Geography

Area	64.589 km2
Population	About 2,341 millions, Latvians 58%, Russians 30%, Belarusians 4%, less Ukrainians and Poles
Borders	Estonia 343 km, Russia 282 km, Belarus 167 km, Lithuania 576 km
Capital	Riga
Degree of Urbanisation	60%
Language	Estonian (official), Russian, Ukrainian, Finnish, other
Time zone	Central European Time + 1 hour
Structure	26 counties (singular - rajons) and 7 municipalities
Religion	Evangelical Lutheran 55%, Catholics 24%, Russian-Orthodox 9%, Catholics 24%
Nature	Low plain, most of the country is composed of fertile, low-lying plains, with some hills in the east
Climate	Transitional, between maritime and continental; wet, moderate winters and summers.

Politics

State	Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika)
Form of government	Parliamentary democracy
National day	Independence Day, 18 November (1918)
Head of the State	Vaira VIKE-FREIBERGA (since 8 July 1999)
Prime Minister	Prime Minister Aigars KALVITIS (since 2 December 2004)
Parliament	Unicameral Parliament or Saeima (100 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)

Economy

Currency	1 Lats (Ls)= 100 Santims
GDP (04)	13,7 billion USD
GDP per capita (04)	11,500 USD
GDP growth (04)	7,6%
Inflation (05)	6%
External trade (03)	Exports: 3.569 billion USD; wood and wood products, machinery and equipment, metals, textiles, foodstuffs Imports: 5.97 billion USD; machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, vehicles
Unemployment rate (04)	8.8%
Major industries	Buses, vans, street and railroad cars, synthetic fibers, agricultural machinery, fertilizers, washing machines, radios, electronics, pharmaceuticals, processed foods, textiles; note - dependent on imports for energy and raw materials