50 Fun Facts About Latvia

What is the capital and largest city of Latvia?

It holds about a third of the national population and is the second-largest city in the Baltics.

Latvia is one of the three Baltic states, together with Lithuania and which country to its north?

It also borders Russia and Belarus and shares a maritime boundary with Sweden.

Latvia's capital was founded in which year?

Bishop Albert's city joined the Hanseatic League in 1282, and its historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Latvia's capital lies at the mouth of which river?

The river is 1,005 km long in total, with 352 km on Latvian soil; the Gauja is the longest river entirely within the country.

Which is the longest river lying entirely within Latvia, at 452 km?

It gives its name to the country's oldest national park, created in 1973.

What is Latvia's highest point, at just 312 m?

A tower was built on it to out-top Estonia's 318-m Suur Munamägi, and it has three ski slopes.

Roughly what percentage of Latvia's territory is covered by forest?

That is the fifth-highest share in the EU, after Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Slovenia; pine, birch and spruce dominate.

What are Latvia's four historical and cultural regions, recognised in its constitution?

Selonia, part of Zemgale, is sometimes counted as a fifth, and the country also has five planning regions.

The name Latvija derives from which ancient Baltic tribe?

The Curonians, Selonians and Semigallians, plus the Finnic Livonians, formed the rest of the ethnic core.

The ancient Balts traded which local product with Rome and Byzantium?

Vikings and traders from Egypt and Greece also sought the amber found along the Baltic coast.

Medieval Latvia and southern Estonia formed a crusader state called Terra Mariana, or what?

The name means "Land of Mary"; the Livonian War of 1558–1583 later delivered it to Poland–Lithuania.

The Duchy of Courland founded 17th-century colonies in the Gambia and on which Caribbean island?

Jacob Fort on the Gambia River came in 1651 and the Tobago colony a year later.

Under which country's rule in the 17th century did Riga become the largest city in that empire?

Northern Livonia went to Sweden after the Polish–Swedish War, and western Latvia adopted Lutheranism.

In which year did Russia annex Courland, bringing all of modern Latvia into the empire?

It came in the Third Partition of Poland; Vidzeme had gone to Russia in 1721 and Latgale in 1772.

On what date did Latvia proclaim its independence in 1918?

The People's Council entrusted Kārlis Ulmanis with forming the first government; the day is still the national holiday.

Who staged a bloodless coup in 1934 and ruled Latvia as dictator until 1940?

He had been the country's first prime minister and served four times in the office before taking the presidency for himself.

The secret protocol of which 1939 agreement assigned Latvia to the Soviet sphere of influence?

The Soviets forced a mutual assistance pact that October and incorporated Latvia on 5 August 1940.

How many Latvians were deported or killed by the Soviets in less than a year before Operation Barbarossa?

Most were sent to Siberia, where an estimated 40 percent died.

Some 30,000 Jews from the Riga ghetto were murdered in late 1941 in which forest?

The killings made room for Jews being deported to the ghetto from Germany and the West.

By 1959, after 400,000 Russian settlers arrived, what share of the population was ethnic Latvian?

Today Latvians are about 65.5% and Russians almost a quarter of the population.

The peaceful movement that led to Baltic independence from 1987 is known as what?

The first big demonstrations were held in 1987 at the Freedom Monument in Riga.

How long was the 1989 human chain of about two million people across the three Baltic states?

The Baltic Way marked the 50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact.

On what date in 1991 did Latvia restore full independence?

It followed the failed Soviet coup in Moscow; the transitional period had begun with a declaration on 4 May 1990.

Latvia joined both NATO and the European Union in which year?

President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, the first female head of state in the former Soviet bloc, championed both.

Latvia adopted the euro on 1 January of which year, replacing the lats?

Late-2013 polls showed only 45% support for the switch, but it rose to about 53% within weeks.

In May 2023 Latvia's parliament elected Edgars Rinkēvičs, making him the EU's first what?

The president is chosen by the Saeima every four years rather than by popular vote.

Latvia's red-white-red flag is first mentioned in a chronicle describing a battle of about which year?

Latgalian tribes from Cēsis carried "a red flag with a white stripe", making it one of the oldest flags in the world.

How does the white stripe on Latvia's flag compare in width with each red stripe?

The government re-adopted the traditional flag on 27 February 1990, before independence was regained.

The female figure atop Riga's Freedom Monument is affectionately known by what name?

The 42-m monument, designed by Kārlis Zāle under the motto "Shine like a star!", was unveiled in 1935.

Roughly what fraction of the buildings in central Riga are Art Nouveau?

Most date from 1904 to 1914, and architects included Mikhail Eisenstein, father of the film director.

The Latvian Song and Dance Festival has been held since which year?

It normally runs every five years, the dance component was added in 1948, and UNESCO listed it in 2008.

Jāņi, Latvia's biggest folk festival, celebrates what?

Līgo Day and Jāņi Day fall on 23 and 24 June, when people leave the cities to sing, eat and drink in the countryside.

Riga Black Balsam, Latvia's national drink, was first made in 1752 by what kind of tradesman?

Abraham Kunze's recipe now runs to 24 ingredients, and only the Head Liquor Master and two apprentices know it exactly.

Rupjmaize, the staple of the Latvian diet, is a dark bread made from which grain?

It is baked in a wood-fired hearth with malt and caraway seeds and even goes into a layered dessert.

Roughly what share of Latvia's population speaks Russian as a native language?

Ethnic Russians make up almost a quarter of the population, and citizenship rules after 1991 left many as non-citizens.

Which branch of Christianity was followed by about 60% of Latvians before the Soviet occupation?

It reflects the country's Nordic and Hanseatic links; Latgale in the east is largely Catholic.

Which sport is usually considered the most popular in Latvia?

Stars have included Artūrs Irbe and Sandis Ozoliņš, and Dinamo Riga is the strongest club.

Latvian NBA star Kristaps Porziņģis is nicknamed what?

The 7 ft 2 in centre from Liepāja earned it for his three-point shooting and playmaking.

Māris Štrombergs, independent Latvia's most successful Olympian, won two golds in which sport?

His titles came in 2008 and 2012.

Which ballet legend, born in Riga in 1948, defected to Canada in 1974?

He was the preeminent male classical dancer of the 1970s and 1980s and later starred with the American Ballet Theatre.

Rundāle Palace, the baroque residence of the Dukes of Courland, was designed by which architect?

Built in two phases from 1736 for Duke Ernst Johann von Biron, it is 12 km west of Bauska.

Half the residents of Riga were killed in 1710–1711 by what?

The Great Northern War ended in 1721 with the Treaty of Nystad handing Vidzeme to Russia.

Latvia's worst post-independence disaster, in late 2013, was the collapse of what in Riga?

Fifty-four people died, and Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis resigned.

Latvia is divided into 36 municipalities and how many state cities?

They are Daugavpils, Jelgava, Jūrmala, Liepāja, Rēzekne, Riga and Ventspils.

Which busy Latvian port was linked by pipeline to oil fields via Polotsk in Belarus?

The four biggest ports are Riga, Ventspils, Liepāja and Skulte.

What is the name of Latvia's unicameral parliament?

It has 100 members elected by proportional representation with a 5% threshold, and it elects the president.

Which is Latvia's second-largest city?

Ethnic Latvians are a minority there; Liepāja is the country's third-largest city.

Who served as President of Latvia from 1999 to 2007, the first female head of state in the former Soviet bloc?

She was active in Latvia's accession to NATO and the EU in 2004.

Which was Latvia's first national park, established in 1973?

Ķemeri (1997), Slītere (1999) and Rāzna (2007) followed, one in each historical region.

Which large animals have been reintroduced at Latvia's Pape Nature Reserve?

Recreated aurochs also roam there, giving an almost complete Holocene megafauna with moose, deer and wolf.