Portal:Latvia

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Latvia (/ˈlætviə/ ^ⓘ LAT-vee-ə, sometimes /ˈlɑːtviə/ LAHT-vee-ə; Latvian: Latvija [ˈlatvija] ^ⓘ), 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 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians, who are the titular nation and comprise 63.0% 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 German 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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Operation Priboi (Russian: Операция «Прибой» – Operation "Tidal Wave") was the code name for the biggest Stalin-era Soviet mass deportation from the Baltic states on 25–28 March 1949. Also known as the March deportation (Estonian: Märtsiküüditamine; Latvian: Marta deportācijas; Russian: Мартовская депортация). More than 90,000 Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, labeled as "enemies of the state", were deported to forced settlements in inhospitable Siberian areas of the Soviet Union. Over 70% of the deportees were either women or children under the age of 16.

Portrayed as a "dekulakization" campaign, the operation was intended to facilitate collectivisation and to eliminate the support base for the armed resistance of the Forest Brothers against the illegal Soviet occupation. The deportation fulfilled its purposes: by the end of 1949, 93% of farms in Latvia and 80% of the farms in Estonia were collectivized. In Lithuania, progress was slower and the Soviets organized another large deportation known as Operation Osen in late 1951. The deportations were for "eternity" with no way to return. During the de-Stalinization and Khrushchev Thaw, deportees were gradually released and some of them managed to return, though many of their descendants still live in Siberian towns and villages to this day. (Full article...)

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Riga Cathedral in mist

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Latvia Dates

1 December 1937 - Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga the sixth president of Latvia is born
22 December 1881 - Alberts Kviesis the third president of Latvia is born

Holidays and observances in Latvia

3 December - Commemoration Day of Victims of Genocide Against the Latvian People by the Totalitarian Communist Regime
24 - 26 December - Christmas
31 December - New Year’s Eve

General images

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

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

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