COUNTRY SPOTLIGHT
QUICK FACTS Full name: Republic of Latvia Capital city: Riga Population: 1,934,379 (2018) GDP in current prices: USD $30.3 billion (2017) GDP growth: 4.5% (2017) Area: 64,573 km2 Government: Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic President: Raimonds Vejonis Prime Minister: Krisjanis Karins Currency: Euro (€) (EUR) HDI: 41st (2018) Ease of doing business index: 19th (2018/19) Time zone: GMT +2 Dialling code: 371
LATVIA
L
atvia is one of the Baltic states situated in Northern Europe and a former member of the Soviet Union. It is bordered to the north by Estonia, by Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast and Lithuania to the south. It also shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. The total area of Latvia is 64,573 km2, which makes it the 122nd largest country in the world and roughly equivalent to the size of West Virginia, the 41st largest state in the US. Much of Latvia’s territory lies less than 100 metres above sea level. Approximately 54% of Latvia’s area is forest land, 28% is agricultural land and 4% inland water. The country has four national parks and over 700 state-protected nature reserves, making Latvia one of the world’s greenest and most environmentally-friendly countries. Latvia has over 12,000 rivers and more than 3,000 lakes, the largest of which is Lake Lubans with an area of 80.7 km2. The coastline runs for 494 kilometres along the Baltic Sea and is largely undeveloped, with white sandy beaches, dunes and lined by pine forests.
A brief history Latvia first declared independence as a separate country on 18 November 1918, one week after the armistice that brought World War I to an end. Previously, much of what is now Latvia and Estonia had been Swedish Livonia (1629-1721), with Riga its capital city. However, the territory was conquered by the Russian Empire during the Great Northern War and was ceded to Russia in 1721. 60 Citizenship By Investment
During World War II, Latvia came back under Soviet military control in August 1940 and was renamed the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. The following summer, it was attacked and occupied by Nazi Germany for three brutal years until Soviet troops eventually recaptured Riga in October 1944. The post-war years saw a lot of changes to the demographic profile as the Soviets started imposing their communist methods. Many Latvian nationalists were deported and a steady influx of Russian labourers, administrators and military personnel was brought in to help man the new factories and processing plants that Moscow established in Riga and other cities across Latvia. Between 1935 and 1959, the share of ethnic Latvians had decreased from 77% of 1.906 million population to 62% of 2.093m, while the share of ethnic Russians increased from 9% to 27%. During the late 1980s, while the Soviet Union’s economy was stagnating and undergoing social reforms, the movement
towards Latvian independence was gaining momentum and reached a peak in the summer of 1988. On 4 May 1990, a declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia was adopted. Attempts by Soviet political and military forces to overthrow the Latvian authorities failed and full independence was declared on 21 August 1991. Latvia’s independence was formally recognised by the Soviet Union on 6 September and the country was admitted to the United Nations on 17 September 1991.
Politics and administration Modern-day Latvia is a unitary parliamentary republic and is recognised as a high income country and a very highly developed country, ranking 41st on the United Nations’ Human Development Index. Its 100-seat parliament is elected by popular vote every four years, the last election having been in October 2018, and the seats allocated by proportional representation. The president is elected by the parliament’s members in a separate election and he or she appoints a prime minister who, together with his council of ministers, forms the executive branch of government, subject to the approval of the majority of the parliament’s members. On 11 June 2013, the government launched live online broadcasts of cabinet meetings to strengthen transparency and public confidence in government decision-making.