Latvia
sovereign state in northeastern Europe From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Latvia (Latvian: Latvija), officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika), is a country in Northern Europe. The capital is Riga. It is one of the Baltic states, together with Estonia in the north and Lithuania in the south. Latvia's neighbours to the east are the countries Russia and Belarus. Latvia is divided into four parts: Kurzeme, Vidzeme, Zemgale, and Latgale.
People from Latvia are called Latvians. They speak the Latvian language, which is a little like the Lithuanian language but is not close enough to be understood. There are other peoples that live in Latvia, including the Germans and the Russians.
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History
Latvia was settled by the Baltic tribes thousands of years ago. They mainly fished, hunted, and traded.
German traders and crusaders came to Latvia at the end of the 12th century. Latvians lost control of their homeland. Over the next 800 years, Germans, Danes, Swedes, Poles, and Russians all invaded Latvia. Latvia finally became independent in 1918.
Between the 13th and the 15th centuries, the Teutonic Knights had a state that occupied Latvian territory.
Before World War I, the aristocracy was mainly German.
During the Great Northern War from 1700 to 1721, what is now Latvia became the part of the Russian Empire and were organized as Courland and Livonia.
Latvian workers took part in the revolutionary struggle in 1905.
In 1940, Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union. It was briefly under German occupation during World War II in from 1941 to 1944.
After the war, many factories were opened. Latvia became one of the more successful Soviet republics.
In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed, and Latvia had its independence restored.
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Politics
In Copenhagen on 13 December 2002, Latvia and nine other countries were invited to join the European Union. On 20 September 2003, Latvians held an election to vote on joining. Two thirds of Latvians voted to join, and on 1 May 2004, Latvia became a member of the EU.
Latvia has been a NATO member since 29 March 2004.
There are 43 local government units, set up in 2020. 36 are municipalities (Latvian: novadi) and 7 state cities. Before 2020 there were 110 municipalities and nine republic cities.[6]
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International rankings
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References
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