Welcome to Latvia

Labdian, Prieks iepazities, mani sauc Margie Roselle Opay , jusu dienas reportieris! Bow

If you don’t already have connection to Latvia, chances are it may not have crossed your mind as
a potential destination for your next trip. But this Baltic nation has more than a few surprises hidden
amidst its lush pine forests and architecturally rich cities and towns. Here in my presentation I am
about to show you are reasons to add Latvia to your travel wish list. So let’s get started!

 Welcome to “Discover Latvia” Tours: Experience it All

Geographical Location

Latvia is the central country of the Baltic States(Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) and is located in
North-eastern Europe on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. It has an extensive network of rivers,
thousands of lakes and hundreds of undeveloped seashore lined by pine forests, dunes, and continuous
white sand beaches

Map of Latvia:

Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzeme, Latgale

Government

According to the Constitution (Satverseme), Latvia is parliamentary republic in which the sovereign
power belongs to the people, who are represented by a unicameral parliament(Saeima)

Language

Latvian is a Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region. Latvian is the official language of Latvia.
To feel more comfortable while enjoying your holiday in Latvia, you have to understand the useful
expressions and words in the Latvian language that will certainly make communicating with the people
of Latvia easier and the journey even more pleasant!

Political System

Saeima- consistinf of 100 members who are elected by proportional presentation with seats
allocated to the political parties which gain a t least 5% of the popular vote.

 Latvia de iure, Citizens, Saeima, President, Government, The Law, Judiciary

 List of Presidents

There are five living former Latvian Presidents. The president of Latvia is head of state and Commander
in Chief of the armed forces of the Republic of Latvia.

Natinonal Anthem

Whats good to see & do in Latvia at the moment?

Top 10 Food to Try in Latvia

It’s fair to say that Latvian cuisine has yet to set the culinary world alight. But if you’re planning
a visit to Latvia and wondering what on earth to expect, here’s a novice guide to the local foods to try
here at Latvia’s best of the best. At first some of the dishes might seem odd, but if you are open to an
unforgettable gastronomic journey in Latvia, you’ll want to take all the food back to your home.

Top 10 Places to Visit in Latvia

There’s plenty to see and do within striking distance of Latvia’s capital, whether you’ve forked
out for hire car or not. Here are our top 10 destinations within 90 minutes driving time of Riga or
elsewhere.

Cesis Medieval Castle- is one of the most significant medieval castles in Latvia- the influential
Livonian order for several centuries had its centre here.

Riga- When visiting Riga, time is essential: spending a whole week in the city is more likely to
discover the hidden gems of Riga. Nonetheless, even the most pressed for time can disover the charm
of Riga’s Old Town and perhaps see some of the stunning architecture Art Nouveau District. Naturally,
the life of the city begins in the Old Town, where the most popular restaurants and tourist spots.

Symbols of Latvia

Latvia’s official and unofficial symbols

Coat of Arms – the sun in the middle of the piece symbolizes national statehood, and has 17 rays
symbolizing 17- Latvian innabited districts. The 3 stars are an inclusion of the historical district (united
Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzeme, and Latgale). Western and southwestern Latvia are represented by the red
lion, while the northeastern and southeastern Latvia are represented by the silver
 We’ve reached the Baltic once again. If you don’t know anything about the Baltics, it basically
goes like this. Estonia and Lithania lives right next to Latvia. Welcome to the first sister of the creepy
Baltic twins. Look Im sorry, I called it the creepy Baltic sisters but its kind of true.

Latvia is one of those countries that just kind of naturally exudes this ambience of charming
mystical dark undertones surrounded by subtle flares of despair and they’re cool with it. Seriously,
Latvia does come with an incredibly vibrant culture rooted in unique traditions found almost nowhere
else on earth. Lets find out where it all goes down in.

Political Geography

Let’s jump in, Latvia is located in the Northern European region known as the Baltics due to the
location on the Baltic Sea, surrounded by four other countries. The country is divided into 110
municipalities and 9 republic cities with the capital of Riga, located along the aptly named Gulf of Riga.
Yeah, that’s right. A 110 municipalities.

But keep in mind though, most Latvians like to reference the five historical regions of Latvia for
cultural distinction, Courland, Zemgale, Kurzeme, Vidzeme, and Latgale. Speaking of a Courland, fun
side note, Latvians actually once colonized Africa and the Carribean under the Duchy of Courland.

Anyway. The largest cities after Riga are Daugaupils and Liepaja. Now riga may be the capital but
it’s a river city, on the Daugava River, not a port city. So most shipments must come in either at
Ventspils or on Liepaja on the Baltic coast.

The funny things is even though Latvia has a decent sized coast, it owns virtually none of the
islands that comes with it. Even this little guy Rhunu, which belongs to Estonia even though it’s closer to
Latvia’s mainland.

Latvians Is also famous for the blue cows of Kurzeme

Okay, moving on……

Language

Now its often said that if you want to learn how Europeans were speaking in the Stone Age,
learn Latvian and Lithuanian. Today Latvian and Lithuanian are the only two Baltic languages left in
existence. The last relative Old Prussian went extinct in the 19th century. Basically these two languages
are related and even have some similar worlds like Labvakars vs labas vakaras. And they both used
sveiki. Basically, Latvians told me that to them, Lithuanina sounds like an older more ancient version of
Latvian. And keep in mind most Latvians learn at least a little bit of Russian since a quarter of their
population is Russian. However, English is more favored for business and global outreach.
 Tourist

Now if there’s one thing about Latvia that makes it stick out, it would have to be the
architecture. Riga is famously known for it’s Noveau style buildings, which won the title of “European
Capital of Culture back in 2014”. The city has over 4,000 historic wooden buildings more than any
European city and of course if you Google Latvia, its hard not to come across the most iconic building,
The House of Blackheads, originally built in the 1400s. It was bomb in World War II and rebuilt. Its
beautiful but the country does come with an austere backdrop.

Back in the Soviet times, things got pretty morbid and you still see the residue to this very day.
You can see ghost towns that were once used to house Soviet officials and their families. The Latvian
kind of use this tot their advantage though. They even took military prison and made it into the worlds
creepiest hotel, the Karosta Military Prison Hotel, in which you can pay to be treated like a prisoner of
war in world war II Nazi Germany times. Your accommodation include: getting yelled at and arrested,
sent to a dark damp gritty room with no beds. Only a matress and blankets on floor. No rom=om service
and you get locked in your room

Speaking of which some other places of interest might include:

All right that covers that. Now we get to Latvia’s 10 Latvian Foods You Need to Try

Agriculture wise, Latvians love three things: Meat and dairy and potatoes. Almost every meal
will have these things. If you don’t know anything about the Baltic cuisine basically, its heart heavy
meals with rye bread lots of butter and fat with little or no spices, except for maybe dill and caraway
seeds. They love caraway. They even put it in their cheese. Of course, they also have their own
specialties like:

Symbols

Oh, and the national animals are the white wagtail bird and the two spotted ladybug. However
Latvians Is also famous for the blue cows of Kurzeme

Okay, moving on……

Language

Now its often said that if you want to learn how Europeans were speaking in the Stone Age,
learn Latvian and Lithuanian. Today Latvian and Lithuanian are the only two Baltic languages left in
existence. The last relative Old Prussian went extinct in the 19th century. Basically these two languages
are related and even have some similar worlds like Labvakars vs labas vakaras. And they both used
sveiki. Basically, Latvians told me that to them, Lithuanina sounds like an older more ancient version of
Latvian. And keep in mind most Latvians learn at least a little bit of Russian since a quarter of their
population is Russian. However, English is more favored for business and global outreach.
 First of all Latvia has two million people and has the second lowest ration of mean to women in
the world.The country is made up of 63% of people that identify as ethnically Latvian, about a quarter
are Russian and the rest are made up of other groups mostly Lithuanians, Belarusians