Balvi
The district of Balvi lies in Eastern Latvia, next to the border with Russia. It also borders the domestic regions of Aluksne to the north, Gulbene and Madona to the west, and Rezekne and Ludza to the south. The economy of the area is focused almost entirely on agriculture, hence the low density of population and abundance of farms and arable land. There are only two towns -- the administrative centre of Balvi, which concentrates more than a third of the district's population, and Vilaka, which is nothing more than a bigger village.