Ventspils
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Location of Ventspils within Latvia |
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Coat of arms of Ventspils |
Ventspils (, formerly Ð'индава;
German:
Windau,
Polish:
Windawa,
Livonian:
VÇŸnta) is a city in northwestern
Latvia on the coast of the
Baltic Sea. It is named after the
Venta River, which passes through the city. Ventspils has a population of 43,806 in
2006. It is located at .
Ventspils developed from a castle of the
Livonian Order and was first mentioned in chronicles in
1290. It was chartered in
1314 and became an important mercantile city of the
Hanseatic League.
Ventspils is an important
ice-free port. Large amounts of
oil and other mineral resources from
Russia are loaded aboard ships at Ventspils. The revenue from port services has made Ventspils the wealthiest city in Latvia.
Thirty kilometres north of Ventspils is the ex-Soviet
radioastronomy installation
VIRAC (
Ventspils Starptautiskais Radioastronomijas Centrs or
Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre). The existence of the
Centrs was unknown to most Latvians until the withdrawal of the Soviets at the end of occupation in 1994.
The city has a university college,
Ventspils Augstskola, and a
basketball team that has won the Latvian championship in the last several years. In the
2001/
2002 season, the team took third place in the North European
Basketball League (NEBL). Ventspils also has a
football team in
FK Ventspils who compete in the
Virsliga.
Ventspils Airport, one of the three international airports in Latvia, is located in the city.
Ventspils' mayor is
Aivars Lembergs.
In 2004 the United States Navy participated in a multi-national exercise called Baltic Operations. (BALTOPS) The force, was led by the Gudied Missle Cruiser
USS Anzio this was the first time American warships had visited the port of Ventspils since Latvian independence was declared.
Ventspils maintains
sister city relationships with the following cities:
*
Ports of the Baltic Sea*
Official website*
Ventspils University College*
Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre*
Basketbola Klubs Ventspils
