Several high-ranked government officials, including the head of Latvia's state revenue service, were fired or resigned.

The holder of the state capital share is Latvia's Ministry of Transport.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

However, by 2010 there were indications that Latvia's policy of internal devaluation was successful.

Imants Ziedonis, one of Latvia's most important poets and folklorists of the Soviet and post-Soviet eras, was born in the Jūrmala district.

Latvian music: Its traditional long suppressed or appropriated by the Soviet Union, Latvia's kokle ( an instrument similar to a zither ) was revived and popular in the 1970s, led by Jānis Porikis.

In 1986, it became widely known to the public that the USSR was planning to build another hydroelectric power plant on Latvia's largest river Daugava, and that a decision had been made to build a subway in Riga.

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 ).

Over the course of this conference, for the first time in post-war Latvia, the secret protocol of the " Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact ", which had determined Latvia's fate after 1939, was publicly acknowledged.

On October 7, 1988, there was a mass public demonstration, calling for Latvia's independence and the establishment of regular judicial order.

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 ).

From 1991 to 2001, Repše was the president of the Bank of Latvia ( Latvia's central bank ).

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 ).

At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Irbe was Latvia's flag-bearer in the opening ceremonies.

Tautas padome ( Latvian: " People's Council ") or People's Council of Latvia was a temporary council which declared Latvia's independence in 1918 and then acted as a temporary parliament until a Constitutional Assembly ( Satversmes sapulce ) was elected.

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.

Their task was to assist with the murder of Latvia's Jewish citizens.

After Latvia declared independence, Kalniete worked in Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as Latvia's ambassador to the UN ( from 1993 to 1997 ), France ( from 1997 to 2000 ) and UNESCO ( from 2000 to 2002 ).

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

In its relations with Latvia, the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation at times brings up the history of the Pērkonkrusts movement as evidence of present-day Latvia's " fascist " heritage.

He is the son of Russian television journalist Vladimir A. Kara-Murza, great-grandson of Latvian revolutionary Voldemārs Bissenieks ( 1884 – 1938 ), great-grand-nephew of Latvia's first Ambassador to Great Britain Georgs Bissenieks ( 1885-1941 ), and of Latvian agronomist and publisher Jānis Bissenieks ( 1864-1923 ).

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.

Despite Latvia's assurances that it makes no territorial claims, Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed that Latvian wishes to get control of the area and that such claims are against the spirit of Europe.

All of Latvia's entries have been performed in English, except for three entries: in 2004, Fomins & Kleins performed " Dziesma par laimi " for Latvia in Latvian ; In 2007 when Bonaparti. lv performed Questa Notte in Italian and in 2009, Intars Busulis, having won Eirodzeisma 2009 with " Sastrēgums " in Latvian, performed the song in Russian as " Probka " ( Пробка ).

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 %.

In this capacity he helped to establish Latvia as the EU candidate country and led the accession negotiations, which resulted in Latvia's successful accession to the EU in 2004.

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.

Latvia's economy experienced GDP growth of more than 10 % per year during 2006-07, but entered a severe recession in 2008 as a result of an unsustainable current account deficit and large debt exposure amid the softening world economy.

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 ).

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

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.

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.

During the third awakening of the Latvian people, when Latvia regained independence, Kalniņš took part actively in Tautas Fronte ( Popular Front ) political organization, which played the most important part in ending Latvia's occupation by the USSR.

The United States, which had never recognized Latvia's forcible annexation by the U. S. S. R., recognized Latvian independence on September 2 and resumed full diplomatic relations with Latvia on September 5.

Latvia's Dinamo Rīga team was one of eleven teams which played in the first Soviet championship tournament in the winter of 1946 / 1947.

On August 3, 1922, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the " Regulations on Money " which introduced the lats as Latvia's national currency.

During the Soviet period, VEF specialized in electronics and was a part of Latvia's electronic industry, which supplied the former Soviet Union with telecommunications equipment and electronics for the military.

It has two members in Latvia's parliament, the Saeima, and belongs to the National Alliance, which has eight seats.