Zonal state archives are territorial structural units of the National Archives of Latvia, which ensure the accumulation, registration, preservation and use of documents to be included in the National Documentary Heritage in the territories of local governments of the Republic of Latvia.
The zonal state archives were established in 1991, when the 11 branches of the former Central LSSR State Revolution and Socialist Construction Archive were reorganized into independent archives under the auspices of the General Directorate of State Archives.
Since 2011, the zonal state archives have been reorganized into territorial structural units of the National Archives of Latvia.
More than 6.6 million cases of local state and municipal institutions, enterprises and organizations of the USSR occupation regime (1944 - 1991) have been stored in 11 zonal state archives. An important component of archives is the funds of industrial and agricultural enterprises. Since regaining the independence of the Republic of Latvia in 1991, the zonal state archives have been monitoring and accepting the documents of state and local government institutions of the administrative districts of the Republic of Latvia, as well as the documents of liquidated, bankrupt and privatized companies.
The main tasks of the zonal state archives:
- accumulation, accounting, preservation and use of the national documentary heritage;
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supervision of the archives of state and local government institutions of cities and districts located in the region of archive activity, methodological management and training of specialists in the issues of archive work.