The Republic of Latvia , or Latvia , is a country in Northern Europe . Latvia has land borders with its two fellow Baltic states — Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south—and Russia and Belarus to the east. In the west Latvia shares a maritime border with Sweden .

 

 

Geography

Large parts of Latvia are covered by forests, and the country has over 12,000 small rivers and over 3,000 lakes. Most of the country consists of fertile, low-lying plains with some hills in the east, the highest point being the Gaizinkalns at 312 m.

An inlet of the Baltic Sea, the shallow Gulf of Riga is situated in the northwest of the country. The capital city Riga is located on the shores of this inlet, where the Daugava river flows into it. Other major cities include Daugavpils further upriver and Liepaja along the Baltic coast.

The Latvian climate is maritime and temperate in nature, with cool summers and wet, moderate winters.

Economy

Latvia is a transitional economy . It has had high GDP growth since 2000 . In 2003 , GDP growth was 7.5% and inflation was 2.9%. Unemployment was 8.8% in 2003, almost unchanged compared to the previous two years. Privatization is mostly complete, except for some of the large state-owned utilities. Latvia officially joined the World Trade Organisation in February 1999 and the European Union in May 2004 .

Religion

The population is mostly Christian (majority being Lutheran , Catholic in the and Russian Orthodox ). Another religion is Dievturi (The Godkeepers), which has historical roots based on prechristian era mythology.

Demographics

Latvians are the indigenous people of Latvia. Only around 60% of the population are ethnic Latvians. Up to 29% are Russian which is the largest national minority in Latvia. In some cities ( Daugavpils and Rezekne , for example) Latvians are even outnumbered by Russians. Minorities from other countries such as Belarus , Ukraine , Lithuania , Poland etc. also live in Latvia. The ethnic mix of the population of Latvia is largely the result of massive post-war immigration, which resulted in a decline in the share of ethnic Latvians from 77% in 1935 to 52% in 1989.