Latvia

**Latvia** (officially the **Republic of Latvia**) is a country located in Eastern Europe, bordering countries such as Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia, its most notable border. It is part of the European Union, NATO military alliance, and a group of three countries in Eastern Europe called the **Baltics**. The current population is 1,830,211, which is a decrease by 1.10% from the 2022 population of 1,850,651. The capital city is Riga.

## Modern history (1941-1990)

In 1918, Latvia got independence from the fall of the Russian Empire. So then, they stayed independent until 1940, when the Soviet Union claimed them.

### World War II

Germany was a very powerful country during World War II. they were able to claim Latvia in 1941 on a surprise attack on the Soviet Union without any problems, until in 1944, when the Soviet Union decided to fight for Latvia back. The Soviet Union claimed Latvia back from the Germans in 1944 with assistance from the United States and the United Kingdom.

### Post-World War II

Then, Latvia stayed in the Soviet Union until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. During that timespan, the Latvian SSR was the same as the rest of the Soviet Union. It was a tolitarian regime with lots of arrests going on. The Latvians were able to keep their culture and values despite the propaganda from the Soviet Union. Statistically, Latvia and Estonia were always the most developed areas of the USSR.

## Climate

The climate in Latvia features cold winters, and mild + humid summers, creating a climate more comparable to the Scandinavian countries.

### Winter

In the winter, Latvia's average high temperature is around 32°F (0°C), and the low temperature is around 24°F (-4°C). Latvia's winter temperatures are considered cold by most.

#### Snow

Since the temperatures dip below 32°F (0°C) in the winter, snow regularly falls on the ground most of the time when there's precipitation. However, to some people, the snow creates great looking views and makes cities look impressive.

### Summer

In the summer, Latvia's average high temperature is around 74°F (23°C), and the low temperature is around 56°F (13°C). These temperatures are considered comfortable by most.

#### Rain

However, despite a comfortable summer climate, the summer has lots of rain. In July, the average amount of rain is 1.67 inches (4.24 cm/42.4 mm), and in August, the average amount of rain is 1.69 inches (4.29 cm/42.9 mm).

#### Forest fires

Latvia has a moderate risk of forest fires in the summer as well. The Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) all have high amounts of forest fires compared to their neighboring countries. However, Belarus has moderate risks of forest fires, which is just similar to Latvia.

### Western climate

The climate of the western coast of Latvia (Liepaja, Latvia) is more mild than the east (meaning colder in the summer and slightly warmer in the winter, also having a more even high and low temperature.

### Coastal central climate

The climate of Riga is colder in the winter by about 5°F, but evens out with Liepaja by being warmer in the summer by about 4°F.

## Cities

Latvia contains a few cities, the most notable cities in Latvia include of Riga, Daugavpils, Liepaja, Jelgava, and Jurmala.

### Most populated cities

Below is a table showing the most populated cities in Latvia.

Most populated cities in Latvia, 2023 estimates
 2
 3
 4
 5

Riga is the most populated and capital city of Latvia, but is on a negative population growth trend like the rest of the country.

## Ethnicity

There are lots of other Ethnic groups aside of Latvian located in Latvia. The most common are Russians, Belarusians, and Ukranians. Other ethnic groups include of Poles, Lithuanians, Jews, Roma, Germans, and Estonians.

### Russian population

Latvia has a large Russian population, mainly due to being a nearby migration place from Russia, a country with a large population. This created a large Russian population in Latvia, about 40% of the number of Latvians. There were 1,216,443 Latvians in Latvia during 2016, compared to 504,370 Russians.

#### Population decline

The population of Latvia has been declining since the fall of the Soviet Union, around 30% since 1990. The reason of this decline is because Latvia is in the European Union, and there are countries people prefer inside of the European Union, so they move out of Latvia to go to those countries. Latvia has more deaths than births (One birth every 32.73 minutes compared to one death every 18.47 minutes), and a net rate of one emigration every 68.57 minutes. Overall, they have a net loss of one person every 26.18 minutes. They lose about 55 people a day, making them lose ~19.5k people a year.

## Environment

### Forests

    Latvia has some of the most forest cover in Europe. It is placed 5th among countries in the European Union. 52% of Latvia's 24,938 square miles (64,589 square kilometers) are covered in forests.

## Freedom

Latvia scored an 88 out of 100 on the *Freedom of the World 2023* index. This is considered “Free”. The index states Latvia has a completely fair electoral process, a well-functioning government, and Latvia follows all the simple freedoms, like the freedom of speech, the press, religion, and assembly. Latvia’s issue is the Rule of Law, where they scored an 11 out of 16, which is only 68.75.

### Governmental function

Latvia has had previous issues on preventing corruption, however, they are trying to fix these issues by creating anti-corruption organizations, and they have been succeeding to prevent corruption more recently. The government is mostly transparent, but there have been issues in the functioning of state-owned companies, and public procurement processes have a high risk of causing corruption.

### Safety

Latvia scored a 1.58 on the *2022 Global Peace Index,* which is considered safe (colored light green on the website). *Vision of Humanity* states they are good as in terms of preventing crime (including violent crime), having political stability, and the prevention of conflict, but they have too many security officers and police, a moderately high jailed population, high weapon imports and exports, and slightly concerning relationships with their neighboring countries. They received low scores on most statistics (lower score means safer).

## References

1. ↑ Latvia Population (2023). Worldometers.
2. ↑ Latvia under the Soviet Rule. 1944-1985. National History Museum of Latvia.
3. ↑ Climate & Weather Averages in Riga, Latvia. Time and Date.
4. ↑ Latvia climate: average, weather, temperature, rain. Climates to Travel.
5. ↑ Riga climate: weather by month, temperature, rain. Climates to Travel.
6. ↑ Population of Cities in Latvia 2023. World Population Review.
7. ↑ Latvian government website. km.gov.lv.
8. ↑ Latvia Population 2023. World Population Review.
9. ↑ *Latvia catchment area analysis*
10. ↑ Countries and Territories. Freedom House.
11. ↑ Global Peace Index Map » The Most & Least Peaceful Countries. *Institute for Economics & Peace*. Retrieved on September 29, 2023.