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5 Economy

Main article: Economy of Latvia

Latvia's transitional economy recovered from the 1998 Russian financial crisis, largely due to the previous government's budget stringency and a gradual reorientation of exports toward EU countries, lessening Latvia's trade dependency on Russia. The majority of companies, banks, and real estate have been privatised. Latvia officially joined the World Trade Organisation in February 1999 and the European Union in May 2004. The high current account deficit remains a major concern.

6 Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Latvia

Less than 60% of the population of Latvia are ethnic Latvians. About 30% is Russian, whose wellbeing is a continuing concern for Russia. In the larger cities, such as Riga and Daugavpils, Russians outnumber Latvians. Sizeable minorities from other countries such as Belarus, Ukraine and Poland also live in Latvia.

Latvian, a member of the Baltic languages, is the country's only official language, but Russian is also widely spoken. The population is largely Christian, divided between the Lutheran, Catholic and Russian Orthodox Churches. Another religion is Dievturi (The Godkeepers), which has historical roots based on preChristian era mythology.

7 Culture

8 International rankings

Reporters Without Borders world-wide press freedom index 2004: Rank 10 out of 167 countries
Environmental Sustainability Index 2002 Rank 10 out of all countries

9 Miscellaneous topics

10 External links

10.1 Government

The Latvian Institute - official government site with various factual materials about Latvia in several languages (en, de, fr, fi, se, ru - depending on the material)
Cabinet of Ministers - Official governmental site
President's Chancery - Official presidential site
Saeima - Official parliamentary site (in Latvian)

10.2 Other

CIA - The World Factbook -- Latvia - CIA's Factbook on Latvia
Welcome to Latvia - Wide collection of Latvian links
Latvians Online - Popular online Latvian community
latvians.com - Latvian identity in exile
Toronto Zinas - World's only bilingual Latvian e-zine
Wikitravel guide

European Union (EU)
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North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)
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Latvia Republics

Politics	Business	Finance

Topics: Latvia County Latvian Riga Official Main Article Russia Russian...

LatviaThe Republic of Latvia ( Latvian: Latvijas Republika , or Latvia ( Latvian: Latvija , is a republic in Northeastern Europe. Bordering the Baltic Sea, Latvia is known as one of the Baltic States, together with Estonia and Lithuania, which border the nation	Latvian languageLatvian also called Lettish is a language spoken by 1. 5 million people primarily by the Latvian population in Latvia, where it is the official language, and secondarily by the non-Latvian population in the same country. Latvian is an inflective language	LatvianThe term Latvian can mean: Anything related to Latvia, its culture, population. the Latvian language.
Latvian GambitThe Latvian Gambit is an aggressive chess opening in which Black gives up a pawn early on in the hope of gaining the initiative. It was formerly known as the Greco Counter Gambit until the new name was made official by the FIDE Congress of 1937. The new n	Latvian mythologyLatvian mythology as being Baltic mythology is very close to Lithuanian mythology Latvian mythology is based primarily off collections of folklore and song texts. Much of the information presented herein, and in the best sources on the subject, is purely	Latvian National Independence Movement (LNNK)The Latvian National Independence Movement Latvijas Nacionls Neatkaribas Kustiba or LNNK was a political organization in Latvia from 1988 till mid-1990s. It formed in 1988, as the radical wing of Latvian nationalist movement. Unlike the mainstream Latvian
Latvians	Latvian Socialist Party	Latvian SSR
Latvian Way	Latvian Social Democratic Labour Party	Latvian Green Party
Latvian alphabet	Latvian parliamentary election, 2002	Latvian parliamentary election, 1998

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