Regions of Latvia – Zemgale

Coat of arms of the Zemgale region. Above, the name of the issuing state "LATVIJA"; below, the regional name "ZEMGALE". The issue year "2018" appears on the right.

Zemgale is one of the historically established core landscapes of the Baltic region, stretching across southern central Latvia between the Daugava River in the north and the Lithuanian border in the south. In the Middle Ages, the region was the centre of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, one of the last independent principalities in the Baltics, which existed under Polish-Lithuanian suzerainty until 1795 before being incorporated into the Russian Empire. Geographically characterised by flat farmland and fertile soils, Zemgale is traditionally regarded as Latvia's breadbasket. The region's capital, Jelgava, was for centuries the ducal residence and is home to Jelgava Palace, a major Baroque building designed in the 18th century by the renowned architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

Culturally and economically, Zemgale holds a distinctive place within Latvia: the region has a strong agricultural tradition and was an important centre of the Latvian national awakening movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Even after Latvia regained independence in 1991, Zemgale developed into a stable economic and educational area closely interlinked with the capital region of Riga. As part of the Latvian coin series "Regions of Latvia," through which Latvia has honoured its five historical regions since 2016, the Zemgale issue appeared in 2018 as the fourth coin in the series.