2. Table of content
1. Overview: Politics, Geography and Population
2. Riga and Countryside
3. Economic, political and societal situation
4. History
5. Cuisine Culture
6. Sources
3. Politics, geography and population
President: Andris Bērziņš
Prime Minister: Valdis Dombrovskis
Unitary parliamentary republic Bordered to
Estonia (north)
Member of the EU since 2004 Russia (east)
Belarus (southeast)
Lithuania (south)
Territory: 64,589 km2
Switzerland: 41,285 km2
Capital: Riga
Population: 2,217,053 inhabitants
62.1% Latvians
26.9% Russians
3.3% Belarusians
2.2% Ukrainians
2.2% Poles
4. Riga
About 700,000 inhabitants ->
largest city in the Baltic region
Latvians 42.5%, Russians 40.7%
Centre is UNESCO World
Heritage Site, Jugendstil
5. Riga
The river Daugava has been an important trade route for the Vikings
Development in early Middle Ages, Hanseatic League member in 1282
Hansa as stability and growth factor in politics and economics
6. Latvia‘s countryside
• Wildlife include
deer, bear, wolves, lynx,
moose
• Daugava 1020km from
Russia, through
Belarus, ending in the
Gulf of Riga
• Gaiziņkalns 312m
7. GDP, HDI and Economics
GDP per capita (PPP): $15,662 (56% of EU average in 2008)
HDI: 0,805 (43rd) = very high
Member of WTO since 1999
Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index: 48th, flawed democracy
Human Rights generally respected
Recent economic development:
Rapid economic growth before 2008
(above EU average)
Latvian financial crisis 2008-2010
Easy credit market burst
Export oriented economy (20% of GDP)
-10.5% GDP growth in 2008
-18% GDP growth in 2009
23% unemployment rate in 2009
Since the beginning of 2010 slow
economic recovery
Introduction of Euro targeted in 2014
8. Societal conflicts
After Latvians independence in
1991, anyone who„s forebears arrived
after 1940 did not automatically get
citizenship
About 50% of the Russians (300,000)
Cannot vote in elections, hold public office or
work in government institutions
Russian officially foreign language
Initially strict conditions have been
relaxed, but...
...still there are cultural clashes!
“There's no need for a second language. Whoever wants, can use their language at
home or in school"
Latvian President Andris Berzins
"I think that over the past 20 years Russian residents of Latvia have been humiliated by
authorities, by endless attempts either to assimilate or make them second-class
citizens” Vladimir Linderman, co-chairman of Native Tongue
9. History: Latvia before the Soviet Union
Proto-Baltic ancestors of the Latvian people settled in the Balctic area at
about 3000 BC
Establishing of trade routes to Rome and Byzantium
German crusader, sent by the Pope, sailed up the Daugava River in order to
seek converts in the 12th century
Germans ruled large parts of today„s Latvia in the 13th century
Dynamic changes during Reformation period
Livonian War (1558-1583) – Livona (Latvia) under Polish and Lithuanian rule
Polish-Swedish War (1600-1611) – Livonia under Swedish rule
The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (including Latvia) became a Russian province
in 1795
Young Latvian movement -> First National Awakening in the end of 19th century
Around 1917/1918 Russian Revolution and the end of WW I lead to a power vacuum
In February, 1922 a freely elected constituend assembly the liberal constitution
Satversme, which is Latvia„s today constitution!
10. History: Latvia during Soviet Union
The Baltic states got annexed first 1940 and again from 1944-1991 by the
Soviet Union
Infliction of uniformity
Sovietization to extinguish national identity of Baltic people
Russification of education
Creation of a Soviet national identity
Russian language compulsory
Limited expression in literature and visual arts
Song festivals remained mean of national self-expression
Deportations
11. History: the Singing Revolution
Introduction Glasnost and Perestroika by M.
Gorbachev in 1985
Rescission of limitations on political freedoms
Enforcing factors for discontent among
Baltic states
Revealing of previously withhold issues
War in Afghanistan
Chernobyl
Access to Finish (Western) TV
Upcoming campaigns and demonstrations among the Baltic states against the
Soviet Union from 1987-1989
Congress for protection of Latvian language rights, democratisation of
society, economic sovereignty, cessation of immigration from the USSR, etc.
In August 23, 1989, people from all three Baltic countries held an enormous
demonstration of unity: the Baltic Way - a 600 km long “chain” of human
beings from Talinn through Riga to Vilnus
13. Sources
International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
Baltic Thaw, Aegean freeze", The Economist, 27 February
2010, p59
Latvijas Statistika 2010, retrieved 2010/06/06
Wikipedia
Spiegel Online
Welcome to Latvia – Folk Songs
Typical Latvian Food and Drink Recipes