Monetary & Banking 

Country name:

conventional long form: Republic of Latvia
conventional short form: Latvia
local long form: Latvijas Republika
local short form: Latvija
former: Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic

 

Capital:

Riga. Population: 717,371 (2008).
 

Location:

Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania

 

Description:

Latvia is situated on the Baltic coast and borders Estonia in the north, Lithuania in the south, the Russian Federation in the east and Belarus in the southeast. The country is divided into five broad regions: Riga in the north, Kurzeme and Zemgale in the west and Vidzeme and Latgale in the east. The country is reasonably flat. A long sandy coastline is backed in places by undulating sand dunes and low sea cliffs. In Latgale, in the east, the landscape is noticeably different with rolling hills and myriad lakes. Wherever you are in Latvia you don't have to travel far to find dense forest. In addition the country boasts about 12,000 rivers. Latvia's longest river, the Daugava runs through Riga. Meanwhile, the Gauja River is at the heart of the country's best-known nature reserve, the Gauja National Park.
 

 

Area:

total: 64,589 sq km
land: 63,589 sq km
water: 1,000 sq km

 

Population:

2.3 million (2008).

 

Languages:

Latvian is the official language. Russian, English and German are widely spoken. Latvian belongs to the Baltic language group, part of the Indo-European language family. The language has three main dialects, with the Latgallian dialect, spoken in the eastern part of Latvia, especially distinctive.

 

Climate:

To the west the Latvian coast benefits from a maritime climate, while the hinterland in the east has a continental climate. Between June and September, days are pleasantly warm and often sunny. Winters are long and harsh, with temperatures in Riga rarely rising above freezing between December and March, even in April they can be as low as 5??C. Rainfall is distributed throughout the year with the heaviest rainfall in August. Snowfall is common in the winter months
 

 

Economy - overview:

Latvia's transitional economy recovered from the 1998 Russian financial crisis, largely due to the government's strict budget and by moving exports toward EU countries, easing Latvia's trade dependency on Russia. The majority of companies, banks, and property have been privatised, although the state is still involved in a few large enterprises.
Latvia officially joined the World Trade Organisation in 1999. EU membership, a top foreign policy goal, came in May 2004.
In 2008 unemployment stood at 5.5%, compared to 6.8% in 2006. Inflation that ran as high as 10.1% in 2007 meant that Latvia was unable to join the Euro in January 2008.

Economy:

Latvia's transitional economy recovered from the 1998 Russian financial crisis, largely due to the government's strict budget and by moving exports toward EU countries, easing Latvia's trade dependency on Russia. The majority of companies, banks, and property have been privatised, although the state is still involved in a few large enterprises.
Latvia officially joined the World Trade Organisation in 1999. EU membership, a top foreign policy goal, came in May 2004.
In 2008 unemployment stood at 5.5%, compared to 6.8% in 2006. Inflation that ran as high as 10.1% in 2007 meant that Latvia was unable to join the Euro in January 2008.
 

 

Industries:

buses, vans, street and railroad cars, synthetic fibers, agricultural machinery, fertilizers, washing machines, radios, electronics, pharmaceuticals, processed foods, textiles; note - dependent on imports for energy and raw materials