Ogre, Latvia

Ogre (population 26,573 in 2000 census) is a town in Central Latvia, 36 km east of the capital Riga, situated at the confluence of the Daugava and Ogre rivers. Ogre is composed of three parts: Jaunogre (meaning "New Ogre"), Ogre (the center of the town), and Pārogre (meaning "Ogre across [the river]" though not all of the named region is across the river).

There is a cultural centre, an art school and a music school in Ogre. Just like most of Latvia, half of its population is Latvian and half Russian, and it has 3 Latvian language schools, and 1 Russian language school - Jaunogres vidusskola.

Etymology

The name of the town is said to be of Russian origin (угри, meaning eels)(because there used to be a lot of eels in the river Ogre) and has nothing to do with the English word ogre, it is said that queen Ekaterina II of Russia was the one who gave the river this name. However, it is interesting to note that during Soviet occupation as part of Soviet propaganda there were available badges with the face of Lenin and the name Ogre underneath.

External links

• www.ogre.lv Official homepage in Latvian