Riga is the capital of Latvia and is home to 632,614 inhabitants (2019), which is a third of Latvia's population. Being significantly larger than other cities of Latvia, Riga is the country's primate city. It is also the largest city in the three Baltic states and is home to one tenth of the three Baltic states' combined population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Baltic Sea. Riga's territory covers 307.17 km2 (118.60 sq mi) and lies 1–10 m above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain.
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is a Latvian politician who served as the sixth President of Latvia and the first female President of Latvia. She was elected President of Latvia in 1999 and re-elected for the second term in 2003.
The Latvian Russian Union (LKS) is an ethnic minority, left-wing political party in Latvia, supported mainly by ethnic Russians and other Russian-speaking minorities. The co-chairpersons of the Latvian Russian Union are Miroslav Mitrofanov, Yuriy Petropavlovsky and Tatjana Ždanoka.
Latvia replaced its previous currency, the lats, with the euro on 1 January 2014, after a European Union (EU) assessment in June 2013 asserted that the country had met all convergence criteria necessary for euro adoption. The adoption process began 1 May 2004, when Latvia joined the European Union, entering the EU's Economic and Monetary Union. At the start of 2005, the lats was pegged to the euro at Ls 0.702804 = €1, and Latvia joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, four months later on 2 May 2005.
The Latvian National Theatre is one of the leading professional theatres in Latvia. The building is in the Eclectic style and is an architectural and artistic monument. The country of Latvia was proclaimed in this building in the year 1918. On 23 February, the theatre will celebrate its 100th anniversary. The director of National Theatre of Latvia since 2006 has been Ojārs Rubenis.
The Latvian Wikipedia is the Latvian-language edition of the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia. It was created on 6 June 2003. With about 98,000 articles, it is currently the 65th-largest Wikipedia as measured by the number of articles and the second-largest Wikipedia in a Baltic language.
FK Daugava Rīga was a Latvian football club, based at the Daugava Stadium in Riga. They play in the Latvian Higher League. The current manager of the team is Armands Zeiberliņš.
Capital punishment in Latvia was abolished for ordinary crimes in 1999 and for crimes committed during wartime in 2012. Latvia is party to several international instruments which ban the capital punishment.
Valdis Pultraks (1922-1972) was a Latvian football goalkeeper, one of the most known Latvian footballers of the early post-World War II era.
Muslim Girl Magazine was a bi-monthly fashion, beauty, and lifestyle publication marketed for young Muslim women. The magazine was first published in January 2007. It was published by Toronto's ExecuGo Media, and offered style advice, articles on movies and music, and general advice, but with a grounding in normative Islamic morality and with features on Muslim countries and cultures. The headquarters was in Los Angeles.
Vestard Shimkus,, is a Latvian pianist, composer and improviser.
Latvian Naval Forces is the naval warfare branch of the National Armed Forces. It is tasked with conducting military, search and rescue operations, mine and explosive sweeping on the Baltic Sea, as well as ecological monitoring activities. The Naval Forces have participated in international NATO/Partnership for Peace operations and various exercises with great success. The main development priorities of the Naval Forces are to expand their activities within the Baltic States’ Ship Squadron BALTRON and to develop a Sea Surveillance System. They pay a great deal of attention to professionally specialized training and English-language teaching.
Bikernieki Memorial is a war memorial to The Holocaust victims of World War II in Bikernieki forest, near Riga, Latvia. Bikernieki forest is the biggest mass murder site during The Holocaust in Latvia with two memorial territories spanning over 80,000 square metres (860,000 sq ft) with 55 marked burial sites with around 20,000 victims still buried in total.
The European Parliament election 2014 in Latvia was the election of the delegation from Latvia to the European Parliament in 2014.
Dawn is a 2015 black-and-white Latvian drama film directed by Laila Pakalniņa about Pavlik Morozov, who denounced his father. It was selected as the Latvian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards but it was not nominated. It's a coproduction with Poland and Estonia.
The New Conservative Party, abbreviated to JKP is a conservative political party in Latvia. The party was founded in 17 May 2014 by 223 citizens of Latvia.
