau'' in 1263. The name ''Liepāja'' began to increase in usage after 1560. In 1625 Duke Friedrich Kettler of Courland granted the town city rights, which were affirmed by King Sigismund III of Poland in 1626.
Under Duke Jacob Kettler (ruled 1640-1681), Liepaja became one of the main ports of Courland as it reached the height of its prosperity. Jacob was an eager proponent of mercantilist ideas. Metalworking and ship building became much more developed and trading relations developed not only with nearby countries, but also with Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal.
Liepāja and Courland passed to the control of Imperial Russia in 1795 during the Partitions of Poland.
Growth during the nineteenth century was rapid. The city became a major port on the Baltic Sea for the Russians, and early in the twentieth century became a central point of embarcation for immigrants travelling to the United States.
In the 1870s the rapid development of Russian railways and the 1876 opening of the Liepaja - Romni railway ensured that a large proportion of central Russian trade passed through Liepeja. By 1900, 7% of Russian exports were passing through Liepaja.

In 1906 a direct service to the United States was used by 40,000 migrants a year.
By 1913, 1738 ships entered Liepaja with 1,548,119 tonnes of cargo passing through the Port. The population had increased from 10,000 to over 100,000 in about 60 years.
During World War I Liepaja was occupied by the German army. After the war, when the independent state of Latvia was founded, Liepaja became the capital of Latvia for six months when the interim government of Latvia fled from Riga on a ship.
World War II devastated the city. The Soviet occupation of Latvia brought great misery with many thousands arrested and deported to Siberia and thousands fleeing to North America, Australia and western Europe. The local Jewish population, which numbered about 7,000 before the war, was virtuallly exterminated by German Nazis and Latvian collaborators. Fewer than 30 Jews remained alive in Liepaja by the end of the war. Film footage of an Einsatzgruppen execution of local Jews was made at Liepaja (and is available at the link indicated [2]).
During the Soviet occupation, Liepaja was a closed city and even nearby farmers and villagers needed a special permit to enter the city. The Soviet military set up its main Baltic naval base there, and closed it completely to commercial traffic in the late 1960s. One third of the city was occupied by the Soviet Naval Base with 26 thousand military staff.

After Latvia regained independence, Liepaja has worked hard to change from a military city into a modern port city marked on European maps. The commercial port was re-opened in 1991. In 1994 the last Russian Federation troops left Liepaja.
Since then, Liepaja has engaged in international co-operation, has found 11 twin and partner cities and is an active partner in several co-operation networks.

Coastline

Liepāja's coastline consist of a unbroken sandy beach as do most of Latvia's coastline. The beach of Liepāja is not as exploited as other places e.g. the Bay of Riga but also lack the tourist infrastructure that you can expect of a beach resort in Europe.

Economy

In 1997 the Liepaja Special Economic Zone providing a low tax environment was established for 20 years in order to attract foreign investments and facilitate the economic development of Liepaja. The main industries in Liepāja is the steel producer Liepāja Metalurgs and the underwear brand Lauma.

Culture

Liepāja is known throughout Latvia as "the city where the wind is born," possibly due to the constant sea breeze. A song of the same name (Pilsētā, kurā piedzimst vējš) was composed by Imants Kalniņš. Because of this name near Liepāja has been built biggest wind power plant in Latvia (33 Enercon wind turbines)

Liepāja International Airport, is one of the three international airports in Latvia.
The decrepit Soviet base ''Karosta'' is open to visitors, while the cathedral is undergoing restoration. Facilities are being improved as the city hosts Latvia's largest naval flotilla and is increasingly important to NATO.

Notable natives

★ Morris Halle, linguist

★ Rolf Kahn, the father of German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn

★ Victor Matison

★ Māris Verpakovskis, Latvian striker

Liepaja in other languages

★ German: Libau

★ Lithuanian: Liepoja

★ Polish: Lipawa,

★ Yiddish: ליבאַװע / Libave

★ Russian: Либава / Libava or Лиепая / Liyepaya)

Sister cities

Liepāja maintains sister city relationships with the following cities:

★ Bellevue, Washington, USA

★ Darmstadt, Germany (1993)

★ Homyel, Belarus

External links

★ [3] - Liepaja Travel guide on WikiTravel

★ www.liepaja.lv - official website

★ Virtual Liepaja - news in Latvian

★ www.liepajniekiem.lv - news in Latvian

★ www.rusliepaja.lv - news in Russian

★ www.liepaja.info - virtual tour of Liepaja

★ Kurzemes Vārds - regional newspaper

★ Webcam showing Rožu laukums in Liepaja

★ High resolution satellite photos from Google Maps