General Information

Capital:

Riga 839,670 (1995 est.)

Area:

64,500 sq km (24,938 sq mi)

Form of government

Unitary Multiparty Republic with a single legislative body (Parliament or Saeima)

GDP per capita

Purchasing power parity-$4,200 (1999 est.)

Population

2,353,874 (July 1999 est.)

Ethnic composition

Latvian - 57.3%

Russian - 29.8%

Belarusian - 4.2%

Ukrainian - 2.7%

Polish - 2.5%

Lithuanian - 1.6%

Other - 1.9%

Updated (August 2001)

Latvians - 57.1%

Russians - 30.0%

Belarussians - 4.2%

Ukrainians - 2.7%

Poles - 2.5%

Lithuanians - 1.4%

Gypsies - 0.3%

Other - 1.8%

Updated (August 2001)

National Composition of Population

Updated (February 2003)

As of July 1, 2002 the population of Latvia was 2,336,818 (data of the Population Register).

Latvians - 58.3% (1,362,466)

Russians - 29.1% (680,196)

Belarussians - 4.0% (92,566)

Ukrainians - 2.6% (61,053)

Poles - 2.5% (58,165)

Lithuanians - 1.4% (32,449)

Jews - 0.4% (10,191)

Other - 1.7%

Livs (or Livonians), an autochthonous population of the areas adjacent to the Gulf of Riga, now account for only 200 individuals.

In a number of localities in Latvia, ethnic Latvians constitute a numerical minority. Such localities include:

*RD - rural district

Source: Report on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in the Republic of Latvia prepared by the Latvian Human Rights Committee (F.I.D.H.), Riga 2002, http://www.minelres.lv/coe/report/Latvia_NGO.htm

Updated (November 2004)

According to the Central Statistical Bureau, in 2003, there were approximately 2,319,000 people living in Latvia. Out of these 58.6 percent were Latvians, 28.8 percent were Russians, while the other larger ethnic groups (Belarusians, Ukrainians and Poles) constituted 9 percent of the population (4, 2.5, 2.5 percent).

About 32,000 Lithuanians, 9,930 Jews, 3,704 Germans, 2,554 Estonians and more that 27,000 representatives of other ethnic minorities lived in Latvia. Fourteen percent of all marriages, registered last year, were between the Latvians and the Russians.

Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, October 18, 2004, Vesti Segodnya, Chas

Official Language(s)

Latvian

Minority Language(s)

Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian

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