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Latvia lies in Northern Europe, on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. Latvia lies in Northern Europe, on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea and northwestern part of the East European Craton (EEC), between latitudes 55° and 58° N (a small area is north of 58°), and longitudes 21° and 29° E (a small area is west of 21
Latvia, with Riga as its capital city, thus declared its independence on 18 November 1918. Between World War I and World War II (1918–1940), Riga and Latvia shifted their focus from Russia to the countries of Western Europe. The United Kingdom and Germany replaced Russia as Latvia's major trade partners.
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.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Latvia: Latvia – sovereign country located in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. [1] Latvia is bordered to the north by Estonia (343 km), to the south by Lithuania (588 km), and to the east both by Belarus (141 km) and the Russian Federation (276 km).
The flag of Latvia The coat of arms of Latvia. Latvia (/ ˈ l æ t v i ə / ⓘ LAT-vee-ə, sometimes / ˈ l ɑː t v i ə / LAHT-vee-ə; Latvian: Latvija ⓘ), officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south.
Livonia remained within the Russian Empire until the end of World War I, when it was split between the newly independent states of Latvia and Estonia. The United Baltic Duchy , alternately known as the "Grand Duchy of Livonia", proclaimed by the Baltic German nobility on 12 April 1918, was never recognised by any state, and dissolved at the ...
Other than peat, dolomite, and limestone, natural resources are scarce. Latvia has 504 km (313 mi) of sandy coastline, and the ports of Liepāja and Ventspils provide important warm-water harbors for the Baltic coast. Latvia is a small country with a land size of 64,559 km 2 (24,926 sq mi).
Latvia's capital city Riga, founded in 1201 by Germans at the mouth of the Daugava, became a strategic base in a papally-sanctioned conquest of the area by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. It was to be the first major city of the southern Baltic and, after 1282, a principal trading centre in the Hanseatic League.