About Latvia

Born in 1918 and located in Northern Europe, by the Baltic Sea, it is a green and modern country with a rich cultural heritage, innovative spirit and 1.9 millions outstanding personalities.

Latvia’s strategic location between Scandinavia and Russia has made it an international crossroad for trade commerce, and cultural exchange since ancient times.

Latvia in Europe- Map

Latvian is considered one of the oldest and least changed of all living Indo European languages. It belongs to the Baltic branch.

Green Latvia is among the greenest countries in Europe, 50% of Latvia’s territory is forest area, which makes the 4th most forested country in Europe and gives 14 hectors of forest per inhabitant.

Blue With 12 500 rivers, springs and more than 3900 lakes, Latvia is also the 4th in Europe by fresh water resources. A special landmark is our Venta Waterfall the widest natural waterfall in Europe (249 m).

Golden Latvia’s Baltic Sea coastline is 500 km long. It is clean, it is public, and pleasantly uncrowded.

Latvia is a fully integrated member of all major economic and political structures the UN, EU, NATO, WTO and OECD.

  • 2019 anniversaries:  EU/NATO – 15, EURO – 5, BALTIC WAY – 30, LATVIA – 101
  • 2019, 23-26 May: European Parliament elections
  • 2019, June:  Elections of the Latvian President
  • Future ambitions:  2025- United Nations Security Council non permanent seat, 2026 – Winter Olympics (together with Sweden)

Did you know?

Riga, the Capital: The biggest city in the Baltic states (705 000) and the 3rd largest in Northern Europe; an Art Nouveau architecture metropolis (40% of buildings in the historic center are Art Nouveau, the biggest collection in the world 2nd is Vienna with 15%); unique collection of wooden buildings (4000); Historic Centre of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The first Christmas tree According to a chronicle, Riga is the place where the Christmas tree decoration tradition started in 1510.

Parts of the Indian action spy film « Agent Vinod » 2012 was shot in Riga. It was directed by Sriram Raghavan and written by Sriram Raghavan and Arijit Biswas. The movie borrows its name from the 1977 film of the same name. The film stars are Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

Latvian Song and Dance Celebration – an outstanding phenomenon that has taken place in Latvia since 1873 and has been recognized as a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity – 17000 singers and 18000 dancers

Start-ups:  According to the World Economic Forum 2017, Latvia is one of Europe’s entrepreneurial hotspots, ranking 3rd after Estonia and Sweden. It is on 1st position in Europe in terms of total early entrepreneurial activities.

Drone Superpower: Latvian entrepreneurs have been actively developing drone science and have made a lot of “first”.  The first drone jump (by Aerones) the first drone that follows its “master” (by AirDog), the first full carbon smart drone controlled with your mobile phone (by Atlas Aerospace) etc.

Lord of the Winds:  Latvian company Aerodium that specializes in building wind tunnels, Aerodium was commissioned to construct the world’s biggest wind tunnel (for public entertainment) to ensure the special effects in the new film of Hollywood stars Tom Cruise’s “Mission Impossible –Fallout”

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