According to ezinereligion, in 2007, the population of Latvia was estimated to be around 2.2 million people, with Latvians making up approximately 57% of the population and other ethnic minorities such as Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Poles making up the remaining 43%. The economy in 2007 was largely based on manufacturing and services, although there had been a steady increase in foreign direct investment due to its strategic location between eastern Europe and Scandinavia. In terms of foreign relations, Latvia had strong ties with its European neighbors, as well as with Russia. Politically, Latvia was a parliamentary republic led by the Prime Minister; the Saeima served as the legislature and elections were held every four years for both offices. In 2007, Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis was re-elected amid allegations of electoral fraud.
Yearbook 2007
Latvia. In February, at least 22 people were killed in a fire in a substandard care home for disabled people in western Latvia. The disaster triggered harsh criticism against the government, which was accused of wanting to shine on the EU’s highest GDP growth rate but failed to provide sufficient resources for the care of people with disabilities. According to CountryAAH, Riga is the capital city of Latvia. Many demanded the departure of the Minister of Social Affairs, and after she had dealt with the aftermath of the disaster, she resigned in the fall.
After record growth of almost 12 percent in 2006, the Latvian economy was plagued by overheating, labor shortages, sharp wage increases in some industries, rising inflation and price increases. Rumors of devaluation of the Latvian currency flourished during the year, creating uncertainty in the financial market.
- According to abbreviationfinder: LV is the 2-letter acronym for the country of Latvia.
After ten years of waiting, Latvia was able to sign a border agreement with Russia in February when Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis traveled to Moscow on a unique Latvian government visit there. Russia has long delayed signing, including demanding increased political rights for the Russian minority in Latvia.
The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg, declared during the year that Latvia’s Russian-speaking residents should be granted membership on equal terms with the Latvians. Although born in the country, the Russians do not automatically gain citizenship if their ancestors came to the country during the Soviet occupation.
In May, the majority in Latvia’s parliament appointed 52-year-old surgeon Valdis Zatlers as the country’s new president. The government’s nomination of the politically inexperienced Zatlers was criticized by the opposition, who said it wanted to reduce the presidential power and increase its own influence. Zatler himself was criticized for receiving unrecognized gifts from patients in his work as a doctor, a widespread phenomenon in Latvian care where wages are low. In July, Zatlers succeeded the nearly 70-year-old Vaira Vīke-Freiberga, who during his presidency had shown great independence from the government.
When the government decided in October to dismiss the head of the country’s anti-corruption authority, a popular protest wave was triggered demanding the government’s departure. The protesters were supported by President Zatler, who felt the decision was wrong and the government had to resign. The government was also criticized for failing to fight inflation and for not compensating poor pensioners for the sharp rise in prices. Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis fell into disarray, and in early December he filed his and the entire government’s resignation application.
Ivars Godmanis, leader of the Latvian Road and former leader of the People’s Front and government head when Latvia became independent in 1991. was appointed as new Prime Minister. freedom.
In December, the EU court declared that the Swedish building union’s blockade against a Latvian construction company in Vaxholm in 2004 violated the free movement within the EU. The company had been blocked because no Swedish collective agreement had been concluded. The blockade drove the company into bankruptcy.
Latvia weather in March, April and May
Average daily temperatures between 2 ° C and 16 ° C can be expected over the next three months. In Riga, May is still the mildest, while March is noticeably colder..
Do you want to go on a beach holiday? The water temperatures are in March, April and May between 0 and 9 ° C. So the weather is not suitable for swimming.
The expected rainfall is around 8 days in March, around 10 days in April and around 8 days in May.
In the period from March to May the sun shines on average between 4 and 9 hours a day. The sunniest weather in Riga is in May, but with less sun you will have to get by in March.
Riga
Riʹga, Latvian Rīga, capital of Latvia; 643,400 residents (2014). Riga, located at Daugava 15 km from its mouth in the Gulf of Riga, is the country’s cultural and economic center. The city has a diverse business structure. In addition to management and trade, the engineering industry dominates. Today’s production includes electrical engineering products, machine tools, means of transport and consumer goods. Riga is also the country’s leading communications center, with a port that is ice-free 8-10 months a year and a large international airport. In 2014, Riga was the European Capital of Culture.
Riga began to be built in the 12th century, and the interior of the city, which was listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 1997, still has an old-fashioned touch with, among other things. the brick cathedral, begun in the 13th century. Riga was fortified with a city wall in the 13th and 16th centuries. In the 1600s, the city’s fortifications were modernized under the leadership of Erik Dahlbergh and a citadel was built adjacent to the old town center. In the middle of the 19th century, the city walls and bastions were demolished, and in their place a semi-circular ring of parks and boulevards was built with monumental buildings and residential blocks. Here eclecticism reigns, mainly in the neo-Renaissance language. Increased construction at the beginning of the 20th century led Riga to concentrate on Art Nouveau architecture. The masterpiece in this ornamental decorative style is Alberta iela (1903–06).
History
Riga, first mentioned in written sources in 1198, became the city of 1201. Its economic and military strategic location at the outlet of Daugava during the 13th century gave the city a central position in German efforts to control trade and exercise military political supremacy over the southeastern Baltic region. Riga became 1255 archbishop’s seat and 1282 a member of Hansan, while the German words used the city as a base for penetration of new areas in the east.
Since the words 1561 in connection with the so-called Livelian war 1558–83 submitted to the Polish king, Riga was for twenty years a free merchant city, before it was incorporated with Poland in 1581 and in 1621 became an administrative support point in the Swedish great power. As a result of a long siege during the Great Nordic War, in 1710, Riga succumbed to Russian troops and in 1796 became the center of Russia’s lifelong government.
During the 19th century, Riga developed into an industrial city with an explosively growing working population. Between temporary German conquests during both World War I and World War II, Riga was the capital of free Latvia. Riga was occupied by Soviet troops in June 1940 and captured by the German army in early July 1941, destroying parts of the city. Further devastation occurred in connection with the Red Army’s return to Riga in October 1944. Between November 29 and December 9, 1941, approximately 28,000 of Riga’s Jews were murdered in nearby Rumbula. Of the city’s Jews, thousands more were deported to concentration and extermination camps during the German occupation. In Riga, in 1946, a number of Germans were put on trial for war crimes and the annihilation of Latvia’s Jews. Seven of them were sentenced to death and executed.
As the center of the Latvian Soviet Republic, the city was further industrialized after 1945. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, it is again the Latvian capital.
In Riga, the Russian Soviet Republic, on August 11, 1920, made peace with Latvia and on October 12, 1920, provisional peace, and on March 18, 1921, final peace with Poland. Poland recognized Ukraine and Belarus as independent Soviet republics. The border was drawn 15-25 miles east of Poland’s present eastern border. One million Belarusians and nearly four million Ukrainians ended up on the Polish side.