It has 1.8 million inhabitants and an area of ​​64,589 km²

Years ago I began to take an interest in a small country bathed by the waters of the Baltic Sea and unknown to many foreigners.

The Island of Death of Ikšķile and the tragic history of that former Latvian peninsula
Irbene: a secret spy base of the USSR in Latvia that is now a ghost town

In the Middle Ages, present-day Latvia was part of a region known as Livonia. In the 16th century, it became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the great European powers of that era. In 1621, Sweden occupied the city of Riga, but the rest of the country remained under Polish control until the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, when it came under the control of the Russian Empire. Latvia gained its independence from Russia in 1920 after two years of war against the Russian Bolsheviks. The USSR invaded and annexed Latvia in 1940, as a result of a secret pact previously signed by the Soviets with Nazi Germany. Latvia regained its independence in 1991.

A view of Riga, the capital of Latvia, with the Daugava River in the background (Photo: Darya Tryfanava).

Latvia has a population of 1.8 million and an area of 64,589 km², making it slightly smaller than the Republic of Ireland. The country borders Estonia to the north, Russia and Belarus to the east, and Lithuania to the south. The country’s largest religious denomination is the Latvian Orthodox Church, followed by 29% of the population; the Catholic Church is the second-largest religious community, with 20%, and 17% of the population are Lutheran Christians.

The Flag of Latvia, or “Latvijas Karogs” (in Latvian), has been documented since 1279, making it one of the ten oldest national flags in the world. It is the only national flag in the world that includes the color maroon, although in Latvia it is called “Latvian red.” It has a very peculiar design, as the two maroon stripes are twice as wide as the white stripe. (Photo: Kaspars Upmanis).

Historically, this small country has been influenced by Polish, German, Swedish, and Russian cultures. The country’s official language is Latvian, a language spoken by 1.9 million people worldwide and which has two variants, a western and an eastern one. Latvian and Lithuanian are the only two Baltic languages that still exist, following the disappearance of Curonian, Selonian, Semigallian, Galindian, Yotvingian, and Old Prussian. Latvia has a significant Russian-speaking minority, whose language is spoken by about a quarter of the population, making it the Baltic state with the most Russian speakers.

A forest near the Latvian city of Ventspils. Approximately half of the country’s surface area is covered by forests (Photo: Mark Landman).

Today, this small country lives under threat due to Russian expansionism. Latvia joined NATO on March 29, 2004, along with its neighbors Lithuania and Estonia. To protect these three countries from Russian expansionism, in 2016, NATO launched the enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) mission, which includes the deployment of troops from various allied countries in the Baltic states as a deterrent. The first Spanish military contingent arrived in Latvia in 2017, in the form of a small armored force comprising several hundred soldiers. Since then, Latvia has been defended by soldiers from Spain and other countries, a sign of the mutual defense commitment among allies. This military contingent is stationed at the Ādaži military base, near the coast in the central part of the country.

A Spanish Army VAMTAC ST-5 tactical vehicle passing in front of the Brīvības Piemineklis, the Freedom Monument that pays tribute to the Latvians who fell during their War of Independence (1918-1920), in a parade in Riga on November 18, 2021, on the occasion of the anniversary of Latvia’s independence (Photo: Latvijas Armija).

I think it would be good if more Spaniards and people from other allied countries got to know better the small, beautiful country that our soldiers are defending. Two weeks ago, Wotw tv published a tour of various cities and other places in Latvia, showcasing its history and its cultural and natural riches:

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Main image: Wotw tv.