Latvia is situated in northeastern Europe. Latvia is surrounded by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia and Belarus to the east, and Sweden to the west. Riga is a capital as well as the largest city of Latvia Moreover Latvia became a member state of the European Union on 1st May 2004.

During the third millennium BC, the Latvian people were lived on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. At the beginning of this era the territory known today as Latvia became famous as a trading crossroads. The well-known route from the Vikings to the Greeks mentioned in ancient chronicles stretched from Scandinavia through Lativan territory via the River Daugava. The ancient Balts of this time actively participated in the trading network. Across the European continent, Latvia's coast was known as a place for obtaining amber. During the middle Ages amber was more prestigious than gold in many places. Latvian amber was famous in places. In the 900's AD, the ancient Balts started to form specific tribal realms. There were four individual Baltic tribal cultures such as, Couronians, Latgallians, Selonians and Semigallians. The largest of them was the Latgollian tribe, which was the most advanced in its socio-political development. In the 1100s and 1200s the Couronians maintained a lifestyle of intensive invasions. On the west coast of the Baltic Sea, they became known as the "Baltic Vikings". But the Selonians and Semgallians were known as peace loving and prosperous farmers.
At the end of the 1100s, traders more often visited Latvia from western Europe. At the end of the 12th century, German traders came to Latvia and with them came preachers of the Christian faith who attempted to convert the pagan Baltic and Finno Ugrian tribes to the Christian faith. The Balts did not want to follow the new and different beliefs and practices, and they opposed the ritual of christening. The Pope in Rome heard this news, so it was decided that Crusaders would be sent into Latvia to influence the situation.
In 1201, Riga was founded by the Germans, and then after it became the largest as well as most beautiful city. In 1200, a confederation of feudal nations developed under German rule, which was called Livonia. Livonia included Latvia and Estonia In 1282, Riga and some other cities like Estonia In 1282, Riga and some other cities like cassis, Limbazi, koknese and Valmiera were comprised in the Northern German Trading Organisation. At that time, Riga became an important point in west east trading.
During the 1500 the Livonian nation was collapsed. After the Livonian War, Latvian territory came under the rule of Polish-Lithuania.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, Poland, Sweden, and Russia started struggle for supremacy in the eastern Baltic. In 1621, Sweden's Gustavus Adolphus took Riga and the major part of Polish Livonia under Swedish rule. During that time, srerfdom was not abolished and a network of schools was formed for the peasantry. The Treaty of Nystad ending the Great Northern War in 1721 gave the city of Vidzeme to Russia. The Latgala region remained part of Poland until 1772 when it was joined to Russia in 1795 Courland became a Russian province.
The emancipation of the serfs took place in Courland in 1817 an in Livland in 1819. The emancipation was advantageous to the nobility because it dispossessed the farmers of their land without compensation. The social structure changed dramatically, with a class of independent farmers of their land without compensation the social structure changed dramatically, with a class of independent farmers establishing it after reforms allowed the peasants to repurchase their land. The young Latvia movement for nationalism has been started during the middle of the 18th century. Russification started in Latgale after the January Uprising in 1863 and spread to the rest of Latvia by the 1880s. Popular 1905 Revolution has been occurred in Latvia World War I destroyed the country. On 18th November 1918 Riga became fully independent by the people's Council of Latvia, Karlis Ulmanis becoming he head of the provisional government. By the spring of 1919, there were three governments Ulmani's government, which concluded an agreement with the Germans and was supported by Great Britain, the Iskolat led by Peteris Stucka, which proclaimed an independent Soviet Latvia and whose forces, supported by the Red Army and the Baltic German puppet government headed by Andrievs Niedra. The Germans were defeated at the Battle of Cosis in June 1919 by Estonians and Latvian forces. In November, a German and Russian force attacked under Pavel Bermondt Avalov. Eastern Latvia was cleared of Bolshevik forces by Polish, Latvian and German troops in early 1920.
On 1st of May, 1920 a freely elected Constituent Assembly was formed and it adopted a liberal constitution, the Satversme, in February 1922 it was suspended by Ulmanis after his coup in 1934 but reaffirmed in 1990 and this constitution is still in use in Latvia, Ulmanis staged a bloodless coup on 15th May, 1931, which establishing a nationalist dictatorship that lasted until 1940. Most of the Baltic Germans left Latvia by agreement between Ulmani's government and Nazi Germany. On 5th of October, 1939 Latvia forcefully accepted a "mutual assistance" pact with the Soviet Union. On 17th of June 1940 Soviet forces occupied the country.
The year of 1941 is known in Latvia as Baigais Gads, the year of Horror. People arrest, disappearance and deportations were on the night of June 14, 1941. Due to the German invasion, 27,586 persons were arrested, most were deported and about 945 persons were shot. About 80,000 to 1,0,000 Latvian citizens were killed darning the Nazi occupation. The Soviets reoccupied the country in 1944-45. But a national movement took place in Latvia under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbacher and on 4th May 1990 the Supreme Soviet of Latvian SSR adopted the Declaration of the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia, subject to a transition period that came to an end on 21st of August 1991. The Sacima, Latvia's parliament was again elected in 1993.
In the 1990s and before 21st century, Latvia focused on "rejoining Europe", its two main aims, NATO and EU (European Union) membership were achieved in 2004.567

lati per US dollar - 0.5647 (2005), 0.5402 (2004), 0.5715 (2003), 0.6182 (2002), 0.6279 (2001)

GDP: - Since from 2000, Latvia has had one of the highest GDP growth rates in Europe. In 2004, annual GDP growth was 8.5% and as per 2005 estimate, Latvia's total GDP was about $29.42 billion and its per capita GDP was about $12,800.
Inflation: - In 2004, Latvia's inflation rate was about 6.2%.
Unemployment: - In 2004, Latvia's unemployment rate was approximately 8.5%, which was similar to the previous two years.
Membership of WHO and EU: - Latvia is a member of the World Trade Organization and the European Union.
Currency: - Latvia's currency is Lats (LS). The Latvian government aspires to adopt the euro as the country's currency on January 1, 2008.

Population: - According to the 2005 estimate, Latvia's total population was about 23,07,000. Its population density was about 35 persons per sq km. Ethnic Groups: - The Latvian population is mostly Christian. The largest group is of Ethnic Latvians, which constitute about 58% of the population. The other largest minority are Russians, who representing about 28.5% of the total population. Other minorities include Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles and Lithuanians.
Religion: - Latvian population is mostly Christian. The traditional religion of most of Latvians is evangelical Lutheranism. Other form of Christianity is Eastern Orthodoxy, which is practiced by ethnic minorities. There is a small community of Jews in Latvia, but German Nazis killed mostly Latvian Jewish inhabitants. Religious expression was strongly discouraged during the Soviet period.

Latvian is the official language of Latvia, which is an Indo-European language and it related to Lithuanian. Ethnic minorities in Latvia also speak their own native languages such as Russian, Lithuanian and Polish.