The Minox is a subminiature camera conceived in 1922 and invented in 1936 by German-Latvian Walter Zapp, which Latvian factory VEF ( Valsts Elektrotehniskā Fabrika ) manufactured from 1937 to 1943.

* VEF I-16, a Latvian fighter prototype built in 1940

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.

The five largest state companies were VEF, Radiotehnika, Alfa, Komutators and Elar ( which produced components for the other four ).

Jürgens contacted an English representative of the VEF ( Valsts Elektrotehniskā Fabrika ) electrotechnical manufacturing concern in Riga ( by then independent Latvia ) who then arranged a meeting where Zapp demonstrated the Minox prototype ( UrMinox ), with a set of enlargements made from Ur-Minox negatives.

; plural: bolívares fuertes ; ISO 4217 code: VEF ) is the currency of Venezuela since 1 January 2008.

Production began in Riga at VEF, running from 1937 until 1943.

Years of obscurity followed, even though Riga was always represented by teams like BK Skonto, Barons / LMT or VEF Riga.

VEF was established in April 1919 as Postal and Telegraph Department's repair workshops.

The company was renamed to VEF in 1932.

Between 1928 and 1933 VEF also produced a small, inexpensive car.

During 1960s VEF produced seven radios receivers and five phones every minute and two out of three phones in Soviet Union were produced by VEF.

In its peak in 1991, VEF employed 20, 000 people.

VEF was divided into six smaller companies, most of which no longer exist.

Three remaining ones, VEF KTR, VEF Telekom and VEF Radiotehnika-RRR employ between 100 and 200 people each.

Meanwhile in 1845 Georg Heinrich Ferdinand Nesselmann proposed a distinct language group for Latvian and Lithuanian to be called Baltic .< ref >

The Latvian name for the river, " Daugava " originated from the ancient Baltic words for " the great water " ( daudz ūdens ).

* Latvian Ministry for Foreign Affairs: relations with Finland

However, if both parents are non-citizens then the parents must take the extra step of choosing Latvian citizenship for their child — who is automatically entitled, but for whom citizenship is not automatic ( neither granted nor imposed ).

Though the election represented a victory for the center-right, personality conflicts and scandals within the two largest right of center parties – Latvian Way and the People's Party – prevented stable coalitions from forming.

Latvian government also spent significant amount of money for the ' YES ' campagain.

Other categories of persons not eligible for naturalization include convicted criminals, state officials and servicemen of armed forces of a foreign state, members of Communist Party as well as members of certain affiliate organizations, who, after 13 January 1991, have acted against the Latvian State.

As of November 2005, about 109, 000 persons have applied for naturalization and about 103, 000 of them have been granted Latvian citizenship.

As a transitional clause, the Latvian law allows dual citizenship for those who were forced to leave Latvia during the Soviet or Nazi occupation and adopted another citizenship while away from Latvia.

Since 1999, the education laws have forbidden the public universities to instruct students in languages other than Latvian ( there are exclusions made for linguistics, some international projects and non-budget groups ).

The law included a provision allowing for instruction in Latvian only in public high schools since 2004.

After 2000, Latvian GDP grew by 6 – 8 % a year for 4 consecutive years.

Financial economist Michael Hudson has advocated for redenominating foreign currency liabilities in Latvian lats before devaluing.

* Tilde Translator, free online translator for Latvian language.

See Latvian national partisans for years 1944 till 1956.

And Latvian National Guard for years 1991 till present.

" Miķelis " is the Latvian form for Michael.

Paganism in Eastern Europe and parts of Northern Europe is dominated by Baltic and Slavic movements, rising to visibility after the fall of the Soviet Union ( except for Latvian Dievturība which has been active since 1925 ).

The year-long Soviet occupation and oppression of the Baltic states at the beginning of World War II produced volunteers for Latvian and Estonian Waffen-SS units.

Giamonios, the beginning of the summer season, is clearly related to the word for winter, Proto-Indo-European * g ' hei-men-( Latin hiems, Latvian ziema, Lithuanian žiema, Slavic zima, Greek kheimon, Hittite gimmanza ), cf.

The ECO code for the Latvian Gambit is C40 ( King's Knight Opening ).

Unicode has precombined glyphs for these letters, but most quality fonts display them with comma below diacritics to accommodate the expectations of Latvian orthography.

There is a banknote for 500 Latvian lats which is currently one of the most valuable notes in the world, as it is worth more than $ 1000, but it is unlikely to be accepted outside of Latvia.

The Latvian name days calendar is updated at one or two-year intervals ; anyone can suggest a name for the calendar, usually by sending an application to the State Language Centre (" Valsts valodas centrs ").

* Riga Autobus Factory ( Rīgas Autobusu Fabrika ), a Latvian bus factory

* Latvian State Department of Communications

His paintings can be seen in several museums including the Roerich Department of the State Museum of Oriental Arts in Moscow ; the Roerich Museum at the International Centre of the Roerichs in Moscow ; the Russian State Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia ; a collection in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow ; a collection in the Art Museum in Novosibirsk, Russia ; a collection in the Art Museum in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia ; the Roerich Hall Estate in Nagar village, Kullu Valley, Himachal-Pradesh ( India ); in various art museums in India ; and a selection featuring several of his larger works in The Latvian National Museum of Art.

The State Anthem of the Latvian SSR () was the national anthem of Latvia when it was a republic of the Soviet Union and known as the Latvian SSR.

As of the early part of 2009 and after having won the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Latvia tender, Lattelecom jointly with the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre ( LVRTC ) has been implementing the transition from analogue to digital TV broadcasting system.

Andris Biedriņš was drafted in the 2004 NBA Draft with the 11th pick by the Golden State Warriors and had already played three seasons, becoming the second Latvian to play in the NBA.

In the same year, his film Constellation of Riflemen won honours in the 17th All State Festival in Leningrad and the Latvian Komsomol prize.

He trained as a violinist at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music, as a double-bass player with Vitautas Sereikaan at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, and played in several Latvian orchestras before entering the State Conservatory in Vilnius in the neighboring Lithuania to study composition with Valentin Utkin, as he was prevented from doing this in Latvia due to Soviet repressive policy toward Baptists.

From 1962 to 1965 Pauls studied composition, and from 1964 to 1971 conducted the Latvian State Philharmonic's light music orchestra, in which he was also a pianist.

Andris Biedriņš ( pronounced ; born April 2, 1986, in Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR ) is a Latvian professional basketball player who currently plays for the NBA's Golden State Warriors.

* Latvian State Language Center, a Latvian government body

Zodiac was formed by Jānis Lūsēns, then studying composition at the Latvian State Conservatory in Riga ( now Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music ).