Portal:Latvia

The Latvia Portal

Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of 64,589 km² (24,938 sq mi), with a population of 1.8 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians, who are the titular nation and comprise 65.5% of the country's population, belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population; 37.7% of the population speak Russian as their native tongue.

After centuries of Teutonic, Swedish, Polish-Lithuanian, and Russian rule, the independent Republic of Latvia was established on 18 November 1918 after breaking away from the Russian Empire in the aftermath of World War I. The country became increasingly autocratic after the coup in 1934 established the dictatorship of Kārlis Ulmanis. Latvia's de facto independence was interrupted at the outset 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, which formed the Latvian SSR for the next 45 years. As a result of extensive immigration during the Soviet occupation, ethnic Russians became the most prominent minority in the country. The peaceful Singing Revolution started in 1987 among the Baltic Soviet republics and ended with the restoration of both de facto and official independence on 21 August 1991. Latvia has since been a democratic unitary parliamentary republic.

Latvia is a developed country with a high-income, advanced economy ranking 39th in the Human Development Index. It is a member of the European Union, Eurozone, NATO, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the International Monetary Fund, the Nordic-Baltic Eight, the Nordic Investment Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the World Trade Organization. (Full article...)

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Articles 4 and 114 of the Constitution of Latvia form the foundation for language policy in Latvia, declaring Latvian to be the official state language and affirming the rights of ethnic minorities to preserve and develop their languages. Livonian language is recognized as "the language of the indigenous (autochthon) population" in the Official Language Law, but Latgalian written language is protected as "a historic variant of Latvian." All other languages are considered foreign by the Law on State Language (Official Language Law in other translations). Latvia provides national minority education programmes in Russian (the first language for over one third of the population), Polish, Hebrew, Ukrainian, Estonian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian.

The preamble to the Official Language Law includes as its goals "the integration of members of ethnic minorities into the society of Latvia, while observing their rights to use their native language or other languages; [and] the increased influence of Latvian in the cultural environment of Latvia, to promote a more rapid integration of society." (Full article...)

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Beach in Jūrmala

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Latvia Dates

5 August 1940 - Latvian SSR is formally annexed into the Soviet Union
9 August 1944 - Alberts Kviesis the third president of Latvia dies
11 August 1920 - Latvian-Soviet Riga Peace Treaty is signed
12 August 1871 - Gustavs Zemgals the second president of Latvia born
16 August 1865 - Latvian poet Aspazija born
17 August 1642 - Friedrich Kettler duke of Courland dies
22 August 1925 - Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics dies in a car crash
23 August 1989 - Baltic Way takes place

Holidays and observances in Latvia

11 August - Commemoration Day of Latvian Freedom Fighters
21 August - Day of actual Restoration of the Republic of Latvia.

General images

The following are images from various Latvia-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Estimated territories under Jersika rule (from History of Latvia)
Image 2Hard times for the fatherland, sons, sons, help! A patriotic postcard, 1916. (from History of Latvia)
Image 3Flag of the Latvian SSR. (from History of Latvia)
Image 4Medieval Livonia in 1260. (from History of Latvia)
Image 5Corded Ware culture area included Latvia (from History of Latvia)
Image 6May 1, 1919 celebrations in Soviet Riga (from History of Latvia)
Image 7Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (from History of Latvia)
Image 8Krišjānis Barons, 1910 (from History of Latvia)
Image 9Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg (from History of Latvia)
Image 10Iskolat flag (from History of Latvia)
Image 11Barricade in Riga to prevent the Soviet Army from reaching the Latvian Parliament, July 1991. (from History of Latvia)
Image 12Flag of the Republic of Latvia. (from History of Latvia)
Image 13Latvian peasant couple working, 18–19th century (from History of Latvia)
Image 14George W. Bush, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Arnold Rüütel, and Valdas Adamkus in Riga, May 7, 2005. (from History of Latvia)
Image 15Nicholas gate of Daugavpils fortress (from History of Latvia)
Image 16Neolithic bone tools (from History of Latvia)
Image 17All of Livonia was occupied by Sweden during the Second Northern War (from History of Latvia)
Image 18Divisions of Livonia, 1560–85 (from History of Latvia)
Image 19Local counteroffensives, 1919–1920 (from History of Latvia)
Image 20Soviet Latvia's 5 ruble note (from History of Latvia)
Image 21Baltic Tribes, circa 1200 CE. (from History of Latvia)
Image 22Latvian Song Festival, 2008 (from History of Latvia)
Image 23Map of Riga and Reval Lieutenancies, 1783 (from History of Latvia)
Image 24Valka Town Hall, where December 2, 1917 Declaration of Autonomy was issued. Now Valga in Estonia. (from History of Latvia)
Image 25Church of Ikšķile, the first stone building in Latvia built by Saint Meinhard in 1185 (from History of Latvia)
Image 26Comb pottery example from Estonia, 4000–2000 BC (from History of Latvia)
Image 27Winnig's note of November 26, 1918 (from History of Latvia)
Image 28British Navy ships in Liepāja port, December 1918 (from History of Latvia)
Image 29Swedish Baltic possessions, with Polish Livonia (from History of Latvia)
Image 30Duchy of Courland and Semigallia in 1740 (from History of Latvia)
Image 31Baltic tribes (purple) in 7–8th centuries (from History of Latvia)
Image 32Baltic bronze necklace from the village of Aizkraukle, Latvia dating to 12th century AD now in the British Museum. (from History of Latvia)
Image 33According to the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact "the Baltic States (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)" were divided into German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (German copy) (from History of Latvia)
Image 34Āraiši lake dwelling site dates back to the late Iron Age (from History of Latvia)
Image 35Soviet offensive, 1918–1919 (from History of Latvia)
Image 36Maximum reach of Muscovite occupation, 1577 (from History of Latvia)

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