Travelling Club - Latvia

Fact Sheet: Latvia

• Location: Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania
• Geographic coordinates: 57 00 N, 25 00 E
• Area: total: 64,589 sq km
• Climate: maritime; wet, moderate winters
• Terrain: low plain
• Natural hazards: NA
• Population: 2,274,735 (July 2006 est.)
• Ethnic groups: Latvian 57.7%, Russian 29.6%, Belarusian 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.7%, Polish 2.5%, Lithuanian 1.4%, other 2% (2002)
• Religions: Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox
• Languages: Latvian (official) 58.2%, Russian 37.5%, Lithuanian and other 4.3% (2000 census)
• Government type: parliamentary democracy
• Capital: name: Riga
• Currency code: Latvian lat (LVL)
• Exchange rates: lati per US dollar - 0.5647 (2005), 0.5402 (2004), 0.5715 (2003), 0.6182 (2002), 0.6279 (2001)
• Internet country code: .lv
• Airports: 46 (2006)