 |
Travel to Latvia — Unbiased reviews and great deals
from TripAdvisorLatvia
| The Republic of Latvia National
name: Latvijas Republika President:
Valdis Zatlers (2007) Prime
Minister: vacant
Current government officials
Land area: 24,903 sq mi (64,500 sq km);
total area: 24,938 sq mi (64,589 sq km) Population (2007 est.): 2,259,810 (growth
rate: –0.6%); birth rate: 9.4/1000; infant mortality rate:
9.2/1000; life expectancy: 71.6; density per sq mi: 91
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Riga, 867,700 (metro. area), 706,200 (city
proper) Other large cities:
Daugavpils, 111,700; Liepaja, 82,300 Monetary unit: Lats
Languages:
Latvian 58% (official), Russian 38%, Lithuanian,
other (2000)
Ethnicity/race:
Latvian 57.7%, Russian 29.6%, Belorussian 4.1%,
Ukrainian 2.7%, Polish 2.5%, Lithuanian 1.4%, other 2% (2002)
Religions:
Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox Literacy: 100% (2003 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005 est.):
$29.7 billion; per capita $13,000. Real growth rate: 8.3%.
Inflation: 5.9%. Unemployment: 8.8%. Arable land:
30%. Agriculture: grain, sugar beets, potatoes, vegetables;
beef, pork, milk, eggs; fish. Labor force: 1.11 million;
agriculture 15%, industry 25%, services 60% (2000 est.).
Industries: buses, vans, street and railroad cars; synthetic
fibers, agricultural machinery, fertilizers, washing machines, radios,
electronics, pharmaceuticals, processed foods, textiles;
note—dependent on imports for energy and raw materials.
Natural resources: peat, limestone, dolomite, amber,
hydropower, wood, arable land. Exports: $5.749 billion f.o.b.
(2005 est.): wood and wood products, machinery and equipment, metals,
textiles, foodstuffs. Imports: $8.559 billion f.o.b. (2005
est.): machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, vehicles. Major
trading partners: UK, Germany, Sweden, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia,
Denmark, Finland, Poland, Belarus (2004). Communications: Telephones: main lines in
use: 734,693 (2000); mobile cellular: 401,263 (2000). Radio
broadcast stations: AM 8, FM 56, shortwave 1 (1998).
Radios: 1.76 million (1997). Television broadcast
stations: 74 (1998). Televisions: 1.22 million (1997).
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 41 (2001). Internet
users: 312,000 (2001). Transportation:
Railways: total: 2,347 km (2002). Highways: total: 73,202
km; paved: 28,256 km; unpaved: 44,946 km (2000). Waterways: 300
km perennially navigable. Ports and harbors: Liepaja, Riga,
Ventspils. Airports: 38 (2002). International disputes: the Russian Duma
refuses to ratify boundary delimitation treaty with Latvia; the
Latvian Parliament has not ratified its 1998 maritime boundary treaty
with Lithuania, primarily due to concerns over oil exploration
rights.
Major sources and definitions
|
|
Geography
Latvia borders Estonia on the north, Lithuania in the south, the Baltic
Sea with the Gulf of Riga in the west, Russia in the east, and Belarus in
the southeast. Latvia is largely a fertile lowland with numerous lakes and
hills to the east.
Government
Parliamentary democracy.
History
Baltic tribespeople settled along the Baltic Sea and, lacking a
centralized government, fell prey to more powerful peoples. In the 13th
century they were overcome by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a German
order of knights whose mission was to conquer and Christianize the Baltic
region. The land became part of the state of Livonia until 1561. Germans
composed the ruling class of Livonia and Baltic tribes made up the
peasantry. German was the official language of the region.
Poland conquered the territory in 1562 and occupied it until Sweden
took over the land in 1629, ruling until 1721. Then the land passed to
Russia. From 1721 until 1918, the Latvians remained Russian subjects,
although they preserved their language, customs, and folklore.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 gave them their opportunity for freedom,
and the Latvian republic was proclaimed on Nov. 18, 1918. The republic
lasted little more than 20 years. Plagued by political instability, Latvia
essentially became a dictatorship under President Karlis Ulmanis. It was
occupied by Russian troops in 1939 and incorporated into the Soviet Union
in 1940. German armies occupied the nation from 1941 to 1944. Of the
70,000 Jews living in Latvia during World War II, 95% were massacred. In
1944, Russia again took control of Latvia.
Latvia was one of the most economically well-off and industrialized
parts of the Soviet Union. When a coup against Soviet president Mikhail
Gorbachev failed in 1991, the Baltic nations saw an opportunity to free
themselves from Soviet domination and, following the actions of Lithuania
and Estonia, Latvia declared its independence on Aug. 21, 1991. European
and most other nations quickly recognized their independence, and on Sept.
2, 1991, President Bush announced full diplomatic recognition for Latvia,
Estonia, and Lithuania. The Soviet Union recognized Latvia's independence
on Sept. 6, and UN membership followed on Sept. 17, 1991.
Because Latvians' ethnic identity had been quashed by foreign rulers
throughout its history, the new Latvian republic set up strict citizenship
laws, limiting citizenship to ethnic Latvians and to those who had lived
in the region before Soviet rule in 1940. This denied about 452,000 of the
country's 740,000 ethnic Russians of citizenship. But in 1998, a
referendum passed easing the citizenship rules.
In June 2003, President Vike-Freiberga easily won reelection. In Dec.
2004, Aigars Kalvitis became prime minister, forming the twelfth
government since Latvia's independence from Russia. The nation became a
member of both the EU and NATO in 2004.
Valdis Zatlers, a medical doctor, was elected president by parliament in May 2007, defeating former constitutional court judge Aivars Endzins.
Prime Minister Kalvitis resigned in December 2007 following a series of
widespread protests over his attempts to fire anti-corruption investigator
Aleksejs Loskutovs.
See also Encyclopedia: Latvia.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Latvia
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia www.csb.lv/avidus.cfm .
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
More on Latvia from Infoplease:
- Latvia - Latvia Latvia , Latvian Latvija, officially Republic of Latvia, republic (2005 est. pop. ...
- Latvia - Latvia Profile: People, History, Government and Political Conditions, Economy, Defense, Foreign Relations, U.S.-Latvian Relations
- Latvia - Map of Latvia & articles on flags, geography, history, statistics, disasters current events, and international relations.
- Latvia: Bibliography - Bibliography See A. Bilmanis, History of Latvia (1970); R. J. Misiunas and R. Taagepera, The Baltic ...
- Latvia: Government - Government Latvia is parliamentary democracy. It has a unicameral parliament, the 100-seat Supreme ...
|
|
