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Latvia

Land Area 62249km²
Land Area + Seaarea
Population 2027000
Population density 32.6 / km²

Informations

Latvia ( or (listen); Latvian: Latvija [ˈlatvija], Livonian: Lețmō), Formally known as the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republika, Livonian: Lețmō Vabāmō), is a country in the Baltic Area of Northern Europe.

Since Latvia's independence in 1918, it's been referred to as among the Baltic states. It's bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi). Its capital and largest city is Riga; other notable major cities in Latvia are Daugavpils, Liepāja, Jelgava and Jūrmala. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. The Baltic Sea moderates the climate, although the country has four distinct seasons and snowy winters. After centuries of Swedish, Polish and Russian rule, a rule mostly executed by the Baltic German aristocracy, the Republic of Latvia was established on 18 November 1918 as it broke away from the Russian Empire and declared independence in the wake of World War I. However, by the 1930s the nation became increasingly autocratic after the coup in 1934 establishing an authoritarian regime under Kārlis Ulmanis. The nation's de facto independence was interrupted in the beginning of World War II, beginning with Latvia's forcible incorporation into the Soviet Union, followed by the invasion and occupation by Nazi Germany in 1941, and the re-occupation by the Soviets in 1944 (Courland Pocket in 1945) to form the Latvian SSR for another 45 years. The calm Singing Revolution, beginning in 1987, called for Baltic emancipation from Soviet rule and condemning the Communist regime's illegal takeover. It ended with the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia on 4 May 1990 and restoring de facto independence on 21 August 1991. Latvia is a democratic sovereign state, parliamentary republic. Capital city Riga functioned as the European Capital of Culture in 2014. Latvian is the official language. Latvia is a unitary state, divided into 119 administrative divisions, of which 110 are municipalities and nine are cities. Latvians and Livonians are the indigenous people of Latvia. Latvian and Lithuanian are the only two surviving Baltic languages. Despite foreign rule from the 13th to 20th centuries, the Latvian nation maintained its identity throughout the generations through the language and musical traditions. However, as a result of centuries of Russian rule (1710--1918) and after Soviet occupation, 26.9% of the population of Latvia are ethnic Russians, some of whom (10.7% of Latvian residents) have not gained citizenship, leaving them with no citizenship at all. Until World War II, Latvia also had significant minorities of ethnic Germans and Jews. Latvia is historically predominantly Lutheran Protestant, except for the Latgale region in the southeast, which has historically been predominantly Roman Catholic. The Russian population is largely Eastern Orthodox Christians. Latvia is a developed nation with an innovative, high-income economy and ranks 39th in the Human Development Index. It performs favorably in dimensions of civil liberties, press freedom, internet freedom, democratic governance, living standards, and peacefulness. Latvia is a member of the European Union, Eurozone, NATO, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, CBSS, the IMF, NB8, NIB, OECD, OSCE, and WTO. A complete member of the Eurozone, it started with the euro as its currency on 1 January 2014, replacing the Latvian lats.

Source: Wikipedia