Last week on Mappy Monday, we made the journey north to Estonia, to learn different names of Estonian places that could come up in your research. This week, we will be doing the same with Lithuania! Historically speaking, Latvia has
Mappy Monday – Crossing the Northern Border
On this week’s edition of Mappy Monday, we are taking a trip across Latvia’s northern border into Estonia! I know I’ve talked a lot about Estonia on this blog recently, and there’s a reason for that – the histories are
Mappy Monday – Territorial Changes in Interwar Latvian Territory
As mentioned in the last Mappy Monday post, now we’ll be talking about interwar territorial changes and names. After the First World War and the subsequent wars of independence, the world gained the three independent Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia
Mappy Monday – Russian Empire Era Names for Latvian Territory
Back to Mappy Monday – sorry we missed last week, but I was down with a bad cold and headache, so I couldn’t get this out last Monday! But continuing on from where we left off, at medieval to early
Mappy Monday – Medieval to Early Modern Names for Latvian Territory
Picking up where we left off last week, talking about ancient names for Latvian territory – and now we’re moving into the Middle Ages, and then medieval and early modern eras! After the German crusaders invaded and gradually conquered the
Mappy Monday – Ancient Names for Latvian Territory
Latvia wasn’t always called Latvia – and for most of history, you won’t have found a place called “Latvia” on a map. Only in the 20th century did Latvia become an independent country. This also means that if you are
Mappy Monday – The River Gauja
A lot of attention is paid to the Daugava, the biggest and longest river in Latvia, that goes through the middle of the country – but few outside of Latvia know about the Gauja river, which is the longest river
Mappy Monday – Ethnic and Religious Enclaves
Latvia is not and has never been one monoethnic entity. Certainly, Latvians – and Luteran Latvians, at that – have made up the majority, but they are not the only ones living in Latvia. Throughout the years, there have been
Mappy Monday – Administrative Divisions?!
One common point of confusion/frustration when it comes to tracking Latvian locations on maps throughout the centuries is the big jumble of administrative divisions. Some have stayed constant and relatively simple – like cities, albeit increasing in size – while
Mappy Monday – Prefixes Everywhere!
Rural Latvia was and is covered with farms – usually quite small in size, and all with names. Many of these names have been around for centuries – in most cases, longer than surnames. Many of these farm names come