Olaine
Town in Latvia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Olaine (ⓘ; German: Olai) is a city in Olaine Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. Olaine gained town rights in 1967. The population in 2020 was 10,668.[3]
Olaine | |
---|---|
City | |
Railway station in Olaine | |
Coordinates: 56°47′N 23°56′E / 56.783; 23.933][[Category:Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas]]"},"html":"Coordinates: </templatestyles>\"}' data-mw='{\"name\":\"templatestyles\",\"attrs\":{\"src\":\"Module:Coordinates/styles.css\"},\"body\":{\"extsrc\":\"\"}}'/>56°47′N 23°56′E / 56.783°N 23.933°E"}"> | |
Country | Latvia |
Municipality | Olaine Municipality |
Town rights | 1967 |
Government | |
• Mayor | Andris Bergs (LSDSP) |
Area | |
• Total | 6.84 km2 (2.64 sq mi) |
• Land | 6.70 km2 (2.59 sq mi) |
• Water | 0.14 km2 (0.05 sq mi) |
Population (2024)[2] | |
• Total | 9,908 |
• Density | 1,400/km2 (3,800/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+2 (EET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+3 (EEST) |
Postal code | LV-2114 |
Calling code | +371 67 |
Number of city council members | 11 |
Website | http://www.olaine.lv |
History
Summarize
Perspective
The name comes from the Saint Olaf Church (Swedish: Sankt Olai kyrka), built by the Olainīte stream, a Misa river tributary, under Swedish rule in the 17th century, at a place which is within the village now known as Jaunolaine ("New Olaine") some two kilometers away from the modern Olaine. An old cemetery remains at this site. After 1868, a railway stop "Olai" (now the Jaunolaine Station) was built here on the Riga-Mitau line. After Latvian independence, in 1919 "Olai" was renamed to "Olaine", in line with the Latvianisation of place names all over Latvia.
The history of modern Olaine is associated with the works at nearby peat bogs, taken into use on an industrial scale in 1939. Thereafter, more production facilities were built, increasing numbers of workers needed accommodation, and the first dwellings were built in what is currently known as Olaine in 1940. As of 2023[update] local peat processing is handled by the "Olaines kūdra" Ltd. ("Olaine Peat" Ltd.), a private company centrally managed together with 4 other Latvian peat companies by the German company “Kudras Substrates – Peat Moss”. [4][5]
Olaine is home of Olpha, the second largest pharmaceutical company in Latvia.
Twin towns — sister cities
Karlskoga, Sweden
Nowa Sarzyna, Poland
Ödeshög, Sweden
Riihimäki, Finland
Vadstena, Sweden
Notable people
- Rustams Begovs - Latvian hockey player
- Žaneta Jaunzeme-Grende - Latvian politician
- Dmitrijs Miļkevičs - Latvian athlete
- Jānis Kuzmins - World champion in slalom skateboarding
Literature
- Vilīte, Valda: Olaines pagasts (2008)
See also
References
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