Latvia and Riga

The area of Latvia is about 64 thousand square kilometers. The population of the Republic is 2,5 million people.

Riga - capital of Latvia is located on the Baltic Sea and a third of all Latvians live here (800 thousand inhabitants). Riga is more than 800 years old.

Riga was a major centre of the Hanseatic League, deriving its prosperity in the 13th–15th centuries from the trade with central and Eastern Europe.

Riga once was a fortified city, walled in by high ramparts with turrets and fortified gates. These walls were eventually torn down, though a few small sections remain with the so-called Swedish Gate being the oldest remaining portion and the Powder Tower.

Riga became an important economic centre in the 19th century, when the suburbs surrounding the medieval town were laid out, first with imposing wooden buildings in neoclassical style and then in Jugendstil (Art Nouveau). It is generally recognized that Riga has the finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe.

http://www.lv/
http://www.virtualriga.com/
http://www.rigathisweek.lv/
http://eng.meeting.lv/