Latvia

Capital of Latvia: Riga
Population of Latvia: 2,204,708
Total area of Latvia: 64,589 km2

Latvia is a small country also known as the Republic of Latvia. It is located in the northeastern part of Europe. Its flag consists of three horizontal stripes in dark red, followed by white, followed by dark red. Its coat of arms consists of two lions holding banner that contains the sun and two lions in the lower two quadrants. The coat of arms is topped by three yellow stars.

Latvia population

Latvia is multi-ethnic with about 68 percent being native Latvian, 12 percent being Russian, 7 percent being Jewish and the remainder being German and Polish. The indigenous people are called the Livonians. The total population exceeds 2 million people. The official language of Latvia is Latvian, which is a Baltic language. There is also the Livonian language and people speak Russian as well. Many schools teach both English and Russian. The biggest religious groups include those belonging to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity. There are also a few Jews. There are two major universities in Latvia, the Riga Technical and the University of Latvia.  

History of Latvia

Latvia was occupied by 3000 BCE by the pro-Baltic people. They converted to Christianity by war with German crusaders in the 12th century. Many Germans lived in the area in the 13th century. The land, together with parts of Estonia was called Livonia. The Livonian empire collapsed in the Renaissance era and Latvia fell under Lithuanian and Polish rule in the 1500s. After the Polish and Swedish War in 1600, the country became Swedish. It was highly influenced by Martin Luther and became a Lutheran state, for the most part. Part of Latvia became Russian in the 1700s. The plague, famine and war soon killed half the population. Latvia was devastated by WWI. It became independent in 1918. Its constitution was created in 1920. Latvia was occupied by Nazi Germany in WWII and later by the USSR. Many were deported to the Soviet Concentration Camps after WWII. It remained under Russian control until its complete independence in 1991.