Abrenes apriņķis

Abrenes apriņķis was a county in the Republic of Latvia with an area of 4,292 square kilometers (1,657 sq mi) that was formed in 1925 from the northern part of the Ludzas apriņķis as Jaunlatgale County (New Latgale County, Jaunlatgales apriņķis), but was renamed Abrenes apriņķis in 1938. The district included the towns of Balvi and Abrene and 14 villages, and the civil parishes (Latvian: pagasti) comprising the district were reorganized thrice (there were 12 in 1929, 13 in 1935 and 15 in 1940).

During World War II, six eastern civil parishes – Purvmalas (Bakovo), Linavas (Linovo), Kacēnu (Kachanovo), Upmalas (Upmala), Gauru (Gavry) and Augšpils (Vyshgorodok), as well as the town of Abrene (a total area of 1293.6 square kilometers with 35,524 inhabitants) – were annexed to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1944. That part of the former Abrene district is now part of Russia as the Pytalovsky District of Pskov Oblast and borders Latvia. "Abrene region" in current usage very often treats the area joined to Russia as though it had comprised the entire district, which can be misleading since nearly three quarters of the former district are in Latvia, but many treatments of the transfer of the eastern pagasti by citing interbellum demographic statistics for the whole region, rather than by civil parish.