Official name: Republic of Latvia
Location: The Eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Russia to the East, Estonia to the North and Belarus and Lithuania to the South
Head of state: President. The current President of the Republic of Latvia is Valdis Zatlers.
Government: The Government executive consist of the Cabinet of Ministers led by Prime Minister. The Saeima (Parliament) has 100 deputies elected for a four-year period.
Capital: Riga (population almost 1 million), the largest city in Latvia and the Baltic States
Time zone: EET (UTC+2) EEST (UTC+3)
Country code: LV
Calling code: +371
Internet TLD: .LV (.EU)
Weights and measures: Metric
Currency: Latvian Lats (code LVL, symbol Ls).1 Lat = 100 santims. 1 EUR = 0.702804 LVL
Area: Total land area of 64,589 sq. km with 498 km of coastline
Distances from Riga: Stockholm 440 km, Tallinn 315 km, Vilnius 290 km, St.Petersburg 577 km, Minsk 485 km
Flight times: Helsinki 35 min, Stockholm 1h 20 min, Copenhagen 1 h 35 min, Moscow 2 h 15 min, Berlin 2 h 25 min
Major Natural Resources: Timber, peat, limestone, gypsum and dolomite.
Population in 2007: 2, 261 294, Urban: 67,8% Rural: 32,2%
Economically active inhabitants: 1 215 800, 11,5% of those  unemployed.
 

Ethnic composition:

Titular nations: Latvians (59.3%) and Livonians (0,008% - 199 persons);
Other ethnic groups: Russians (27,8%), Belarussians, Ukrainians, Poles (8,5%), other groups (4,4%)
Language: Latvian, the official language. Other languages such as Russian, English and German are also widely spoken.
Main Religions: Evangelic Lutheran (38%), Roman Catholic (30%) and Russian Orthodox (14%)

Internationally recognized

Production Sectors: Information technologies, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, electronics, mechanical engineering, timber and construction, food processing, textiles, fishery and agriculture.

Financial Sector: The Bank of Latvia is the central bank of Latvia and a participant in the European System of Central Banks. Since joining the EU more than 20 commercial banks have been operating in Latvia, offering a full array of banking services. Many banks have established an extensive network of ATM's throughout the country and offer international Internet and mobile banking services.

Trade: The countries of the EU remain Latvia's main trading partners (78% in 2007), while trade with CIS countries (12%) continues to expand. Wood and metal products, machinery, electrical equipment and mineral products are Latvia's main exports.

 Source and further information on: www.li.lv  (Institute of Latvia)