Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the Baltic states. It borders Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, and 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 ethno-linguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian, one of the only two surviving Baltic languages. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population.
The history of Latvia began around 9000 BC with the end of the last glacial period in northern Europe. Ancient Baltic peoples arrived in the area during the second millennium BC, and four distinct tribal realms in Latvia's territory were identifiable towards the end of the first millennium AD. Latvia's principal river Daugava, was at the head of an important trade route from the Baltic region through Russia into southern Europe and the Middle East that was used by the Vikings and later Nordic and German traders.
The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea are sometimes referred to as the "Baltic nations", less often and in historical circumstances also as the "Baltic republics", the "Baltic lands", or simply the Baltics.
The Singing Revolution was a series of events in 1987–1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by an Estonian activist and artist, Heinz Valk, in an article published a week after the 10–11 June 1988 spontaneous mass evening singing demonstrations at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.
The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a republic in the Soviet Union. The Latvian SSR existed for over 50 years, from 5 August 1940 to 6 September 1991.
Russians in the Baltic states is a broadly defined subgroup of the Russian diaspora who self-identify as ethnic Russians, or are citizens of Russia, and live in one of the three independent countries – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. As of 2021, there were nearly 900,000 ethnic Russians in the three countries, having declined from ca 1.7 million in 1989, the year of the last census during the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation of the three Baltic countries.
The Baltic Way or Baltic Chain was a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989. Approximately two million people joined their hands to form a human chain spanning 690 kilometres (430 mi) across the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which at the time were occupied and annexed by the USSR and had a combined population of approximately eight million. The central government in Moscow considered the three Baltic countries constituent republics of the Soviet Union.
The Latvian Legion was a formation of the German Waffen-SS during World War II. Created in 1943, it consisted primarily of ethnic Latvian personnel. The legion consisted of two divisions of the Waffen-SS: the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, and the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS. The 15th Division was administratively subordinated to the VI SS Corps, but operationally it was in reserve or at the disposal of the XXXXIII Army Corps, 16th Army, Army Group North. The 19th Division held out in the Courland Pocket until May 1945, the close of World War II, when it was among the last of Nazi Germany's forces to surrender.
Double Coffee is a coffee house company based in Latvia. As of early 2014, the company had a total of 15 locations in Riga, Latvia in addition to seven locations in Russia, and one in each Kyiv, Ukraine, Cairo, Egypt and Baku, Azerbaijan. Double Coffee was founded in 2002, and during its history has also had branches in Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus and China.
Rietumu Banka–Riga is a Latvian cycling team established in 2002 in order to develop Latvian cyclists to an international level. Its main sponsor is Rietumu Banka. During next year`s former professional riders Jaan Kirsipuu and Arvis Piziks worked as sports directors. It was a UCI Continental team until the end of the 2008 season, when team shifted main focus on XC MTB racing. In 2012 the team is once again registered at UCI level. The most famous riders of the team have been Aleksejs Saramotins, 2015 world time trial champion Vasil Kiryienka, and 2015 UCI America Tour winner Toms Skujiņš.
Erki Pütsep is an Estonian professional road bicycle racer who last rode for the Alpha Baltic–Unitymarathons.com team. He is the three time national road race champion and won the E.O.S. Tallinn GP in 2007. In 2011 he won Baltic Chain Tour, which was held in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
Baltic Pride is an annual LGBT+ pride parade rotating in turn between the capitals of the Baltic states; Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. It is held in support of raising issues of tolerance and the rights of the LGBT community and is supported by ILGA-Europe. Since 2009, the main organisers have been Mozaīka, the National LGBT Rights Organization LGL Lithuanian Gay League, and the Estonian LGBT Association.
The 2012 Baltic Chain Tour was the second modern era edition of the Baltic Chain Tour road cycling race. It was held over a period of four days between 21 and 25 May 2013. The race was a part of the 2012 UCI Europe Tour with a race classification of 2.2. General classification was won by Lithuanian cyclist Gediminas Bagdonas.
The 2014 Baltic Chain Tour was the fourth modern edition of the Baltic Chain Tour road cycling race. It was held over a period of five days between 20 and 24 August 2014. The race was a part of the 2014 UCI Europe Tour with a race classification of 2.2. This year the tour coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Baltic Chain, a peaceful political demonstration that occurred on 23 August 1989, with approximately two million people joining their hands to form a human chain spanning over 600 kilometres (370 mi) across the three Baltic states.
Andris Vosekalns is a Latvian professional road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Hengxiang Cycling Team. In 2014 he won the Latvian National Road Race Championships.
Andris Smirnovs is a Latvian former professional cyclist.
Martin Laas is an Estonian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Astana Qazaqstan Team. In October 2020, he was named in the startlist for the 2020 Vuelta a España.
Pope Francis visited the Baltic states—Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia—from 22 to 25 September 2018.
The Tartu2024 Cycling Team is an Estonian-registered UCI Continental road cycling team founded in 2020. It was called Tartu2024–BalticChainCycling.com in its first year, and was renamed as Ampler Development Team for 2021, and again to the Tartu2024 Cycling Team in 2023.
The Baltic Sea Games was a multi-sport event between countries near the Baltic Sea. It was held on two occasions: first in 1993 then for a final time in 1997.
Harijs Japiņš (LAT)
Ants Väravas (EST)(3 wins)
