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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.
Overview
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.
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For centuries Latvia was primarily an agricultural country, with seafaring, fishing and forestry as other important factors in its economy. 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 decade after independence Latvia made a rapid transformation to embrace the free market. Latvia's economy grew by 50% between 2004 and 2007 but the global financial crisis of 2008-9 hit the country hard, forcing the government to seek help from the International Monetary Fund and the EU. The social turmoil triggered by the financial crisis led to the fall of the government in February 2009. By the end of the year, unemployment had soared to 22.3% - the highest jobless rate in the EU - prompting fears of further political instability.
Facts
- Full name:Republic of Latvia
- Population: 2.2 million (UN, 2009)
- Capital: Riga
- Area: 64,589 sq km (24,938 sq miles)
- Major languages: Latvian, Russian
- Major religion: Christianity
- Life expectancy: 67 years (men), 77 years (women) (UN)
- Monetary unit: 1 lats = 100 santims
- Main exports: Timber and wood products, fish and fish products
- GNI per capita: US $11,860 (World Bank, 2008)
- Internet domain: .lv
- International dialling code: + 371
Leaders
President: Valdis Zatlers
An orthopedic surgeon who took part in clearing up the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986, Valdis Zatlers was born in 1955 and became active in the pro-independence Popular Front under Soviet rule in 1988. He later scaled down his political activity to concentrate on medical work. Parliament elected him president on the nomination of the centre-right governing coalition in 2007. Prime minister: Valdis Dombrovskis Valdis Dombrovskis leads a six-party coalition that was approved by parliament in March 2009. Mr Dombrovskis succeeded Ivars Godmanis, who resigned in February after protests at his handling of the economic crisis.
A member of the European Parliament from the main centre-right New Era opposition party, Mr Dombrovskis has assembled a coalition including some parties from the Godmanis government plus a smaller centre-right party, the Civic Union. With the economy contracting sharply, his government pledged to introduce stringent economic recovery measures. In July, his government agreed a series of deep public spending cuts with unions and employers to rescue the state from bankruptcy. By August, Latvia had overtaken Spain as the country with the highest unemployment rate in the EU. However, in October Mr Dombrovskis insisted that the worst of the recession was over, and that the government was on track to meet its budget deficit target. Born in 1971 and a physicist by training, he was an MP and finance minister in 2002-2004.
Media
Latvia's TV market is dominated by the commercial LNT, two networks operated by the national public broadcaster, commercial TV3 Latvia and the Baltic variants of the main Russian networks. Public radio and TV are financed by state subsidies and advertising. The media operate freely, with few legal restrictions. A law provides prison terms for libel and incitement of racial hatred. Around 140 newspaper titles reflect a variety of political views. By March 2008, around 1.3 million Latvians were online (Internetworldstats). The press
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