a few words about Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, one of the three Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, and Belarus to the southeast, as well as a maritime border to the west alongside Sweden. Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2. The capital city is Riga, the European Capital of Culture 2014.
The country has a humid continental climate, with the average temperature in the summer hovering around 17⁰ C, with July being the warmest month. The coldest months are January and February, with average temperatures of -4.6⁰ C and -4.7⁰ C. The highest temperature ever observed in Latvia is 36.4⁰ C, and the lowest is -43.2⁰ C.
In the summer, the longest period of daylight per day is over 17 hours, while the shortest winter day is only around 7 hours.
Established in 1918, Latvia is a democratic parliamentary republic – however, between 1940 and 1991, Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union.
The official currency of Latvia is the Euro.
Photo Credits: Valdis Zvirgzdiņš & Aleksandrs Kendenkovs
