Latvia Country Profile

Situated in north-eastern Europe with a coastline along the Baltic Sea, Latvia is geographically the middle of the three former Soviet Baltic republics.

It has language links with Lithuania to the south and historical and ecumenical ties with Estonia to the north.

Not much more than a decade after it declared independence following the collapse of the USSR, Latvia was welcomed as an EU member in May 2004. The move came just weeks after it joined Nato. These developments would have been extremely hard to imagine in not-so-distant Soviet times.

For centuries Latvia was primarily an agricultural country, with seafaring, fishing and forestry as other important factors in its econo my.

Latvia was under foreign dominion from the 13th until the 20th century. After the first world war it declared independence which Russia recognised in 1920.

Two decades later, following a pact between Stalin and Hitler, Soviet troops invaded in 1940 and Latvia was absorbed into the Soviet Union. Nazi forces pushed the Soviets back in 1941 but the Red Army returned in 1944 and remained for half a century.

During the Soviet period, which ended in 1991, Latvia underwent heavy industrialisation, and experienced a big influx of immigrants from other parts of the USSR, mainly Russia.

About a quarter of the population is Russian-speaking and the rights of this section of society have been a thorny issue since independence. Government reforms introduced in 2004 to restrict the use of the Russian language in schools remain controversial.

Legislation on citizenship was toughened up in 2006. Candidates who fail a Latvian language test three times will be denied citizenship. People without citizenship are entitled neither to vote nor to obtain an EU passport.

Like its Baltic neighbours, in the 10 years since independence Latvia has made a rapid transformation to embrace the free market.

Key facts

Geography/Demographics

Full name: Republic of Latvia

Land Area: 64,589 square kilometres

Population: 2.3 million (2006)

Capital City: Riga

Language: Latvian. Russian is widely understood

Political

Political system: Parliamentary democracy

National government: Coalition government of the Latvian First/Latvian Way, the People’s Party, the Union of Greens and Farmers, and the Union for Fatherland and Freedom

National legislature: Unicameral Parliament, the Saeima, of 100 members

Last election: December 2007 (Parliament) – June 2007 (President)

Next election due: October 2010 (Parliament) – June 2011 (President elected by Saeima)

Head of State: President Valdis Zatlers

Head of Government: Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis