Riga, Latvia’s capital, is home to 614.618 people (2021), which accounts for a third of Latvians. Riga, Latvia’s first city, is significantly larger than other cities in the country. It is the third largest city in all three Baltic countries and home to one-tenth of the combined population of all three Baltic States. It is placed at the Gulf of Riga, the mouth of the Daugava River, where it joins the Baltic Sea. Riga’s 307.17 km2 (118.60 mi) territory is located 1-10 m above sea level on a flat, sandy plain.

Jurmala is a city in Latvia located approximately 25 km (16 miles) west of Riga. Jurmala, a 32km (20 miles) long resort town, is situated between the Gulf of Riga (the Gulf of Riga) and the Lielupe River. The city is home to a 33-kilometer (21-mile) stretch of white-sand beaches and 49,325 people in 2019. It is the fifth largest city in Latvia.

Although Latvia was part of the Soviet Union, Jurmala, a popular holiday resort and tourist spot for high-ranking Communist Party officials, including Leonid Brezhnev (Nikita Khrushchev), was their favorite vacation resort. While many amenities like concrete hotels and beach houses remain, others have fallen into disrepair. Jurmala is a popular tourist destination with its long beaches that face the Gulf of Riga and romantic wooden homes in Art Nouveau style.

Liepaja, a city in western Latvia on the Baltic Sea, is called “Liepaja”. It is the third-largest city in the Kurzeme Region, and the second largest in the country, after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an important port that can withstand ice. In 2020, the population was 68 535.

It was popular with sea-bathers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The town had a beautiful park, many lovely gardens, and a theatre. Liepaja, however, is known as the “City where wind is born” in Latvia. This is likely due to the constant sea breeze. Imants Kalnins composed the song, which has since become the city’s anthem. The construction of the country’s largest wind farm significantly enhanced the city’s reputation as the windiest in Latvia.

Daugavpils, a city located in south-eastern Latvia on the banks of the Daugava River, is where the town got its name. The historical Latvian region, Latgale, controls the parts north and south of the city. It is second in size to the country, after Riga, the capital.

Jelgava is a city in central Latvia, about 41 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Riga, with 55,972 inhabitants. It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and the administrative center of the Courland Governorate (1795–1918).

Jelgava is situated on a fertile plain rising only 3.5 meters above mean sea level on the right bank of the river Lielupe. The plain and sometimes the town can also be flooded with high water. It is a railway center and is also host to Jelgava Air Base. Its importance as a railway center can be seen by the fact that it lies at the junction of over six railway lines connecting Riga to Lithuania, eastern and western Latvia, and Lithuania to the Baltic sea.