Varakļāni Municipality

Varakļāni Municipality Varakļānu novads
Municipality
Coat of arms
Country	Latvia
Formed	2009
Centre	Varakļāni
Government
• Council Chair	Māris Justs (LA)
Area [1]
• Total	277.95 km^2 (107.32 sq mi)
• Land	272.09 km^2 (105.05 sq mi)
• Water	5.86 km^2 (2.26 sq mi)
Population  (2024)[2]
• Total	2,890
• Density	10/km^2 (27/sq mi)
Website	www.varaklani.lv

Varakļāni Municipality (Latvian: Varakļānu novads) is a municipality in Latgale, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Varakļāni town, Murmastiene Parish and Varakļāni Parish of the former Madona District. The administrative centre is Varakļāni.

Parts of Teiči Nature Reserve are located in the Municipality. The population in 2020 was 2,990.^[3]

Within the 2021 Latvian administrative reform it was initially planned to merge Varakļāni Municipality into Rēzekne Municipality. After protests from locals, parts of whom wanted to either preserve the status quo or preferred joining Madona Municipality, the municipal council submitted a case to the Constitutional Court of Latvia in June 2020.^{[citation needed]} On 28 May 2021 the court declared the planned merge is unconstitutional.^[4] However, on May 31 the Saeima voted to proceed with the merge, which prompted the involvement of the President of Latvia Egils Levits to avoid triggering a constitutional crisis.^[5] Ultimately, a decision was made to postpone the decision on the future of the Varakļāni and Rēzekne municipalities until 2025.^[6] Due to this, the 2021 Latvian local elections for the new municipalities were also held in Varakļāni.^[7][8]

• 
  Map of the municipality, 2021
• 
  Varakļāni Palace
• 
  Teiči Nature Reserve
• 
  Crucifix hut in Murmastiene
• 
  Stirniene Saint Laurentius Catholic Church, Varakļāni Parish
• 
  Varakļāni Station

See also

• Administrative divisions of Latvia (2009)

References

1. "Reģionu, novadu, pilsētu un pagastu kopējā un sauszemes platība gada sākumā". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
2. "Iedzīvotāju skaits pēc tautības reģionos, pilsētās, novados, pagastos, apkaimēs un blīvi apdzīvotās teritorijās gada sākumā (pēc administratīvi teritoriālās reformas 2021. gadā)". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
3. "ISG020. Population number and its change by statistical region, city, town, 21 development centres and counties". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
4. Auers, Dainis (June 2021). "CONTINUITY IN CHANGE? Latvia's Local Governments after Regional Reform and Local Government Elections" (PDF). Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Baltikum - Perspective. ISBN 978-9934-8853-5-8.
5. "President of Latvia expects Varakļāni region status issue to be resolved according to Satversme | Valsts prezidenta kanceleja". www.president.lv. 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
6. "Deputies elected in Varaklani: People's election was motivated by the future of the local area after the regional reform". Baltics News. 2021-09-12. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
7. Šteinfelde, Ilze (2021-09-13). "The election results confirm that combining Varakļāni and Rēzekne municipalities would be a mistake". Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
8. "Administrative territorial reform comes to force in Latvia". Baltic News Network - News from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2022-02-02.

56°36′N 26°45′E