Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi), with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian, one of the only two surviving Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population.
Latvian Way was a conservative-liberal political party in Latvia. It merged with Latvia's First Party to form the Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way (LPP/LC) in 2007.
The prime minister of Latvia is the most powerful member of the Government of Latvia, who presides over the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers. The officeholder is nominated by the president of Latvia, but must be able to obtain the support of a parliamentary majority in the Saeima.
Boris Karlovich Pugo was a Soviet communist politician of Latvian origin.
The Latvian Football Federation ) is the governing body of football in Latvia with its headquarters located in the capital Rimi Sports Centre in Riga. Its activities include the organizing of the Latvian football championship, the Latvian First League, the Latvian Second League, as well as lower league championships and the Latvian Football Cup. The federation also manages the Latvia national football team and Latvia women's national football team.
Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis is a Latvian politician. He is a member of the centre-right Unity party.
Ivars Godmanis is a Latvian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Latvia from 1990 to 1993 and again from 2007 to 2009. He was the first Prime Minister of Latvia after the country restored its independence from the Soviet Union.
The Barricades were a series of confrontations between the Republic of Latvia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in January 1991 which took place mainly in Riga. The events are named for the popular effort of building and protecting barricades from 13 January until about 27 January. Latvia, which had declared restoration of independence from the Soviet Union a year earlier, anticipated that the Soviet Union might attempt to regain control over the country by force.
Prostitution in Latvia is legal and regulated. The country is a destination for sex tourism.
Mareks Segliņš is a Latvian politician of People's Party and a lawyer. He is the former Minister of Justice of Latvia, as well as former Minister of the Interior of Latvia.
Marģers Skujenieks held the office of Prime Minister of Latvia twice from 19 December 1926 – 23 January 1928 and 6 December 1931 – 23 March 1933.
The State Border Guard is the border guard of Latvia.
Parliamentary elections were held in Latvia on 6 October 2018. Following the elections, a coalition government was formed by Who owns the state?, the New Conservative Party, Development/For!, the National Alliance and New Unity. Despite being from the smallest elected party, Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš of New Unity was chosen as prime minister.
Linda Mūrniece is a Latvian politician and journalist. She is a member of Unity, and has served as both the Minister for the Interior as well as the Minister for Defence of Latvia.
The Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, previously Latvia University of Agriculture, is a university in Jelgava, Latvia, specializing in agricultural science, forestry, food technology and related areas.
Rihards Kozlovskis is a Latvian politician and lawyer. He has served as the Minister of the Interior of Latvia since 2023; and previously served in the same position from 2011 to 2019. He is a member of Unity. Between 2011 and 2014 he was a member of the Reform Party
Laimdota Straujuma is a Latvian economist who was the prime minister of Latvia from January 2014 to February 2016. Before her tenure as prime minister, she served as the minister of Agriculture from 2011 to 2014. She was the first woman to serve as the head of government of the country. After her resignation on 7 December 2015, she announced her intention to resume a seat in the Saeima.
In Russia, Latvians are a small ethnic minority scattered across its various regions. In the 2010 census, 18,979 in Russia identified as ethnic Latvian, down from 28,520 in 2002.
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.
Marija Golubeva is a Latvian politician of Russian descent, political scientist, and historian. She is a member of the 13th Saeima and leader of the Development/For! Saeima fraction, and she also was elected by the Presidium of the Saeima to serve in the Saeima Secretariat. She served as Minister of the Interior of Latvia. In her academic work, she specializes in immigration policy and education policy.
