Conversely, the years of Russian and Soviet occupation tended to integrate Latvia's economy to serve those empires ' large internal industrial needs.

Latvia's state budget was balanced in 1997 but the 1998 Russian financial crisis resulted in large deficits, which were reduced from 4 % of GDP in 1999 to 1. 8 % in 2003.

By August 2009, Latvia's GDP had fallen by 20 % year on year, with S & P predicting a further 16 % contraction to come.

Ventspils GDP of 2007 per capita was LVL 7, 530, i. e. 16 % higher than Latvia's average GDP per capita ( LVL 6, 493 ) and 51 % higher than Courland region's average GDP per capita ( LVL 4, 979 ).

In 2008, the economic growth slowed down in all three Baltic states ( due to global financial crisis ), with Lithuania's real growth rate falling to 3. 0 %, Latvia's − 4. 6 % and Estonia's − 3. 6 %.

More than 60 % of the annual water volume of Latvia's six largest rivers comes from neighboring countries, mainly from Belarus and Lithuania.

He participated in the Wannsee Conference, and was largely responsible for implementing the extermination of Latvia's Jewish population ( Einsatzgruppe A killed over 250, 000 people in little less than six months ).

Representing 10. 2 % of Latvia's total foreign direct investment, American companies invested $ 127 million in 1999.

Undulating plains cover 75 % of Latvia's territory and provide the main areas for farming ; 25 % of the territory lies in uplands of moderate-sized hills.

In a recent survey, 60 % of Latvia's ethnic minorities described their knowledge of Latvian as fluent.

After Latvia's independence in 1918, the population of ethnic Latvians in the city grew substantially, but Jews still made up slightly over a quarter of the population ( 25. 4 % in 1935.

As 48 % of Latvia's population was ethnically non-Latvian ( mostly people who had moved to Latvia from other parts of the Soviet Union ), Tautas Fronte reached out to ethnic minorities.

Tēvzemei un Brīvībai won 29 % of vote and 4 of Latvia's 9 seats in the 2004 European Parliament election.

Today about 27, 6 % of Latvia's population are ethnic Russians.

The proposal gained support of 24, 88 % of voters which was far from enough to be adopted ( it should, however, be mentioned that a large part of the Russian-speaking community in Latvia or 14. 1 % of Latvia's entire population could not vote in this referendum because since 1991 they have held non-citizen status and thus have no right to vote ).

On June 14, 1987, the anniversary of the 1941 deportations, the human rights group " Helsinki-86 ", which had been founded a year earlier, organised people to place flowers at the Freedom Monument ( Latvia's symbol of independence that was erected in 1935 ).

It was unsuccessful in the elections for Latvia's Saeima ( parliament ) later that year, as well as in the 2001 municipal elections.

Ancient Baltic peoples appeared during the second millennium BC and four distinct tribal realms in Latvia's territories were identifiable towards the end of the first millennium AD.

The first hydroelectric station — Ķegums Hydro Power Plant — was built during Latvia's independence period.

On June 1 and 2, 1988, the Writers ' Union held a congress during which the democratisation of society, Latvia's economic sovereignty, the cessation of immigration from the USSR, the transformation of industry and the protection of Latvian language rights were discussed by delegates.

She joined politics in 1988, during Latvia's independence movement, and was a deputy chairwoman and one of the founders of Latvian Popular Front, the main pro-independence political organization.

* On 20 January 1991, the Soviet Riga OMON attacked Latvia's Interior Ministry, killing six people during the January 1991 events following the republic's declaration of independence.

He first entered politics in 1988 as one of the founders of the Latvian National Independence Movement ( LNNK ), a political organization promoting Latvia's independence from the Soviet Union.

This recovery was interrupted twice, first by a banking crisis and the bankruptcy of Banka Baltija, Latvia's largest bank, in 1995 and second by a severe crisis in the financial system of neighbouring Russia in 1998.

Latvia appealed the decision to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that Latvia's emergence from totalitarian rule brought about by the occupation of Latvia had not been sufficiently taken into account, and on March 16, 2006, the court ruled 13-4 that Zhdanok's rights had not been violated.

The Gauja is one of Latvia's most attractive, relatively clean rivers and has an adjoining large Gauja National Park along both of its banks as one of its notable features.

After the Bolsheviks were driven from what is now Latvia and Soviet Russia recognized Latvia's independence, in August 1920, it proved impossible to draw the border precisely along ethnographic lines because of the multicultural character of the borderlands ; once the frontier was negotiated ( the border was not finalized until April 7, 1923 ), large communities of Latvians were left on the Russian side and large Russian and Belarusian communities were left on the Latvian side.

The International Monetary Fund suggested a devaluation of Latvia's currency, but the European Union objected to this, on the grounds that the majority of Latvia's debt was denominated in foreign currencies.

* Finland recognised Latvia's independence de facto on September 23, 1919, and de jure on January 21, 1921.

Latvia's principal river, the Daugava River, was at the head of an important mainland route from the Baltic region through Russia into southern Europe and the Middle East used by the Vikings and later Nordic and German traders.

Due to Latvia's strategic location and prosperous city, its territories were a frequent focal point for conflict and conquest between at least four major powers, the State of the Teutonic Order ( later Germany ), the Polish – Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden and Russia.

Latvia's independent status was interrupted at the outset of World War II when in 1940 the country was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941, then retaken by the Soviets in 1944 after Germany surrendered.

Latvia's only distinct border is the Baltic Sea coast, which extends for 531 kilometers.

Latvia's proximity to the sea brings high levels of humidity and precipitation, with average annual precipitation of in Riga.

This precipitation has helped provide the abundant water for Latvia's many rivers and lakes, but it has created many problems as well.

Through all this time, Latvia remained largely under Baltic German hegemony, with Baltic Germans comprising the largest land-owners, a situation which did not change until Latvia's independence.

Latvia's indigenous population has been ravaged numerous times throughout history.

In the 5 – 6 June 1993 elections, with a turnout of over 90 %, eight of Latvia's 23 registered political parties passed the four percent threshold to enter parliament.

Between local elections in 2001 and Saeima elections in 2002, two new parties formed: the conservative New Era Party led by Einars Repše and Christian Democratic Latvia's First Party.

The government was a coalition of ZZS, TP ( People's party ), and LPP ( First Party ); the coalition has only 46 out of 100 seats in Latvia's parliament, but was also supported by TSP, the leftist party of national harmony.

Industry served local markets, while timber, paper and agricultural products were Latvia's main exports.