Latvia

Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvija or Latvijas Republika, Livonian: Lețmō), is a country in Northern Europe.

Latvia shares land borders with two fellow Baltic states – Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south – and both Russia and Belarus to the east. In the west, Latvia shares a maritime border with Sweden. The capital of Latvia is Riga (Latvian: Rīga). Latvia has been a member state of the European Union since May 1, 2004.

History

The proto-Baltic forefathers of the Latvian people have lived on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea since the third millennium BC (3000 BC)

At the beginning of this era the territory known today as Latvia became famous as a trading crossroads. The famous "route from the Vikings to the Greeks" mentioned in ancient chronicles stretched from Scandinavia through Latvian territory via the River Daugava to ancient Russia and the Byzantine Empire.

Politics

The 100-seat unicameral Latvian parliament, the Saeima, is elected by direct, popular vote every four years. The president is elected by the Saeima in a separate election also every four years. The president appoints a prime minister who, together with his cabinet, forms the executive branch of the government, which has to receive a confidence vote by the Saeima.

The Latvian government has often been criticized for failing to focus on the needs of the people and for alleged corruption.

On September 20, 2003, in a nationwide referendum 66.9% of the participants voted in favour of joining the European Union. Latvia became a full-fledged member of the European Union on May 1, 2004. Latvia has been a NATO member since March 29, 2004.

Latvia has no territorial claims towards the Russian Federation, but demands an acknowledgement by federal government of the annexation of the small part of the Abrene region, since this land was previously part of Latvia and was detached from it by the Soviet Union. At the same time Latvia is considering requesting monetary compensation from the Russian Federation for the Soviet occupation. A special government commission has calculated the amount of 100 billion USD in losses caused to Latvia by its incorporation into the Soviet Union; however, no official demands yet for the Russian Federation to provide compensation have been made by the Latvian government.

Geography

Large parts of Latvia are covered by forests, and the country has over 12,000 small rivers and over 3,000 lakes. Most of the country consists of fertile, low-lying plains with some hills in the east, the highest point being the Gaiziņkalns at 311.6 m (1,020 ft).

An inlet of the Baltic Sea, the shallow Gulf of Riga is situated in the northwest of the country. The capital city Riga is located on the shores of this inlet, where the River Daugava flows into it. Other major cities include Daugavpils further upriver and Liepāja along the Baltic coast.

The Latvian climate is maritime and temperate in nature, with cool summers and wet, moderate winters.

Latvia is historically and culturally divided in four or five distinct regions,

Economy

Since the year 2000 Latvia has had one of the highest (GDP) growth rates in Europe [1]. In 2004, annual GDP growth was 8.5% and inflation was 6.2%. Unemployment was 8.5% - almost unchanged compared to the previous two years. However, it has recently dropped to 7%, partly due to active economical migration mostly to the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom. Privatization is mostly completed, except for some of the large state-owned utilities. Latvia is a member of the World Trade Organization (1999) and the European Union (2004).

The fast growing economy is regarded as a possible economic bubble, because it is driven mostly by growth of domestic consumption, financed by a serious increase of private debt, as well as negative foreign trade balance. The prices of real estate, which increases at amount approx. 5% a month (due to lack of tax legislation that could prevent speculations in real estate market), are perceived to be too high for economy, which mainly produces low valued goods and raw materials. As stated by Ober-Haus, a real estate company operating in Poland and the Baltics, the prices of some segments of real estate market have been stabilized as of summer 2006 and the experts expect serious reduction of real estate prices in near future.

The Latvian government aspires to adopt the euro as the country's currency on January 1, 2008, though this has been thrown into doubt recently, and Latvia might not be able to adopt the Euro until 2009 or later.

Religion

The population is mostly Christian, the largest group being Lutheran (556,000, according to 2003 data; 24 % of total population), with smaller percentages Roman Catholic (430,405, 19 %) and Eastern Orthodox (350,000, 15 %).

Another religion is Dievturi (The Godkeepers), which has historical roots based on pre-Christian era mythology. There are also Jews (9,883 in 2005) in Latvia who are now mainly a remainder from the Soviet Union, as during World War II the Jewish Community (according to the last official census in 1935 there were 93,479 Jews in the country, or approximately 5% of the total population) was killed.

About 35 % of the total population is not affiliated with a specific religion and may be agnostic or atheist.

Demographics

Latvia's population has been multiethnic for centuries, though the demographics shifted dramatically in the 20th century due to the world wars, the repatriation of the Baltic Germans, the Holocaust, and occupation by the Soviet Union.

In 1897 the first official census in this area indicated that Latvians formed 68.3 % of the total population of 1.93 million; Russians accounted for 12%, Jews for 7.4 %, Germans for 6.2 %, and Poles for 3.4 %. The remainder were Lithuanians, Estonians, Roma/Sinti, and various other nationalities.

Latvians and Livonians, the indigenous peoples of Latvia, now form c. 60% of the population; 28.5% of the inhabitants are Russian. Ca. 54% of the ethnic Russians are citizens of Latvia; most of the others are permanent residents with Latvian aliens' passports. Like others who arrived whilst Latvia occupied by the USSR, and their descendants, they must be naturalized to receive Latvian citizenship. Over 100,000 persons have naturalized in recent years, but 418,440 persons (278,213 of them ethnic Russians) remain non-citizens. Children born to residents after the restoration of independence in 1991 do not require naturalization to obtain citizenship.

In some large cities (e.g. Daugavpils and Rēzekne), Russians and other minorities outnumber Latvians. Minorities from other countries such as Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, etc., also live in Latvia. The share of ethnic Latvians had fallen from 77% (1,467,035) in 1935 to 52% (1,387,757) in 1989.[3]. In 2005 there were even fewer Latvians than in 1989, though their share of the population was larger - 1,357,099 (58.8% of the inhabitants).

Culture

One of the most striking features of Latvian culture to visitors is the midsummer festival of Ligo or Jāņi - a celebration of the summer solstice and the feast day of St. John the Baptist. Whilst ostensibly a Christian festival, its pagan roots are unmistakable. Ligo takes place every year on the night between June 23 and 24th, the shortest night of the year.

It is customary for people to go to the countryside for Ligo, traditionally wreaths of leaves and flowers are worn on the head. If a man is named Jānis (John) the wreath will be made of oak leaves. In the early evening of the 23rd, fires are lit around which people will chat, sing and dance until the early hours of the following day. It is considered lucky to jump over these fires. Cheese flavoured with caraway and a drink made from birch sap are traditional fare at Ligo firesides. Throughout the night it is not unusual to see young couples slip quietly off into the woods in search of a non-existent "fern flower"- these liaisons are not considered unseemly nor are they generally remarked upon the next day. Latvians love their crepes.