POPULATION

Latvia: 2,371,333
Ethnic composition: 57.8% Latvian, 29.5% Russian, 4.1% Byelorussians, 2.7% Ukrainian, 2.5% Polish, 1.4% Lithuanian, 0.4% Jewish, 0.1% Estonian, 1.6 others.
Citizens: 1,776,004 (74.89% of total population)
Non-Citizens: 568,195 (23.96% of total population)
Foreigners: 27,134 (1.14% of total population)
Riga: 760,420

GEOGRAPHY

Territory: 64,589 km2
Longest rivers: Gauja 460 km, Daugava (375 km in Latvia)
Highest point: Gaizinkalns (311.6 m)

LOCAL TIME

Latvia is in the Eastern European Time Zone: GMT +2 hours. Unfortunately, Estonia and Lithuania don’t believe in daylight saving time causing much confusion. When it is noon in Riga it is: 11:00 in Paris, Vilnius and Tallinn. 10:00 in London, 05:00 in New York and 19:00 in Sydney. Correct time: tel. 154 (Latvian), tel. 174 (Russian)

CLIMATE

In 2002 there were 2,457 hours of sunshine
Total Precipitation: 625 mm
Weather forecast (in English): tel. +371 7144390
www.meteo.lv

NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

January1 New Year Day
April Good Friday
April Easter Sunday
April Easter Monday
May 1 Labour Day
May Mother’s Day
June 23 – 24 Midsummer celebrations
November 18 Independence Day
December 24 – 26 Christmas
December 31 New Year’s Eve

ELECTRICITY

The electrical current is 220 volts AC, 50 Hz. Bring European plugs.

MONEY

The national currency, the lat (Ls), replaced the transitional Latvian rouble in April 1993. There are 100 santimi to the lat, with 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 santimi and 1 and 2 lat coins. Old 2Ls are slowly being replaced by larger, prettier coins with brass centers to thwart the efforts of local counterfeiters. Bank notes come in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 500 lats. Due to an unrestricted influx of foreign currency, the lat has become one of the strongest monetary units in Europe.

VISAS

Citizens from Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA and Vatican City do not re require a visa to enter Latvia.

For assistance obtaining residency permits, special visas or work permits call the visa section of the Citizenship and Migration Board Raina Street 5, Riga tel. +371 7219424, fax +371 7820306. For more information check out www.mfa.gov.lv