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Riga was founded in 1201, and is a former Hanseatic League member. Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. [13] Riga was the European Capital of Culture in 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden.
The history of Riga, the capital of Latvia, begins as early as the 2nd century with a settlement, the Duna urbs, at a natural harbor not far upriver from the mouth of the Daugava River. Later settled by Livs and Kurs , it was already an established trade center in the early Middle Ages along the Dvina-Dnieper trade route to Byzantium.
Riga Motor Museum (Rīgas motormuzejs) - a collection of retro motorcycles and automobiles, including some of the first motorcycles and remnants of the Soviet era, for example, Brezhnev's and Stalin's armoured limousines with waxworks of these political figures; located in Mežciems. Riga Radio and TV Tower - the third highest tower in Europe.
In 2013 Riga hosted the annual Northern Future Forum, a two-day informal meeting of the prime ministers of the Nordic-Baltic countries and the UK. [148] The Enhanced Partnership in Northern Europe or e-Pine is the U.S. Department of State diplomatic framework for co-operation with the Nordic-Baltic countries. [149]
St. Alexander Nevsky Church, Riga Brīvības iela ( Freedom Street ) is the central street of Riga , the capital and most populous city of Latvia . It is more than 12 km long, cutting across all of Riga, from the historical centre to the outskirts.
Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians, who are the titular nation and comprise 63.0% of the country's population, belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population; 37.7% of the population speak Russian as their native tongue.
Riga was dominated first by Germans, later by Sweden and then by Russian Empire until Latvia, with Riga as its capital city, thus declared its independence on 18 November 1918. After World War II Latvia was incorporated in to Soviet Union, however it restored its independence in early 1990s. In 2001, Riga celebrated its 800th anniversary as a city.
Centrs ("The Centre") is a neighbourhood of Riga, the capital of Latvia, which includes the central part of the city minus Old Riga. [1] Much of it is administered as a part of the city's Central District, while parts are included within the Northern District and the Vidzeme and Latgale suburbs.