Latvia

Full name of country: Republic of Latvia

Region: Europe

Official language: Latvian

Population: 1,801,246 (2024 est.)

Nationality: Latvian(s) (noun), Latvian (adjective)

Land area: 62,249 sq km (24,034 sq miles)

Water area: 2,340 sq km (903 sq miles)

Capital: Riga

National anthem: “Dievs, sveti Latviju!” (God Bless Latvia), by Karlis Baumanis

National holiday: Independence Day, November 18 (1918); note - November 18, 1918 was the date Latvia declared independence from Soviet Russia and established its statehood; May 4, 1990 was the date it declared its independence from the Soviet Union

Population growth: -1.14% (2024 est.)

Time zone: UTC +2

Flag: The flag of Latvia features a maroon-colored field, or background, with a single white horizontal band running through the center. The colors of the flag have been attributed to a Latvian legend, in which a wounded Latvian leader is wrapped in a white sheet later used as a rallying flag, but the colors have also been attributed to the blood shed for freedom and nationalism, as well as righteousness and truth. The Latvian flag is one of the oldest flags in the world.

Independence: May 4, 1990 (declared); September 6, 1991 (recognized by the Soviet Union)

Government type: parliamentary republic

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legal system: civil law system with traces of socialist legal traditions and practices

The Republic of Latvia is located on the Baltic Sea in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east, Estonia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, and Lithuania to the south. Latvia regained its independence in 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Except for a short independence between world wars, Latvia had previously been under German or Russian rule since the twelfth century. It is now a full member of both the European Union (EU) and NATO.

Note: unless otherwise indicated, statistical data in this article is sourced from the CIA World Factbook, as cited in the bibliography.

People and Culture

Population: The population of Latvia is made up of native Latvians, Russians, and other Slavs. The country was nearly three-quarters Latvian before the Soviet occupation began in 1940. After independence, 62.7 percent of the population is Latvian, while 24.5 percent is Russian (2021 estimates). The remaining population is made up of Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, and Lithuanians. The country is primarily Christian, with the largest denominations being Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Russian Orthodox.

Since World War II, the population has practically abandoned the rural countryside in favor of the city. The three biggest cities are Riga, the capital; Daugaupils, known for its Church of St. Peter; and Liepaja. About 68.7 percent of the population lived in urban areas in 2023.

The median age in the country is 45.5 years (2024 estimate). Latvia's HDI value for 2022 is 0.879— which put the country in the Very High human development category—positioning it at 37 out of 193 countries and territories.

In the past several years, Latvia has asserted its national identity, first through a successful Latvian Popular Front election while still under Soviet rule in 1990, and then with its official independence a year later. As a result, there is still tension between the country’s Latvian population and its Russian population. For instance, until Latvia was pressured by the UN and the United States, the newly independent Latvia made it difficult for Russians living there to obtain citizenship.

Indigenous People: Latvia’s indigenous peoples are called Letts, a Baltic people who speak Lettish, which is similar to Lithuanian. The Lettish people first appeared in the area in the ninth century. They were converted to Christianity in the twelfth century during the Saxon Crusades.

The Baltic people are first noted in historical accounts of the amber trade with the Roman Empire in the first century. During the tenth and eleventh centuries, the Swedish and the Slavs began encroaching upon the area from the west. When the Saxon crusades began in the twelfth century, the area was taken over by German missionaries. It was named Livonia and became a subject, feudal nation forced to pay tithes and taxes. This Livonian Confederation lasted for three hundred years.

Education: Latvia has had a near-100 percent literacy rate since the 1890s, following the tide of industrialization. Instruction is conducted in Latvian, and the country is home to the University of Latvia, Riga Technical University, and the Latvian Academy of Sciences.

Health Care: In the years since independence, Latvia has modernized its system of health care and citizen welfare. During the period of the Cold War, the quality of Latvia’s general health care declined along with the Soviet Union. But in the years following, conditions improved. Latvia’s infant mortality rate is an estimated 4.7 deaths per every 1,000 live births (2024 estimate). Life expectancy for men is 72 years, while life expectancy for women is 81 years (2024 estimate).

Social security, pensions, and welfare are all administered by the Ministry of Welfare, which is in charge of maintaining and improving the social welfare of Latvians. The Ministry of Health was established in 2003 to take responsibility for health care. In 2011, the National Health Service was created as a subordinate institution of the Ministry of Health to administer health care services.

Food: Latvian food is hearty and draws on conventional Eastern European fare: dairy, breads, fish, pork, and beef. Bread, usually rye or sourdough, is served at every meal. Latvians also enjoy dairy, often stuffing pancakes with biezpiens, a type of cottage cheese.

Latvians typically only eat vegetables that are in season, except for cabbage, which is available year-round. Other specialties include karbonade, which is comprised of fried pork and mashed potatoes. There is also soljanka, which is a beet soup with meat; and zirni, a dish of brown peas in a sauce made with ham.

Latvian food has become more cosmopolitan, and there has been an influx of foreign coffee companies in urban areas.

Arts & Entertainment: Latvia has a thriving arts scene. The country has a conservatory of music, as well as many other specialized schools for fine arts. Its many newspapers and magazines are published in Latvian and other languages. The country’s most famous writer is Janis Rainis, who was a poet and dramatist.

Amateur choir groups, drama groups, and community orchestras are common throughout Latvia. There has also been some film production in the country.

Holidays: Aside from Christian holidays, Latvia celebrates the Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia on November 18. It was on this day in 1918 that the country initially declared its independence from Soviet Russia. It actually regained that independence on May 4, 1990, which it celebrates as Independence Day. This independence was further solidified by the breakup of the Soviet bloc in 1991.

Another important holiday for the country is Midsummer’s Eve and Day, also known as St. John’s Eve or Līgo Day, on June 23 and 24. The country celebrates with a traditional festival on this day. National holidays also include Labor Day on May 1.

Environment and Geography

Topography: Latvia is mostly one large plain made up of a mixture of hills and lowlands. It has 498 kilometers (309 miles) of coastline. On the eastern side of the country, the elevation tends to be higher. The Central Vidzeme Uplands reach a height of 311 meters (1,020 feet). In the west, the Venta River cuts through the Kurzeme Upland.

The country is filled with peat bogs, which are created when organic material collects and decomposes because of poor drainage. There are also swamps and marshes, in addition to lakes and streams.

The main rivers are the Amata River, which runs through the Gauja National Park; the Western Dvina, which is called the Daugava by locals; the Venta, and the Lielupe.

Natural Resources: There is a variety of minerals found in Latvia, including limestone, peat (which can be burned like charcoal), dolomite, sand, and amber. Hydroelectric and thermoelectric stations are located along the Daugava River. All of the country’s power stations remain on a single power grid, a remnant of Soviet occupation.

Despite the use of hydropower, less than half of Latvia’s energy comes from domestic sources. The rest comes from imported fuel and power systems in areas such as northwest Russia. However, that importation relationship began to change after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. A few oil sources have been found in the Kurzeme Peninsula.

Plants & Animals: Latvia supports a number of different bird species. Its numerous marshes are home to herons and storks. Other birds include orioles, owls, partridges, grouse, and larks. Apart from these, the usual forest wildlife is found throughout Latvia: foxes, rabbits, and squirrels, as well as more exotic animals such as badgers and weasels.

Conservationists have been mindful of the elk and deer populations, which had been on the rise.

About 54.1 percent of the country is forested with a combination of birch and aspen (2018 estimate). The coast has many sandy beaches, and the fish include cod and herring.

Climate: The skies over Latvia are mostly cloudy. Because of the air coming in from the Atlantic Ocean, the country is mostly cloudy and humid, with cool and rainy summers. There are only about thirty to forty days of complete sunshine per year.

The average temperature during summer is 17° Celsius (63° Fahrenheit), but can rise as high as 34° Celsius (93° Fahrenheit). From December to March, the temperature drops to between –2° and –7° Celsius (28° and 19° Fahrenheit). At times, the temperature drops much lower. By the 2020s, Latvia, like the rest of the world, had experienced an increase in temperatures and some extreme weather conditions due to climate change.

Economy

Industry: Latvia is the most industrialized of the Baltic states. Its industry is based on machine building and metal engineering. The country produces large products such as refrigerators, washing machines, and motorcycles, as well as radios and other smaller consumer electronic devices. Other products produced in Latvia include street and railroad cars, agricultural machinery, and processed foods.

Since declaring its independence, Latvia has worked to free itself from economic dependence on Russia. One major hurdle was privatizing the economy and transferring the collectively owned farms into private hands. However, Latvia still must import much of its energy and raw materials to continue its rate of production. A member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1999 and the EU since 2004, Latvia’s biggest export partners are traditionally Lithuania, Russia, Estonia, Germany, and the United Kingdom (2021). Latvia joined the euro zone in 2014 and the OECD in 2016.

In 2023 the estimated gross domestic product (GDP; purchasing power parity) of Latvia was US$69.479 billion, with an estimated per capita GDP of US$37,000.

Agriculture: Latvia’s agricultural production is based mainly on meat and dairy. Important crops include grain, rapeseed, potatoes, and vegetables. Meat production concentrates on pork and poultry. The country also harvests fish, mainly cod and herring, from the Baltic Sea.

Between 1947 and 1950, Latvia’s farms were collectivized under Soviet control. At the time of independence, there were approximately 374 collective farms and 237 state farms. After independence, Latvia began to privatize its farming industry.

Tourism: Latvia formed its own airline after declaring its independence. Until that time, all of the country’s air traffic operated out of Moscow. According to the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, there were over 1.3 million visitors in hotels and other accommodation establishments in 2021.

Latvia has an extensive rail network. The country has many miles of highways, although more than half are not paved. The country has two ports along its sandy coastline, at Riga and Ventspils. Riga was once called the “Paris of the North,” and remains the cosmopolitan hub of the Baltic region.

Tourists often make trips out of the cities to the countryside where they can visit castles. The architecture in cities such as Riga is a mixture of the dramatic, decorative Old European Jugendstil architecture, and the more practical, industrial-looking concrete structures of the Soviet period.

Government

Latvia had only two brief periods of independence in the twentieth century, the first occurring between World War I and World War II. Throughout history, it has been squeezed by external pressure, usually from either Germany or Russia.

In the sixteenth century, the land was split between Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Sweden. In 1710, during the Great Northern War, Peter I the Great captured Riga. By 1800, Latvia was totally under Russian control.

This control was not threatened until the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The instability in Russia stoked nationalist desire in Latvia. During World War I, the country became a battleground between the Germans, who wanted the area as a base of operations against the Soviets, and the Russians, who wanted to hold onto their territory.

When the war ended, Latvia enjoyed its first taste of independence in several centuries. However, as World War II began, Latvia was once again incorporated into Russia. Latvia had signed a treaty of “mutual assistance” with Russia, which meant that the Soviet Union could hold military bases in the country.

By 1940, the Soviet army had invaded the country and set up a new government. In the first year of occupation, some thirty-five thousand Latvians were deported, many to Siberia. Later, at least another one hundred thousand were deported.

The country began to regain its national identity in the 1980s, as Russia moved toward glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). The Latvian Popular Front emerged in 1988 and went on to win national elections in 1990. After independence in 1991, the newly formed democratic government restored the 1922 constitution. In the June 1993 elections, only people who were citizens prior to the 1940 invasion were allowed to vote. This strict definition of Latvian citizenship was later altered after diplomatic pressure from the EU and the WTO.

The current government of the Republic of Latvia is a parliamentary republic with three branches. The executive branch is made up of a chief of state (president), and the head of the government (prime minister). The cabinet, called the Cabinet of Ministers, is nominated by the prime minister and later appointed by the Parliament. The president, elected by Parliament, serves a four-year term and appoints the prime minister.

The Parliament, also called the Saeima, has one hundred seats. Its members are elected by proportional representation vote every four years. The Supreme Court of Latvia makes up the judicial branch, along with the Constitutional Court. Supreme Court justices are nominated by the chief justice and approved by Parliament. Three judges on the Constitutional Court are nominated by Saeima members, two are nominated by Cabinet ministers, and two are nominated by plenum of the Supreme Court.

Citizens must be eighteen years old to vote. The right to vote is universal for Latvian citizens.

The country itself is split up into thirty-six municipalities and seven state cities. Several political parties, such as the National Alliance, the Social Democratic Party, and the Union of Greens and Farmers strive for control.

Interesting Facts

• The oldest factory in Latvia is the Laima Chocolate factory, which has been operating for over a century.
• Visitors as well as natives place flowers at the base of the Freedom Monument in Riga, which was built to commemorate Latvian independence.
• Latvia is a regular competitor in the annual pan-European Eurovision Song Contest; it has won once, in 2002, with the song “I Wanna” by Marie N.
• Latvia opened its first IKEA store in 2018.
• In 2023, the town of Kuldīga was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Bibliography

Human Development Report 2022. United Nations Development Programme, 13 Mar. 2024, hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2021-22pdf‗1.pdf. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025

“Latvia.” The World Bank, 2024, data.worldbank.org/country/latvia. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

“Latvia.” The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 16 Jan. 2025, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/latvia/. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

“Latvia.” World Health Organization, www.who.int/countries/lva/en/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.

Tourism in Latvia 2022. Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, 2022, admin.stat.gov.lv/system/files/publication/2022-08/Nr‗20‗Turisms‗Latvija‗2022‗%2822‗00%29‗LV‗EN.pdf. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023