Use our website as your starting point for getting to know Latvia. Our web site offers news, background information, publications, e-presentations and videos about our country. We also provide links to other Latvian government and private Internet sites that offer in-depth information on all aspects of Latvian society, economy, culture and history. Just click on any subject on the left to find out more.
On July 31 the first national Blues Festival in the Baltics will take place on the Sigulda castle stage. All the best domestic blues bands will perform on the festival stage – Latvian Blues Band, Bite’s Blues Band, D11 Blues Band, Ainars Pūpols &pBlues, Fortress, The Blues Gang, Hot Dogss & Jānis Vanadziņš, Mirta & Hot Acoustics etc.
On July 24, Ivars Beitāns, CEO of Aerodium, the Latvian vertical wind tunnel company that built the main attraction of the Latvian pavilion at the World EXPO exhibition, announced that the pavilion is now operating at its maximum capacity, receiving some 12,000 visitors daily, and people are queuing outside the pavilion for several hours to get a look at the Latvian attraction.
On July 22, Līna Mūze (javelin) with a new personal record became junior world vice-champion at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics in Moncton, Canada. After lofting her javelin at a distance of 56,64m, she came in second by only 5cm to the champion Finnish athlete Sani Utriainen.
On July 21, the vocal group of the youth choir “Balsis” received a gold medal in the folklore performance category and a silver medal among mixed chamber choirs at the 6th World Choir Games in Shaoxing, China.
On July 21, St. Petersburg the Mikhailov Theatre premiered the Latvian artists’ production of the Giuseppe Verdi opera “A Masked Ball”. This is the first production by Latvian artists in St. Petersburg and it concludes the 177th season of the Mikhalkov Theatre.
A few years ago the Latvian Tourism Development Agency ran a promotional campaign called “You Won’t Believe it Until You See It!”, which talked about such things as blue cows, flying people and extraordinary singers. If that campaign were still up and running today, the number one topic would no doubt be the turn-around of the Latvian economy.
Capital: Riga Total area: 64,589 sq km Population (2007): 2,270,700 Ethnic composition:
Latvian 59.03%, Russian 28.29%, Other 12.68% Language: Latvian Currency: Lat (LVL), 1 Lat = 100 Santims
