top of pageBackground: Along with most of the other small nations of Europe, Latvia shares a history of invasion by a succession of expansionist nations, e.g., Sweden, Poland, Germany, and Russia. After a brief period of independence between the two World Wars, Latvia was annexed by the USSR in 1940 under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The USSR recaptured Latvia from its German occupiers in 1944. Latvia reestablished its independence in August 1991, a few months prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Land boundaries: 1,078 km; Belarus 141 km, Estonia 267 km, Lithuania 453 km, Russia 217 km
Climate: maritime; wet, moderate winters
Land use: 27% arable land; NA% permanent crops; 13% meadows and pastures; 39% forest and woodland; 21% other; includes NA% irrigated
top of pagePopulation: 2,728,937 (July 1992), growth rate 0.6% (1992)
Ethnic groups:
Latvian 51.8%, Russian 33.8%, Byelorussian 4.5%,
Ukrainian 3.4%, Polish 2.3%, other 4.2%
Languages: Latvian NA% (official), Lithuanian NA%, Russian NA%, other NA%
Religions: Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox
EnvironmentCurrent issues: heightened levels of air and water pollution because of a lack of waste conversion equipment; Gulf of Riga heavily polluted
Literacy: NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write
top of pageIndependence:
18 November 1918; annexed by the USSR 21 July 1940, the
Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic declared independence 6 September 1991 from USSR
Constitution: April 1978, currently rewriting constitution, but readopted the 1922 Constitution
Suffrage: universal at age 18
President:last held October 1988 (next to be held NA; note - elected by
Parliament; new elections have not been scheduled; results - percent of vote by party NA
Supreme Council:last held 18 March 1990 (next to be held NA); results - undetermined; seats - (234 total) Latvian Communist Party 59, Latvian
Democratic Workers Party 31, Social Democratic Party of Latvia 4, Green
Party of Latvia 7, Latvian Farmers Union 7, 126 supported by the Latvia
Popular Front
Congress of Latvia: last held April 1990 (next to be held NA); note - the Congress of Latvia is a quasi-governmental structure; results - percent of vote by party NA%; seats - (231 total) number of seats by party NA
International organization participation: CSCE, IAEA, UN
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Dr. Anatol DINBERGS; Chancery at 4,325 17th St. NW, Washington, DC 20,011; telephone (202) 726-8,213 and 8,214
US: Ambassador Ints SILINS; (mailing address is APO AE 9,862); telephone 358 (49) 306-067 (cellular), (7) (01-32) 325-968/185; FAX 358 (49) 308-326 (cellular), (7) (01-32) 220-502
Flag description: two horizontal bands of maroon (top), white (middle, narrower than other two bands) and maroon (bottom)
top of pageAgriculture products: employs 23% of labor force; principally dairy farming and livestock feeding; products - meat, milk, eggs, grain, sugar beets, potatoes, and vegetables; fishing and fish packing
Industries: employs 33.2% of labor force; highly diversified; dependent on imports for energy, raw materials, and intermediate products; produces buses, vans, street and railroad cars, synthetic fibers, agricultural machinery, fertilizers, washing machines, radios, electronics, pharmaceuticals, processed foods, textiles
Budget: revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA (1991)
Exports: $239 million (f.o.b., 1990)
Commodoties: food 14%, railroad cars 13%, chemicals 12%
Partners:Russia 50%, Ukraine 15%, other former Soviet republics 30%,
West 5%
top of pagetop of pagetop of pagetop of pageAirports:
NA total, NA usable; NA with permanent-surface runways; NA
with runways over 3,659 m; NA
with runways 2,440-3,659 m; NA
with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Pipelines: crude oil NA km, refined products NA km, natural gas NA km
Merchant marine:
96 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 917,979
GRT/1,194,666 DWT; includes 14 cargo, 29 refrigerated cargo, 2 container, 9 roll-on/roll-off, 42 petroleum tanker
Civil air: NA major transport aircraft
Latvia - Transnational issues 1992
top of pageIllicit drugs:
transshipment point for illicit drugs from Central and
Southwest Asia to Western Europe
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