Ogre

Ogre County is situated in the central part of Latvia – at the Viduslatvia lowlands, where the Ogre River falls into the Daugava River, 43 km from Riga Gulf of the Baltic Sea. The distance from Riga, the Capital of Latvia is 37 km by the motorway and 33 km by the railway.

In December 2002 in frames of the territorial reform Ogre town amalgamated with its neighbouring area – Ogresgals Civil Parish, resulting in creation of a new municipality – Ogre County (consisting of Ogre Town and Ogresgals Civil Parish). The county occupies 108.88 km2 (the area of the town – 13.58 km2, the area of the civil parish – 95.3 km2), and its population is 29 102 people, 26 302 of them being the town inhabitants and 2 800 living in Ogresgals civil parish.

Both Ogre Town and Ogresgals Civil Parish are comparatively new formations, still archaeological evidence verify that the surroundings of Ogre were inhabited in the first millennium B.C. already. In the course of time the area was heavily destroyed in numerous wars, and by the middle of 19th century there was only a couple of farms located here. In result of opening the railway line Riga-Daugavpils in 1861 and thanks to the favourable geographical and climatic conditions, Ogre started to develop in a resort with lots of beautiful summer cottages and places of recreation. As a town Ogre has been recognised in 1928, and since 1949 it is the administrative centre of Ogre District as well.

After Latvia’s annexation to the USSR and the World War II the forced process of Ogre transformation into an industrially developed district centre was started, resulting in a rapid increase of population and building of multi-apartment houses.

In spite of the fact that Ogre has become an industrial town, many of its areas have managed to keep the individual housing being characteristic for Ogre; also the summerhouses built by the end of 19th and beginning of 20th centuries are still remained in Ogre. The fills, the swift Ogre river with its rapid streaming through Ogre County and its steep banks covered with trees and bushes attach an original beauty to the area.