The city of Ventspils is located in the geographical centre of the Baltic Sea region. Ventspils is one of the largest cities and largest port in Latvia. It is located in North – West part of the country. Coastal climate with rather warm winters and autumns, cold springs and summers is characteristic to Ventspils. Average annual temperature in the city is + 6,6°C, whereas in wintertime it normally levels to -5°C and in summertime it averages to 20°C. Annual rainfall level is ~700 mm, average relative air humidity ~ 82%.

Ventspils covers 5536.7 ha, out of which 2643.6 ha (47.7%) is covered by buildings, the remaining territory is water (13.1%) and green areas (24.9%). Free Economic Zone (Free Port of Ventspils) was established in the beginning of 1997, and occupies 2451.39 ha or 47.4 % of Ventspils territory. More than 1000 ha of this territory are still available for development.

The number of registered inhabitants in Ventspils is 43.3 thousand. The ethnic structure is close to general situation in Latvia – 54% of population is Latvian, 30% Russian, 5% Byelorussian, 5% Ukrainian and 6% others.
Remarkable changes have taken place in the city over the past decade – the Old Town is being renovated, city forests and parks are being trimmed and the streets resurfaced. The City Council pays special attention to the maintenance of the city environment, as well as improvement of the quality of Ventspils residents’ life.

Approximately 1000 companies and their representative offices operate in Ventspils. On average Ventspils creates 3.2% of the national GDP, thus ensuring the city to be one of the largest economic centres in Latvia. The city’s GDP per capita is the second highest in the country and it exceeds the average national rate 1.7 times.

There is a special economic zone situated in the Free Port of Ventspils. The basic incentive package available for companies establishing within this zone includes the 80% rebate on real estate tax and 66% rebate on corporate income tax, as well as remarkable reductions on value added tax, excise tax and custom duties.

Ventspils University College offers Bachelor, Master as well as Doctor studies that produce high quality specialists in marketing, logistics, finances, accounting, IT, electronics and translation. Also Riga Technical University has an affiliate in Ventspils.

During the last five years, increasing significance in the city's economy is acquired by services rendered to manufacturing sector. The location of Ventspils, being an international transportation hub together with the best intentions from municipality and local universities provides the best prospects of further development of manufacturing and industry in Ventspils.