The ice-covered area during such a typical winter includes the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, Gulf of Riga, Väinameri in the Estonian archipelago, the Stockholm archipelago and the Archipelago Sea.

Today's capital, Riga, founded in 1201 by Teutonic colonists at the mouth of the Daugava, became a strategic base in a papally-sanctioned conquest of the area by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword.

Western merchants and missionaries began seeking control of the area during the 12th century, establishing the city of Riga, Latvia in 1201.

OMA Rotterdam: the head office is working on a master plan for the White City area of London ; a harbour redevelopment and contemporary art Museum in Riga, the Cordoba Congress Centre in Spain ; the redevelopment of the Mercati Generali in Rome, an architectural centre, offices and housing in Copenhagen, the new head office of Rothschild Bank in London and multi-use towers in Rotterdam and The Hague.

The area of western Prussia around Gdańsk was Christianized via Pomerania as well, and the monastery of Oliwa at Gdańsk was established at that time, while eastern Prussia was Christianized later via Riga by the Teutonic Knights.

With the formation of Monroe County the area became part of the Town of Riga before splitting off into its own Town of Chili on February 22, 1822.

The area now comprising the city of Jūrmala was formerly part of Riga, known as Rīgas Jūrmala.

In the 14th century the Archbishop of Riga built a stone castle around which a populated area was formed.

There are also several affluent streets and neighbourhoods in this area including the Quartier des Fleurs, Boulevard Lambermont, Place Meiser, Squares Huart-Hamoir and Francois Riga and Avenue Eugene Demolder )

3 of the National Armed Forces General Command, L. 18 / 44 from January 15, 1944, reads: " In the face of crossing of Polish boarders by Soviet forces, the Polish Government in London and its Polish citizens living on the territory of Poland express their unwavering desire for the return of the sovereignty to the entire area of Poland within the Polish boarders established prior to 1939 through the mutually-binding Treaty of Riga and reaffirmed by the general principles of the Atlantic Charter, as well as by the declarations of the Allied governments which did not concede to any territorial changes that took place in Poland after August 1939.

In the 17th-19th century the surrounding area of Salaspils was governed by the Salaspils Estate which, was established near the destroyed Order ’ s castle and was a part of Riga since 1630, and the Kurtes Estate which was situated in the territory of present Līvzemes street in Salaspils.

The area of the Gulf of Riga is about 18, 000 km².

Zolitude was the first residential area in Riga where the Lattelecom fibre optic Internet service was made available ( in January 2009 ), followed later by Kengarags, Purvciems, Plavnieki, Ziepniekkalns and other locations.

Flax was grown in considerable quantities in the area and supplemented imports from Riga and St Petersburg.

Charles, who has arrived at Riga on 23 September, learned of the Chodkiewicz force nearby and decided to destroy it with an attack of majority of Swedish force within the area.

Riga has traditionally been by far the party's strongest area, with 40 % of its voters in 1995 coming from the capital city.

During the Polish-Soviet War, the city was captured by the Polish Army, but it was later ceded to Soviet Russia in the 1921 Treaty of Riga, which determined the future of the area for the next seven decades as part of the Ukrainian SSR.

The first Scout troop in Latvia was established on April 17, 1917 under tsarist Russia, by Arvīds Bredermanis and other Scouts from Tartu, Estonia, followed by several other Scout troops in the Riga area.

His regiment under the command of colonel Punin L. was acting in the Riga area.

With an area of 16, 4 km² it is the largest island in the Gulf of Riga and the seventh largest island of Estonia.

After the Treaty of Riga the Polish-Soviet border was established in the area, running along the river.

Gunnar Birkerts (, born January 17, 1925 in Riga, Latvia ) is a Latvian-American architect who, for most of his career, was based in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Michigan.

Born in Riga in Livonia, then part of the Russian Empire, the Jewish German-speaking Nimzowitsch came from a wealthy family, where he learned chess from his father, who was a merchant.

The Archbishopric of Riga (, ) was an archbishopric in Medieval Livonia, a subject to the Holy See.

It was established in 1186 as the bishopric of Livonia at Üxküll, then after moving to Riga it became the bishopric of Riga in 1202 and was elevated to an archbishopric in 1255.

In the contemporary writing of the priest Henry of Livonia from Riga it is said that Bishop Theoderich was killed during the 1219 battle, when the enemy stormed his tent, thinking it was the King's tent.

One of the most extensive was perhaps the work done in Riga by Krisjanis Barons who between the years between 1894 and 1915 published six volumes including the texts of 217 996 Latvian folk songs ; the Latvju dainas.

The seashore adjoining the population centers around Riga was a major focus of tourism during the Soviet era.

Shortly after that Erik XIV started acting quickly lost any allies he was about to obtain, either from Magnus or the Archbishop of Riga.

Attacked from the north and south and facing the possibility of unrest elsewhere, Mindaugas was placed in an extremely difficult position, but managed to use the conflicts between the Livonian Order and the Archbishop of Riga to further his own interests.

The other bull specified that the new bishop was to be directly subordinate to the Holy See, rather than to the Archbishop of Riga.

Practically all the hemp and flax required by the Royal Navy for cordage and sailcloth was imported from the Russian dominions through the ports of St. Petersburg ( Kronstadt ) and Riga.

Pope Celestine III proclaimed a crusade against the Baltic heathens in 1195, which was reiterated by Pope Innocent III and a crusading expedition led by Meinhard's successor, Bishop Berthold of Hanover, landed in Livonia ( part of present-day Latvia, surrounding the Gulf of Riga ) in 1198.

On 10 October 1941 Heydrich was the senior officer at a meeting in Prague that discussed deporting 50, 000 Jewish people from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to ghettos in Minsk and Riga.

Eisenstein was born to a middle-class family in Riga, Latvia but his family moved frequently in his early years, as Eisenstein continued to do throughout his life.

The Polish – Soviet War was particularly bitter and ended by the Treaty of Riga in 1921.

Warmia was under the Church jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Riga until 1512, when Prince-Bishop Lucas Watzenrode received exempt status, placing Warmia directly under the authority of the Pope ( in terms of church jurisdiction ), which remained until the resolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806.

Wilhelm von Brandenburg ( 30 June 1498 – 4 February 1563 ) was the Archbishop of Riga from 1539 to 1561.

By the beginning of 1839 Richard Wagner was employed as a conductor at the Court Theatre in Riga.

Wagner was writing Rienzi and hatched a plan to flee his creditors in Riga, escape to Paris via London and make his fortune by putting Rienzi on to the stage of the Paris Opéra.

The ship at one point took refuge in the Norwegian fjords at Tvedestrand, and a trip that was expected to take 8 days finally delivered Wagner to London 3 weeks after leaving Riga.

The opera's first performance abroad was in Riga on 5 February 1855.

This action was supported by the Archbishop of Riga Frederic Lobestat.