Cape Kolka marks the spot where the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga meet in a confusion of currents and submerged sandbanks that have claimed countless ships over the centuries. The cape's ancient name, Domesnes, appears on a Swedish rune stone from around 1040 AD, testimony to the danger mariners faced here a thousand years ago. The western coast runs straight and exposed, sandy beaches backed by dunes and Scots pine forests bending under constant westerly winds. Fossilized amber from a subtropical period forty million years past still washes ashore after storms. The lighthouse at Mikeļtornis stands as the tallest in the Baltics, a beacon against the fog that frequently blankets these transitional waters where the Irbe River drains vast inland wetlands into the strait separating Latvia from Estonia's island of Saaremaa.

The Courland Peninsula formed the northern reaches of one of history's most improbable colonial powers. Under Duke Jacob Kettler, who reigned from 1642 to 1682, the tiny Duchy of Courland and Semigallia established shipyards at Ventspils, developed metalworking industries, and sent vessels across the Atlantic. In 1651, Courlanders planted their flag on St. Andrews Island in Gambia. The following year, they claimed Tobago in the Caribbean. For a brief moment, this remote Baltic territory possessed overseas colonies that stretched farther than many larger European powers could reach. Then the Swedish invasion of 1658 shattered everything. The Swedes captured Duke Jacob himself, destroyed his fleet and factories, and the duchy never recovered its former ambitions.

In October 1944, the Red Army's Baltic Offensive cut off German Army Group North on the Courland Peninsula. Renamed Army Group Courland in January 1945, approximately 200,000 German soldiers found themselves trapped in what became known as the Courland Pocket. The Soviets launched six major offensives to break through; all failed. The fighting devastated the land and scattered its population. When Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, the soldiers in Courland held out for two more days. General Carl Hilpert formally capitulated on May 10, making the Courland Pocket one of the last German positions to fall in World War II. During the subsequent Soviet occupation, beaches were raked nightly, patrolled by border guards, and illuminated by searchlights to prevent escapes.

Fourteen villages along the peninsula's northern and western shores constitute the officially recognized Livonian Coast, the core area where Livonian settlement and culture have persisted for millennia. The Livonians called themselves randalisti, coast dwellers, distinguishing themselves from the Baltic Curonians who lived further inland. Mazirbe serves as the cultural center, home to the Livonian Community House and an annual festival celebrating a heritage that nearly disappeared. The Latvian government now protects historical village sites from inappropriate development. Of 338 bird species recorded in Latvia, 261 have been observed in nearby Slītere National Park, making the region a destination for birdwatchers who come to witness migrations funneling through Cape Kolka. The fishing communities of Roja and Kolka still launch boats into the Gulf of Riga.

Ventspils, founded around 1290, has transformed from a medieval trading post into one of the Baltic States' busiest ports, handling Aframax and Panamax vessels after significant deepening in 1998. The port moved 10.4 million tons of cargo in 2023 while operating as a Freeport and Special Economic Zone. Yet the peninsula remains defined by its windswept emptiness. Extensive forests support logging and wood processing. Wind turbines harvest energy from the same gales that once drove sailing ships onto Cape Kolka's sandbanks. Tourism has grown since the 1990s, drawing visitors to beaches, nature reserves, and villages where traditional fishing culture survives despite quotas and historical restrictions. The landscape shaped by retreating Weichselian glaciers still reveals its geological youth in the sand dunes and low-lying terrain characteristic of the East European Plain.