Eastern Kurzeme Upland
The Eastern Kurzeme Upland is a hilly region in western Latvia, in the Courland and Zemgale areas. It lies between the Semigallia Plain to the west and the Kursa Lowlands to the east, with the Abava Valley to the north and the Vadakste Plain to the south. The upland is a broad bedrock rise covered by only a thin layer of younger rocks, so the landscape has a gentle, less rugged relief. It is divided into five natural parts: the Abava Valley, the Varme depression, the Saldus hills, the Spārne undulating plain, and the Lielauce hills. In the west, the upland rises from the Pieventa Plain, and its boundary in the southeast follows rivers and ancient shoreline features near the Baltic Ice Lake, merging with the Abava Valley.
The highest point is Smiltiņu hill at 153.4 meters near Zante. The northern part lies higher than the surrounding areas, while the southern part around Lake Zebrus has more varied, corrugated hills. The land generally slopes down toward the Abava Valley in the north and northwest, with elevations around 80 meters in places like Kandava–Sabile. Bedrock includes Devonian to Jurassic rocks, such as limestone and dolomite, and in some spots the bedrock appears close to the surface along rivers like the Ciecere, Imula and Abava. The average elevation is about 100 meters, and the area features moraine plains, scattered hills, and some forests on limestone soils. After World War II, large parts of the southern upland were cleared and turned into scrubland.
Climate and rivers: westerly winds bring 500–700 mm of rainfall yearly. Average temperature is about 5.4°C, with January around -3.7°C and July about 17.3°C. The growing season lasts roughly 185–195 days, with about 140 frost-free days, and snow cover typically lasts 80–110 days. Several rivers flow through the upland and its valleys drain toward the Venta basin. The annual runoff is around 230–250 mm, and some areas become swampy where drainage is poor.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:37 (CET).