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Latvia |
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| Last reviewed: 31 March 2009 |
Country information
Area: 64,100 sq km (24,938 sq mi)
Population: 2.27m
Capital City: Riga (pop: 731,000)
People: 58.8% Latvian, 28.6% Russian, 3.8% Belarussian, 2.6% Ukrainian, 2.45% Polish, 3.7% Other
Languages: Latvian (state language), Russian
Religion(s): Lutheran, Catholicism, Russian Orthodox
Currency: Lat
Major political parties: Governing coalition: New Era, Greens and Farmers Union, People's Party, For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK and Civic Union. Opposition parties: First Party/ Latvia's Way, For Human Rights in United Latvia, Social Democratic Workers Party, and political association ‘Harmony Centre’
Government: Parliamentary Democracy
President: Mr Valdis Zatlers (elected May 2007)
Prime Minister: Valdis Dombrovskis (March 2009)
Foreign Minister: Maris Riekstins
Membership of international groupings/ organisations: Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), Council of Europe (COE), Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Union (EU), Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Maritime Organisation (IMO), Interpol, IOC, NATO, Organisation for Co-operation and Security in Europe (OSCE), Partnership for Peace (PfP), United Nations (UN), WEU (associate partner), World Health Organisation (WHO), WIPO, WMO, World Trade Organisation (WTO)
