Ogre, Latvia
Template:Latvian Cities Ogre () (population 26,573 in 2000 census) is the principal city of Ogre District in Central Latvia, 36 km east of the capital Riga, situated at the confluence of the Daugava and Ogre rivers. It has been a city since 1928. Ogre is composed of three parts: Jaunogre (meaning "New Ogre"), Ogre (the centre of the town), and Pārogre (meaning "Ogre across [the river]" though not all of the named region is across the river).
The name of Ogre comes from the Ogre river. The Ogre village was first mentioned in 1206, called Oger in German. It 1861, when a railway Riga-Daugavpils was built, Riga's residents started to build summer-cottages here. In 1862 Ogre became a health resort.
The City's Coat of arms was granted in 1938 and shows the beautiful river and pinewoods of Ogre.
There is a cultural centre, an art school and a music school in Ogre. It has 3 Latvian language schools, and 1 Russian language school - Jaunogres vidusskola.
Etymology
The name of the town has nothing to do with the English word ogre, it is said[who?] that Catherine the Great 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.