About Latvia

Intro

Latvia (historically Lattonia, Lettonia, or Lettland), officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvija or Latvijas Republika), is a country in Northern Europe. Latvia shares land borders with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south and both Russia and Belarus to the east. It is separated from Sweden in the west by the Baltic Sea. The capital of Latvia is Riga (Latvian: Riga). Latvia has been a member state of the European Union since May 1, 2004.

History

The territory of Latvia has been populated since 9000 BC with the proto-Baltic ancestors of the Latvian people settling on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea around the third millennium BC (3000 BC).

Across Europe, Latvia's coast was known for its amber. The ancient Balts traded Latvian amber with Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.

By 900 AD, four Baltic tribal cultures had developed: Couronians, Latgallians, Selonians, Semigallians (in Latvian: kuri, latgali, seli and zemgali).

A knight of the The Livonian Brothers of the Sword.At the end of the 1100s, Latvia was often visited by traders from western Europe who set out on trading journeys along Latvia's longest river, the Daugava, to Russia.

In 1180, Christian missionaries arrived. As the Balts did not readily convert and opposed the ritual of christening, German Crusaders were sent into Latvia to convert the pagan population. By 1211, Christianity had effective control with the foundation stone for the Dome Cathedral in Riga laid.

In the 1200s, a confederation of feudal nations called Livonia developed under German rule. Livonia included today's Latvia and Southern Estonia. In 1282, Riga and later the cities of Cesis, Limbai, Koknese and Valmiera were included in the Hanseatic League. From this time, Riga became an important point in west-east trading. Riga, being the centre of the eastern Baltic region, formed close cultural contacts with Western Europe.

The 1500s were a time of great changes for the inhabitants of Latvia, notable for the reformation and the collapse of the Livonian nation. After the Livonian War (1558-1583) today's Latvian territory came under Polish-Lithuanian rule. The Lutheran faith was accepted in Kurzeme, Zemgale and Vidzeme, but the Roman Catholic faith maintained its dominance in Latgale and continues to do so today.

The seventeenth and early eighteenth cenuries saw a struggle between Poland, Sweden and Russia for supremacy in the eastern Baltic. Most of Polish Livonia, including Vidzeme, came under Swedish rule with the Truce of Altmark in 1629. Under the Swedish rule serfdom was eased and a network of schools was established for the peasantry.

The Treaty of Nystad ending the Great Northern War in 1721 gave Vidzeme to Russia (it became part of the Riga Governorate). The Latgale region remained part of Poland as Inflanty until 1772, when it was joined to Russia. The Duchy of Courland became a Russian province (the Courland Governorate) in 1795, bringing all of what is now Latvia into Imperial Russia.

The promises Peter the Great made to the Baltic German nobility at the fall of Riga in 1710, confirmed by the Treaty of Nystad and known as "the Capitulations," largely reversed the Swedish reforms. The emancipation of the serfs took place in Courland in 1817 and in Vidzeme in 1819. In practice, the emancipation was actually advantageous to the nobility because it dispossessed the peasants of their land without compensation. The social structure changed dramatically, with a class of independent farmers establishing itself after reforms allowed the peasants to repurchase their land, landless peasants numbering 591 000 in 1897, a growing urban proletariat and an increasingly influential Latvian bourgeoisie. The Young Latvians (Latvian: Jaunlatviei) movement laid the groundwork for nationalism from the middle of the century, many of its leaders looking to the Slavophiles for support against the prevailing German-dominated social order. Russification began in Latgale after the January Uprising in 1863 and spread to the rest of what is now Latvia by the 1880s. The Young Latvians were largely eclipsed by the New Current, a broad leftist social and political movement, in the 1890s. Popular discontent exploded in the 1905 Revolution, which took on a nationalist character in the Baltic provinces.

World War I devastated the country. Demands for self-determination were at first confined to autonomy, but full independence was proclaimed in Riga on November 18, 1918, by the People's Council of Latvia, Karlis Ulmanis becoming the head of the provisional government. The War of Independence that followed was a very chaotic period in Latvia's history. By the spring of 1919 there were actually three governments- Ulmanis' government; the Iskolat led by Peteris Stucka, which proclaimed an independent Soviet Latvia and whose forces, supported by the Red Army, occupied almost all of the country; and the Baltic German government of "Baltic Duchy" headed by Andrievs Niedra. Estonian and Latvian forces defeated the Germans at the Battle of Cesis in June 1919, and a massive attack by a German and Russian force under Pavel Bermondt-Avalov was repelled in November. Eastern Latvia was cleared of Red Army forces by Polish, Latvian, and German troops in early 1920.

A freely elected Constituent Assembly was convened on May 1, 1920 and adopted a liberal constitution, the Satversme, in February 1922. This was partly suspended by Ulmanis after his coup in 1934, but reaffirmed in 1990. Since then it has been amended and is the constitution still in use in Latvia today. With most of Latvia's industrial base evacuated to the interior of Russia in 1915, radical land reform was the central political question for the young state. In 1897, 61.2% of the rural population had been landless; by 1930 that percentage had been reduced to 23.2%. The extent of cultivated land surpassed the pre-war level already in 1923. Innovation and rising productivity led to rapid growth of economy, but it soon suffered the effects of the Great Depression. Though Latvia showed signs of economic recovery and the electorate had steadily moved toward the center during the parliamentary period, Ulmanis staged a bloodless coup on May 15, 1934, establishing a nationalist dictatorship that lasted until 1940. Most of the Baltic Germans left Latvia by agreement between Ulmanis' government and Nazi Germany after the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. On October 5, 1939, Latvia was forced to accept a "mutual assistance" pact with the Soviet Union, granting the Soviets the right to station 25,000 troops on Latvian territory. On June 16, 1940, Vyacheslav Molotov presented the Latvian representative in Moscow with an ultimatum accusing Latvia of violations of that pact, and on June 17 great numbers of Soviet forces occupied the country. Fraudulent elections for a "People's Saeima" were held, and a puppet government headed by Augusts Kirhenteins led Latvia into the USSR. The annexation was formalized on August 5, 1940.

The Soviets dealt with their opponents - prior to the German invasion, in less than a year, at least 27,586 persons were arrested; most were deported, and ca. 945 persons were shot. While under German occupation, Latvia was administered as part of Reichskommissariat Ostland. Latvian paramilitary and Auxiliary Police units established by occupation authority actively participated in the Holocaust. More than 200,000 Latvian citizens died during World War II, including approximately 70,000 Latvian Jews murdered during the Nazi occupation. Latvian soldiers fought on both sides of the conflict, including in the Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS, most of them conscripted by the occupying Nazi and Soviet authorities. Refusal to join the occupying army resulted in an imprisonment, threats to relatives or even death.

The Soviets reoccupied the country in 1944-1945, and further mass deportations followed as the country was forcibly collectivized and Sovietized; 42,975 persons were deported in 1949. Influx of laborers, administrators, military personnel and their dependents from Russia and other Soviet republics started and by 1959 ethnic Latvian population had fallen to 62%. During the Khrushchev Thaw, attempts by national communists led by Eduards Berklavs to gain a degree of autonomy for the republic and protect the rapidly deteriorating position of the Latvian language were suppressed. In 1989 the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution on the "Occupation of the Baltic States," in which it declared that the occupation was "not in accordance with law," and not the "will of the Soviet people". A national movement coalescing in the Popular Front of Latvia took advantage of glasnost under Mikhail Gorbachev, opposed by the Interfront, and on May 4, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR adopted the Declaration of the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia, subject to a transition period that came to an end with Latvian independence on August 21, 1991, after the failure of the August Putsch. The Saeima, Latvia's parliament, was again elected in 1993, and Russia completed its military withdrawal in 1994.

The major goals of Latvia in the 1990s, to join NATO and European Union, were achieved in 2004. Language and citizenship laws have been opposed by many Russophones (Latvian is the official language and citizenship was not automatically extended to some former Soviet citizens - mostly ethnically Russian - who settled during the occupation, or to their descendants). The government denationalized private property confiscated by the Soviet rule, returning it or compensating the owners for it, and privatized most state-owned industries, reintroducing the prewar currency. After a difficult transition to a liberal economy and its re-orientation toward Western Europe, Latvia still has one of the lowest standards of living in the EU, though its economy has one of the highest growth rates.

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. This system also existed before Second World War.

In a nationwide referendum on September 20, 2003, 66.9% of those taking part 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. Although membership in the EU and NATO were the major goals of Latvia through the 1990s, Latvian politicians today are often criticized for being unable to gain benefits out of Latvia's membership.

Latvia has had strained relations with Russian Federation due to Russian discontent with Latvian language and citizenship policies, as well as Latvia's requests for Russia to recognize it as continuous with the first Latvian Republic and acknowledge consequences of Soviet occupation. As of 2007, however Latvia's relationship with Russia seems to be improving.

Geography

Located on eastern shore of the Baltic Sea Latvia lies in East European Plain. It consists of fertile, low-lying plains, largely covered by forest, mostly pines, the highest point being the Gaizinkalns at 311.6 m (1,020 ft). Common species of wildlife in Latvia include deer, wild boar, fox, beaver and wolves[3] The Latvian climate is humid, continental and temperate in nature, with temperatures varying on average from -5 to +15 C, providing warm-water ports and water to more than 3,000 lakes and over 12,000 rivers, only seventeen of which are longer than 100 kilometers (sixty miles). The major rivers include the Daugava, the Lielupe, the Gauja, and the Salaca. An inlet of the Baltic Sea, the shallow Gulf of Riga is situated in the northwest of the country. Latvia's coastline extends for 531 kilometers. Its neighbors include Estonia on the north (267 kilometers of common border), Lithuania on the south (453 kilometers), Belarus on the southeast (141 kilometers), and Russia on the east (217 kilometers). Prior to World War II, Latvia bordered eastern Poland, but as a result of boundary changes by the Soviet Union, this territory was attached to Belorussia, Latvia also lost part of the former Abrene District i.e. 6% of its territory to Russia for the same reason.

Economy

Since the year 2000 Latvia has had one of the highest (GDP) growth rates in Europe. In 2006, annual GDP growth was 11.9% 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 economic migration, mostly to the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom. Privatization has been 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 the 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 some experts expect serious reduction of real estate prices in the near future. The government introduced special program to reduce inflation and remain high growth rates recently. The main points of the plan are:

- to create a non-deficit country budget for the current 2007 year and a buget with a surplus for 2008 and beyond
- to tax any transaction concerning real estate that has been in a person's possession less than three years
- to increase control of credit
- to increase energy effectiveness in homes and business to guard against possible rises in energy costs
- to increase work productivity and stimulate competition in business

Latvia plans to introduce the Euro as the country's currency but, due to the inflation being above EMU's guidelines, this is unlikely to happen before 2010.

Demographics

Latvia's population has been multiethnic for centuries, though the demographics shifted dramatically in the twentieth century due to the world wars, the emigration and removal of Baltic Germans, the Holocaust, and occupation by the Soviet Union. Latvians and Livonians, the indigenous peoples of Latvia, now form c. 60% of the population; 28.5% of the inhabitants are Russian.[6]. Approximately 54% of the ethnic Russians living in Latvia are citizens of Latvia. People who arrived whilst Latvia was occupied by the USSR, and their descendants born before 1991, must be naturalized to receive Latvian citizenship. Over 100,000 persons have been naturalized in recent years.

In some large cities (e.g. Daugavpils and Rezekne), 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. 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).

The official language of Latvia is Latvian, which belongs to the Baltic language group of the Indo-European language family. Another notable language of Latvia is the nearly extinct Livonian language of Baltic-Finnic subbranch of Uralic language family, which enjoys protection by law, Latgalian language - a dialect of Latvian - is also protected by Latvian law as historical variation of Latvian language. Russian is by far the most widespread minority language, also spoken, or at least understood, by large sections of the non-Russian population.

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 %).

There are also Jews (9,883 in 2005) in Latvia who are now mainly a remainder from the past, 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 mostly killed. There are 182 known Muslims living in Latvia, total number of Muslims in Latvia, however, is estimated to be much larger - from 500 to 12 000.

There are about 600 Latvian neopagans Dievturi (The Godskeepers) whose religion is based on Latvian mythology. About 35 % of the total population is not affiliated with a specific religion and may be agnostic or atheist.