The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was de facto one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990.
The Bank of Latvia is the Latvian member of the Eurosystem and has been the monetary authority for Latvia from 1922 to 2013, issuing the Latvian lats albeit with a long suspension between 1940 and 1993. Since 2014, it has also been Latvia's national competent authority within European Banking Supervision. The Bank of Latvia's administration is located in Riga.
The Constitution of Latvia, ratified on February 15, 1922, contains a provision regarding one of the reserve powers of the President of Latvia to initiate the dissolution of the parliament. According to Article 48-50 of the Constitution,
Latvia does not recognize same-sex marriage. On 9 November 2023, the Saeima passed legislation establishing same-sex civil unions, which was subsequently signed into law by President Edgars Rinkēvičs in January 2024. The law is scheduled to take effect on 1 July 2024.
The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia is the Latvian government ministry in charge of the formation and implementation of national security and defence policy, and for the overall management and control of related subordinate agencies. The ministry is headed by the politically appointed Minister of Defence.
Kristine Jarinovska is legal scientist, doctor of juridical science, legal scholar, sworn advocate, attorney at law, historian and was the Secretary of State of Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia, leading researcher of University of Latvia.
Prostitution in Latvia is legal and regulated. The country is a destination for sex tourism.
The Declaration "On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia" was adopted on 4 May 1990 by the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR in which Latvia declared independence from the Soviet Union. The Declaration stated that, although Latvia had de facto lost its independence in 1940, when it was annexed by the Soviet Union, the country had de jure remained a sovereign country as the annexation had been unconstitutional and against the will of the Latvian people.
The president of Latvia is head of state and commander-in-chief of the National Armed Forces of the Republic of Latvia.
Articles 4 and 114 of the Constitution of Latvia form the foundation for language policy in Latvia, declaring Latvian to be the official state language and affirming the rights of ethnic minorities to preserve and develop their languages. Livonian language is recognized as "the language of the indigenous (autochthon) population" in the Official Language Law, but Latgalian written language is protected as "a historic variant of Latvian." All other languages are considered foreign by the Law on State Language. Latvia provides national minority education programmes in Russian, Polish, Hebrew, Ukrainian, Estonian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian.
Latvian State Language Centre is a direct administration institution subordinated to the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Latvia. The purpose of the State Language Centre is to implement the national policy on the use of the official language. The Centre supervises and controls the conformity with laws and regulations on the use of official language, provides the State administration institutions and the public with official translations of laws and regulations and other documents issued by the State or international organisations while concurrently ensuring use of consistent terminology. The State Language Centre protects rights and interests of the official language users, promotes the regularisation of the cultural environment of language and promotes comprehensive functioning of Latvian language.
There are five planning regions of Latvia ; Kurzeme, Latgale, Riga, Vidzeme and Zemgale. The boundaries of the regions aligns to the boundaries of the municipalities of Latvia following the municipality reform of 1 July 2009. The planning regions of Latvia are not administrative territorial divisions, since they are not mentioned in the law that prescribes the administrative territorial divisions of Latvia. They were replaced with new planning regions in 2021.
The current administrative division of Latvia came into force on 1 July 2021.
Latvian Sign Language is a sign language commonly used by deaf people in Latvia. Linguists use LSL as an acronym for Latvian Sign Language.
Gustavs Ērenpreis was a Latvian manufacturer of bicycles best known as the recipient of the Order of the Three Stars and Cross of Recognition, and as a founder and director of Gustavs Ērenpreis Bicycle Factory, which in the 1930s was the largest manufacturer of bicycles in the Baltic States. Ērenpreis's bicycles were ridden by a generation of elite bicycle racers in Latvia.
The State Police of Latvia is the national police service and one of the national law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Latvia. It is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. The agency is divided into five Regional Administrations. Since the 13th of October 2020, the Chief of the State Police is Armands Ruks.
South Kurzeme Municipality is one of the 35 municipalities established in Latvia in 2021. It surrounds Liepāja, Latvia's third largest city. Its first elected municipal council will take office on 1 July 2021. Its seat is at Grobiņa.
Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš was a Latvian politician and diplomat who served as a member of the Saeima (2010–2021), head of the Latvian Institute (1999–2010), and as Ambassador to the United States (1993–1999). Born in a displaced person's camp in Germany to parents escaping the Soviet occupation of Latvia, he spent his early career working for various Latvian-American organizations before moving to Latvia and taking part in the restoration of Latvian independence. In 1998, he was awarded the Order of the Three Stars.
Latvianization is a cultural assimilation of something non-Latvian into Latvian. This process was an important component during the several waves of Latvian national awakening.
