Latvia

The Republic of Latvia is a parliamentary republic located in the northeast of Europe. Latvia is near the west of the Baltic Sea. Latvia along with Estonia in its north and Lithuania in the south are common known as the Baltic states. The total area of Latvia is 64589 square kilometers.



Latvia is a unitary state consisting of 109 municipalities and 9 municipalities directly under the central government. The people of Latvia belong to the Baltic people and are close to the Lithuanian people in their culture. The Latvian language belongs to the Indo European language family.

People: As of 2013, the total population of Latvia was 2 million 40 thousand, and the urban population occupied 69% of them. In 2007, the average life expectancy of the Latvia was 72.3 years old. The literacy rate of the population over the age of 15 was 99.8%, and the school enrollment rate was 90.2%. Latvia has more women than men, and women account for 54% of the total population. The difference between the number of men and women is the largest in the world.

Climate: Latvia is in a temperate broad-leaved forest climate. Latvia is very humid with 550 - 800 mm annual precipitation. The average temperature in summer during the day is 23 degrees, and 11 degrees during the night, the average winter temperature of coastal area is -2°C - -3°C and non coastal areas is -6°C- -7°C. About half of the year in Latvia are rainy or snowy days.

Language: The sole official language of Latvia is Latvian

Economy: Latvia joins the World Trade Organisation in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. On 1 January 2014, the Euro became the country's currency, superseding the Lats.In 2008, the international financial crisis devastated the Latvian economy and pulled GDP down by 20% for two years. In 2009, Latvia received 7 billion 500 million euros of loan aid from IMF, the European Commission and Sweden. In 2010, the Latvian economy recovered slowly, with the GDP growth of 5.5% in 2011.

Time: EET (UTC+2), EEST (UTC+3) in Summer (DST)

Capital: Euro (€) (EUR)

How to get there: Riga International Airport is the only airport in Latvia that services commercial flights. Alternatively, you can fly to Kaunas in Lithuania and take the Flybus to Riga