   #copyright

Latvia

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Countries; European
Countries

   SOS Children works in Latvia. For more information see SOS Children in
   Latvia
   Latvijas Republika
   Republic of Latvia

   Flag of Latvia Coat of arms of Latvia
   Flag           Coat of arms
   Motto: Tēvzemei un Brīvībai
   ( Latvian: " For Fatherland and Freedom")
   Anthem: Dievs, svētī Latviju!
   ( Latvian: "God, bless Latvia!")
   Location of Latvia
   Capital
   (and largest city) Riga
   56°57′N 24°6′E
   Official languages Latvian
   Government Parliamentary democracy
    - President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
    - Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis
   Independence Latvia considers itself continuous with the first
   republic
    - Declared (from Russia) November 18, 1918
    - Recognized January 26, 1921
    - Proclaimed (beginning secession from Soviet Union) May 4, 1990
    - Completed September 6, 1991
   Accession to EU May 1, 2004
   Area
    - Total 64,589 km² ( 124th)
   24,937 sq mi
    - Water (%) 1.5
   Population
    - July 2005 estimate 2,307,000 ( 141st)
    - Density 36/km² ( 166th)
   93/sq mi
   GDP ( PPP) 2005 estimate
    - Total $29.214 billion ( 95th)
    - Per capita $12,622 ( 53rd)
   HDI  (2004) 0.845 (high) ( 45th)
   Currency Lats (Ls) ( LVL)
   Time zone EET ( UTC+2)
    - Summer ( DST) EEST ( UTC+3)
   Internet TLD .lv ^1
   Calling code +371
   ^1also .eu, shared with other European Union member states

   Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia ( Latvian: Latvija or
   Latvijas Republika, Livonian: Lețmō), is a country in Northern Europe.

   Latvia shares land borders with two fellow Baltic states – Estonia to
   the north and Lithuania to the south – and both Russia and Belarus to
   the east. In the west, Latvia shares a maritime border with Sweden. The
   capital of Latvia is Riga ( Latvian: Rīga). Latvia has been a member
   state of the European Union since May 1, 2004.

History

   The proto-Baltic forefathers of the Latvian people have lived on the
   eastern coast of the Baltic Sea since the third millennium BC (3000
   BC).

   At the beginning of this era the territory known today as Latvia became
   famous as a trading crossroads. The famous "route from the Vikings to
   the Greeks" mentioned in ancient chronicles stretched from Scandinavia
   through Latvian territory via the River Daugava to ancient Russia and
   the Byzantine Empire.

   The ancient Balts of this time actively participated in the trading
   network. Across the European continent, Latvia's coast was known as a
   place for obtaining amber. Up to and into the Middle Ages amber was
   more valuable than gold in many places. Latvian amber was known in
   places as far away as Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. In the 900's
   A.D., the ancient Balts started to form specific tribal realms.
   Gradually, four individual Baltic tribal cultures developed:
   Couronians, Latgallians, Selonians, Semigallians (in Latvian: kurši,
   latgaļi, sēļi and zemgaļi). The largest of them was the Latgallian
   tribe, which was the most advanced in its socio-political development.
   In the 1100s and 1200s, the Couronians maintained a lifestyle of
   intensive invasions that included looting and pillaging.

   On the west coast of the Baltic Sea, they became known as the "Baltic
   Vikings". But the Selonians and Semgallians, during this time, were
   known as peace-loving and prosperous farmers.

   Because of its strategic geographic location, Latvian territory has
   always been invaded by other larger nations, and this situation has
   defined the fate of Latvia and its people.

   At the end of the 1100s, Latvia was more often visited by traders from
   western Europe who set out on trading journeys along Latvia's longest
   river, the Daugava, to Russia. At the very end of the 12th century,
   German traders arrived and with them came preachers of the Christian
   faith who attempted to convert the pagan Baltic and Baltic-Finnic
   tribes to the Christian faith. The Balts did not willingly convert to
   the new and different beliefs and practices, and particularly opposed
   the ritual of christening. News of this reached the Pope in Rome and it
   was decided that Crusaders would be sent into Latvia to influence the
   situation.

   The Germans founded Riga in 1201, and gradually it became the largest
   city in the southern part of the Baltic Sea. With the arrival of the
   German Crusaders, the development of separate tribal realms of ancient
   Latvias came to an end.

   In the 1200s, a confederation of feudal nations developed under German
   rule that was called Livonia. Livonia included today's Latvia and
   Southern Estonia. In 1282, Rīga and later Cēsis, Limbaži, Koknese and
   Valmiera were included in the Northern German Trading Organisation, or
   the Hanseatic League (Hanse). From this time, Riga became an important
   point in west-east trading. Rīga, being the centre of the eastern
   Baltic region, formed close cultural contacts with Western Europe.

   The 1500s were a time of great changes for the inhabitants of Latvia,
   notable for the reformation and the collapse of the Livonian nation.
   After the Livonian War (1558-1583) today's Latvian territory came under
   Polish-Lithuanian rule. The Lutheran faith was accepted in Kurzeme,
   Zemgale and Vidzeme, but the Roman Catholic faith maintained its
   dominance in Latgale – it remains so to this day.

   The 17th and early 18th century saw a struggle between Poland, Sweden
   and Russia for supremacy in the eastern Baltic. Gustavus Adolphus of
   Sweden took Riga in 1621, and the larger part of Polish Livonia,
   including Vidzeme, came under Swedish rule with the Truce of Altmark in
   1629.Latvian forces played a key role at the Battle of Zenta against
   the Ottomans in 1697 AD. The term "Swedish era" ( Latvian: zviedru
   laiki) is still synonymous with beneficent rule; though serfdom was not
   abolished, it was strictly regulated and a network of schools was
   established for the peasantry. The Treaty of Nystad ending the Great
   Northern War in 1721 gave Vidzeme to Russia (it became part of the
   guberniya of Livland). The Latgale region remained part of Poland as
   Inflanty until 1772, when it was joined to Russia. In the Duchy of
   Courland, a German minority of ca. 4% ruled an indigenous majority of
   80%. Courland became known as a "paradise of the nobles," though the
   code granting privileges to the German nobility declared the country a
   "social paradise." Courland became a Russian province (the guberniya of
   Courland) in 1795, bringing all of what is now Latvia into Imperial
   Russia.

   The promises Peter the Great made to the Baltic German nobility at the
   fall of Riga in 1710, confirmed by the Treaty of Nystad and known as
   "the Capitulations," largely reversed the Swedish reforms. The
   emancipation of the serfs took place in Courland in 1817 and in Livland
   in 1819. In practice, the emancipation was actually advantageous to the
   nobility because it dispossessed the peasants of their land without
   compensation. At the beginning of the 19th century, 7% of the
   population was urban, this portion rising to 40% by its close. The
   population grew from ca. 720 000 persons to almost two million by the
   end of the century, the proportion of indigenous inhabitants falling
   from ca. 90% to 68%. The social structure changed dramatically, with a
   class of independent farmers establishing itself after reforms allowed
   the peasants to repurchase their land, landless peasants numbering 591
   000 in 1897, a growing urban proletariat and an increasingly
   influential Latvian bourgeoisie. The Young Latvia movement laid the
   groundwork for nationalism from the middle of the century, many of its
   leaders looking to the Slavophiles for support against the prevailing
   German-dominated social order. Russification began in Latgale after the
   January Uprising in 1863 and spread to the rest of what is now Latvia
   by the 1880s. The Young Latvians were largely eclipsed by the New
   Current, a broad leftist social and political movement, in the 1890s.
   Popular discontent exploded in the 1905 Revolution, which took on a
   nationalist character in the Baltic provinces.

   World War I devastated the country. Demands for self-determination were
   at first confined to autonomy ("a free Latvia in a free Russia"), but
   full independence was proclaimed in Riga on November 18, 1918 by the
   People's Council of Latvia, Kārlis Ulmanis becoming the head of the
   provisional government. The War of Liberation that followed was a very
   chaotic period in Latvia's history. By the spring of 1919 there were
   actually three governments -- Ulmanis' government, which concluded an
   agreement with the Germans and was supported by the United Kingdom; the
   Iskolat led by Pēteris Stučka, which proclaimed an independent Soviet
   Latvia and whose forces, supported by the Red Army, occupied almost all
   of the country; and the Baltic German puppet government headed by
   Andrievs Niedra. Estonian and Latvian forces defeated the Germans at
   the Battle of Cēsis in June 1919, and a massive attack by a German and
   Russian force under Pavel Bermondt-Avalov was repelled in November.
   Eastern Latvia was cleared of Red Army forces by Polish, Latvian, and
   German troops in early 1920.

   A freely elected Constituent Assembly was convened on May 1, 1920 and
   adopted a liberal constitution, the Satversme, in February 1922 —
   suspended by Ulmanis after his coup in 1934 but reaffirmed in 1990 and
   since amended, this is the constitution still in use in Latvia today.
   The Satversme declares that power is vested in the people of Latvia
   (Latvijas tauta -- rather than the Latvian people, latviešu tauta), and
   minorities received considerable cultural autonomy. With most of
   Latvia's industrial base evacuated to the interior of Russia in 1915,
   radical land reform was the central political question for the young
   state. In 1897, 61.2% of the rural population had been landless; by
   1930 that percentage had been reduced to 23.2%. The extent of
   cultivated land surpassed the pre-war level already in 1923. Innovation
   and rising productivity led to the GNP per capita approaching Finland's
   level by 1930, but the economy soon suffered the effects of the Great
   Depression. Though Latvia showed signs of economic recovery and the
   electorate had steadily moved toward the centre during the
   parliamentary period, Ulmanis staged a bloodless coup on May 15, 1934,
   establishing a nationalist dictatorship that lasted until 1940. Most of
   the Baltic Germans left Latvia by agreement between Ulmanis' government
   and Nazi Germany after the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
   On October 5, 1939, Latvia was forced to accept a "mutual assistance"
   pact with the Soviet Union, granting the Soviets the right to station
   25,000 troops on Latvian territory. On June 16, 1940, Vyacheslav
   Molotov presented the Latvian representative in Moscow with an
   ultimatum accusing Latvia of violations of that pact, and on June 17
   great numbers of Soviet forces occupied the country. Rigged elections
   for a "People's Saeima" were held, and a puppet government headed by
   Augusts Kirhenšteins led Latvia into the USSR. The annexation was
   formalized on August 5.

   The ensuing months would become known in Latvia as Baigais Gads, the
   Year of Horror. Mass arrests, disappearances, and deportations
   culminated on the night of June 14, 1941. Prior to the German invasion,
   in less than a year, at least 27,586 persons were arrested; most were
   deported, and ca. 945 persons were shot. While under German occupation,
   Latvia was administered as part of Reichskommissariat Ostland. Latvian
   paramilitary and Auxiliary Police units established by occupation
   authority actively participated in the Holocaust. More than 200 000
   Latvian citizens were murdered during the Nazi occupation, including
   ca. 30 000 Latvian Jews. Latvian soldiers fought on both sides of the
   conflict, including in the Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS, most of
   them conscripted by the occupying Nazi and Soviet authorities

   The Soviets reoccupied the country in 1944-45, and further mass
   deportations followed as the country was forcibly collectivized and
   Sovietized; 42,975 persons were deported in 1949. An influx of
   laborers, administrators, military personnel and their dependents from
   Russia and other Soviet republics meant that the ethnic Latvian
   population had fallen to 62% by 1959. During the Khrushchev Thaw,
   attempts by national communists led by Eduards Berklavs to gain a
   degree of autonomy for the republic and protect the rapidly
   deteriorating position of the Latvian language were suppressed. In 1989
   the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution on the "Occupation
   of the Baltic States," in which it declared that the occupation was
   "not in accordance with law," and not the "will of the Soviet people".
   A national movement coalescing in the Popular Front of Latvia took
   advantage of glasnost under Mikhail Gorbachev, opposed by the
   Interfront, and on May 4, 1990 the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR
   adopted the Declaration of the Restoration of Independence of the
   Republic of Latvia, subject to a transition period that came to an end
   on August 21 1991, after the failure of the August Putsch. The Saeima,
   Latvia's parliament, was again elected in 1993, and Russia completed
   its military withdrawal in 1994.

   In the 1990s and early 21st century, Latvia focused on "rejoining
   Europe"; its two major goals, NATO and European Union membership, were
   achieved in 2004. Language and citizenship laws have been opposed by
   many Russophones (Latvian is the official language and citizenship was
   not automatically extended to former Soviet citizens - mostly
   ethnically Russian - who settled during the occupation, or to their
   descendants). Though many are naturalizing since the law was
   liberalized, almost 18.5% of the residents remain non-citizens today.
   Non-citizens hold a Latvian aliens' passport (an internationally
   recognized identity document that serves as a proof of residence as
   well as entitles the holder to consular protections abroad and certain
   other rights). Human rights groups do not oppose such policy of the
   Latvian government, and the Latvian naturalization system is known to
   be one of the simplest in Europe - containing relatively simple Latvian
   language, history and heritage examinations, and an oath of allegiance.
   The government denationalized private property confiscated by the
   Soviet rule, returning it or compensating the owners when that was not
   possible, and privatized most state-owned industries, reintroducing the
   prewar currency. After a difficult transition to a liberal economy and
   its re-orientation toward Western Europe, Latvia still has one of the
   lowest standard of living in the EU, though its economy has one of the
   highest growth rates.

Politics

   Ingrīda Ūdre - Former Speaker of Saeima, the Latvian parliament
   Enlarge
   Ingrīda Ūdre - Former Speaker of Saeima, the Latvian parliament

   The 100-seat unicameral Latvian parliament, the Saeima, is elected by
   direct, popular vote every four years. The president is elected by the
   Saeima in a separate election also every four years. The president
   appoints a prime minister who, together with his cabinet, forms the
   executive branch of the government, which has to receive a confidence
   vote by the Saeima.

   The Latvian government has often been criticized for failing to focus
   on the needs of the people and for alleged corruption.

   On September 20, 2003, in a nationwide referendum 66.9% of the
   participants voted in favour of joining the European Union. Latvia
   became a full-fledged member of the European Union on May 1, 2004.
   Latvia has been a NATO member since March 29, 2004.

   Latvia has no territorial claims towards the Russian Federation, but
   demands an acknowledgement by federal government of the annexation of
   the small part of the Abrene region, since this land was previously
   part of Latvia and was detached from it by the Soviet Union. At the
   same time Latvia is considering requesting monetary compensation from
   the Russian Federation for the Soviet occupation. A special government
   commission has calculated the amount of 100 billion USD in losses
   caused to Latvia by its incorporation into the Soviet Union; however,
   no official demands yet for the Russian Federation to provide
   compensation have been made by the Latvian government.

Administrative divisions

   Latvia is divided into 26 districts (rajoni). There are also seven
   cities (lielpilsētas) that have a separate status.
    1. Aizkraukle District
    2. Alūksne District
    3. Balvi District
    4. Bauska District
    5. Cēsis District
    6. Daugavpils District
    7. Daugavpils (city)
    8. Dobele District
    9. Gulbene District
   10. Jēkabpils District
   11. Jelgava District
   12. Jelgava (city)
   13. Jūrmala (city)
   14. Krāslava District
   15. Kuldīga District
   16. Liepāja District
   17. Liepāja (city)

   18. Limbaži District
   19. Ludza District
   20. Madona District
   21. Ogre District
   22. Preiļi District
   23. Rēzekne District
   24. Rēzekne (city)
   25. Rīga District
   26. Rīga (city)
   27. Saldus District
   28. Talsi District
   29. Tukums District
   30. Valka District
   31. Valmiera District
   32. Ventspils District
   33. Ventspils (city)

   Map of the districts of Latvia in alphabetical order.
     * Abrene District (1919-1940), the eastern part of which was annexed
       to Russia in 1944;
       the legal status of the annexed portion is disputed -- the western
       part of the former district is now in Balvi District.

Geography

   Map of Latvia with cities
   Enlarge
   Map of Latvia with cities

   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 Gaiziņkalns 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 River Daugava flows into it. Other
   major cities include Daugavpils further upriver and Liepāja along the
   Baltic coast.

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

   Latvia is historically and culturally divided in four or five distinct
   regions, see regions of Latvia.

Economy

   Since year 2000 Latvia has had one of the highest GDP growth rates in
   Europe . In 2004, annual GDP growth was 8.5% and inflation was 6.2%.
   Unemployment was 8.5% - almost unchanged compared to the previous two
   years. However, it has recently dropped to 7%, partly due to active
   economical migration mostly to the Republic of Ireland and United
   Kingdom. Privatization is mostly completed, except for some of the
   large state-owned utilities. Latvia is a member of the World Trade
   Organization (1999) and the European Union (2004).

   The fast growing economy is regarded as a possible economic bubble,
   because it is driven mostly by growth of domestic consumption, financed
   by a serious increase of private debt, as well as negative foreign
   trade balance. The prices of real estate, which increases at amount
   approx. 5% a month (due to lack of tax legislation that could prevent
   speculations in real estate market), are perceived to be too high for
   economy, which mainly produces low valued goods and raw materials. As
   stated by Ober-Haus, a real estate company operating in Poland and
   Baltics, the prices of some segments of real estate market have been
   stabilized as of summer 2006 and the experts expect serious reduction
   of real estate prices in near future.

   The Latvian government aspires to adopt the euro as the country's
   currency on January 1, 2008, though this has been thrown into doubt
   recently, and Latvia might not be able to adopt the Euro until 2009 or
   later.

Religion

   Old Believers' church from the front, Rēzekne, Latvia.
   Enlarge
   Old Believers' church from the front, Rēzekne, Latvia.
   Daugavpils, 1912.
   Enlarge
   Daugavpils, 1912.

   The population is mostly Christian, the largest group being Lutheran
   (556,000, according to 2003 data), with smaller percentages Roman
   Catholic (430,405) and Eastern Orthodox (350,000).

   Another religion is Dievturi (The Godkeepers), which has historical
   roots based on pre-Christian era mythology. There are also Jews (9,883
   in 2005) in Latvia who are now mainly a remainder from the Soviet
   Union, as during World War II the Jewish Community (according to the
   last official census in 1935 there were 93,479 Jews in the country, or
   approximately 5% of the total population) was killed.

Demographics

   Latvia's population has been multiethnic for centuries, though the
   demographics shifted dramatically in the 20th century due to the world
   wars, the repatriation of the Baltic Germans, the Holocaust, and
   occupation by the Soviet Union.

   In 1897 the first official census in this area indicated that Latvians
   formed 68.3 % of the total population of 1.93 million; Russians
   accounted for 12%, Jews for 7.4 %, Germans for 6.2 %, and Poles for 3.4
   %. The remainder were Lithuanians, Estonians, Roma/Sinti, and various
   other nationalities.

   Latvians and Livonians, the indigenous peoples of Latvia, now form c.
   60% of the population; 28.5% of the inhabitants are Russian. . Ca. 54%
   of the ethnic Russians are citizens of Latvia; most of the others are
   permanent residents with Latvian aliens' passports. Like others who
   arrived whilst Latvia occupied by the USSR, and their descendants, they
   must be naturalized to receive Latvian citizenship. Over 100,000
   persons have naturalized in recent years, but 418,440 persons (278,213
   of them ethnic Russians) remain non-citizens. Children born to
   residents after the restoration of independence in 1991 do not require
   naturalization to obtain citizenship.

   In some large cities (e.g. Daugavpils and Rēzekne), Russians and other
   minorities outnumber Latvians. Minorities from other countries such as
   Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, etc., also live in Latvia. The
   share of ethnic Latvians had fallen from 77% (1,467,035) in 1935 to 52%
   (1,387,757) in 1989. . In 2005 there were even fewer Latvians than in
   1989, though their share of the population was larger - 1,357,099
   (58.8% of the inhabitants).

Language

   The official language of the Republic of Latvia is Latvian. The Latvian
   language, like Lithuanian and the extinct Old Prussian language,
   belongs to the Baltic language group of the Indo-european language
   family. The Latgalian language or dialect is present in Latgale (also
   the written tradition - see Latgalian language). Kuronian/Couronian is
   another dialect of Latvian spoken in Kurzeme, though less popular than
   Latgalian. Russian is by far the most widespread minority language,
   also spoken or at least understood by large sections of the non-Russian
   population; most of Latvia's minorities are considered "Russian -
   speaking" by some political parties, while ethnically being
   Belarusians, Ukrainians, Jews, etc.

Sports

   Latvia has a professional basketball, handball, volleyball, football
   and hockey league. Latvia's football league is named the LMT Virslīga.

   The Latvian hockey team has participated in the 1936, 2002 and 2006
   Winter Olympics and all Ice Hockey World Championships since its entry
   in 1997. Its best results were the 7th places in 1997 and 2004 World
   Championships. The Ice Hockey World Championships of 2006 took place in
   Riga, Latvia. There have been many Latvians in the NHL, such as Sandis
   Ozoliņš, Artūrs Irbe, Kārlis Skrastiņš, Sergejs Žoltoks and Pēteris
   Skudra.

   Latvia also qualified for Euro 2004 in Portugal.

   Andris Biedriņš is playing in NBA club Golden State Warriors for the
   3rd season.

   The future of latvian tennis is coming with Ernest Gulbis and Andis
   Juska.

International rankings

     * Environmental Sustainability Index 2005 Rank 15 out of all
       countries
     * Reporters Without Borders world-wide press freedom index 2005: Rank
       16 out of 167 countries

Topics of Interest

     * Communications in Latvia
     * Foreign relations of Latvia
     * Holidays in Latvia
     * List of cities in Latvia
     * Military of Latvia
     * National Roads in Latvia
     * Regions of Latvia
     * Sports in Latvia
     * Tourism in the Baltics
     * Transportation in Latvia
     * History of Russians in Latvia
     * History of the Jews in Latvia
     * Muslims in Latvia
     * Latvijas Skautu un Gaidu Centrālā Organizācija
     * Latvijas Televīzija
     * Latvian humour
     * List of Museums in Latvia

Neighbouring countries

   Gulf of Riga •  Flag of Estonia  Estonia Flag of Russia  Russia
   Flag of Sweden  Sweden  Image:Template CanadianCityGeoLocation West.png
     Baltic Sea North
   West    Flag of Latvia  Latvia     East
   South
   Flag of Lithuania  Lithuania Flag of Belarus  Belarus

   Countries of Europe

   Albania · Andorra · Armenia^1 · Austria · Azerbaijan^2 · Belarus ·
   Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus^1 ·
   Czech Republic · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Georgia^2 ·
   Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Kazakhstan^2 ·
   Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Republic of Macedonia
   · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands · Norway · Poland
   · Portugal · Romania · Russia^2 · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia ·
   Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey^2 · Ukraine · United
   Kingdom · Vatican City

   (1) Entirely in Asia but having socio-political connections with
   Europe. (2) Has significant territory in Asia.
   Baltic Region

   Baltic States: Flag of Estonia  Estonia • Flag of Latvia  Latvia • Flag
   of Lithuania  Lithuania

   Baltic countries: Flag of Denmark  Denmark • Flag of Finland  Finland •
   Flag of Germany  Germany • Flag of Poland  Poland • Flag of Russia
   Russia • Flag of Sweden  Sweden

   Countries that are in the drainage basin but do not border on the sea:
   Flag of Belarus  Belarus • Flag of Czech Republic  Czech Republic •
   Flag of Norway  Norway • Flag of Slovakia  Slovakia • Flag of Ukraine
   Ukraine
   European Union members and candidates

   Austria • Belgium • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia •
   Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Ireland • Italy •
   Latvia • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Malta • Netherlands • Poland •
   Portugal • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • United Kingdom

   Countries acceding on January 1, 2007: Bulgaria • Romania

   Candidate countries: Croatia • Turkey • Republic of Macedonia (referred
   to as the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia by the European Union)
   North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
   Flag of NATO

   Belgium • Bulgaria • Canada • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia •
   France • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Iceland • Italy • Latvia •
   Lithuania • Luxembourg • Netherlands • Norway • Poland • Portugal •
   Romania • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Turkey • United Kingdom •
   United States

   Candidate countries: Albania • Croatia • Republic of Macedonia (as
   FYROM)
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvia"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
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