Latvia Photos

Most dangerous cities in the world – The crime statistics of five world’s most dangerous cities are disheartening and shocking. With such high rates of homicide, robberies and violence these cities deservedly bear the names of ‘the places of chaos and death…

The Latvian climate is humid, continental and temperate owing to the maritime influence of the Baltic Sea. Summers are warm, and the weather in spring and autumn fairly mild; however, the winters can be extreme due to the northern location. Precipitation is common throughout the year with the heaviest rainfall in August. During severe spells of winter weather, Latvia is dominated by cold winds from the interior of Russia, and severe snowfalls are very common.

Latvia’s defense concept is based upon the Swedish-Finnish model of a rapid response force composed of a mobilization base and a small group of career professionals. The armed forces consists of mobile riflemen, an air force, and a navy. Latvia cooperates with Estonia and Lithuania in the joint infantry battalion BALTBAT and naval squadron BALTRON which are available for peacekeeping operations. As of March 29, 2004, Latvia officially joined NATO. Currently, NATO is involved in the patrolling and protection of the Latvian air space as the Latvian army does not have the means to do so effectively. For this goal a rotating force of four NATO fighters, which comes from different nations and switches at two or three month intervals, is based in Lithuania to cover all three Baltic states (see Baltic Air Policing).

Latvians (Latvian: latvieši; Livonian: laett), the indigenous Baltic people of Latvia, occasionally refer to themselves by the ancient name of Latvji, which may have originated from the word Latve which is a name of the river that presumably flowed through what is now eastern Latvia. A Finnic-speaking tribe known as the Livs settled among the Latvians and modulated the name to “Latvis,” meaning “forest-clearers,” which is how medieval German settlers also referred to these peoples. The German colonizers changed this name to “Lette” and called their initially small colony Livland. The Latin form, Livonia, gradually referred to the whole territory of the modern-day Latvia as well as southern Estonia, which had fallen under German dominion. Latvians and Lithuanians are the only surviving members of the Baltic peoples and Baltic languages of the Indo-European family.

Saeima is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular vote. Elections are held once every four years, on the first Saturday of October. The most recent elections were held in October 2006.

The current Speaker of the Saeima is Gundars Daudze (Union of Greens and Farmers) since 2007.^[1][2]

The President of Latvia can dismiss the Saeima and request early elections. The procedure for dismissing it involves substantial political risk to the president, including a risk of loss of office, and no president of Latvia has ever attempted to dismiss the Saeima.

Aukštaitija ( is the name of one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. The name comes from the fact that the region is relatively elevated, particularly in its eastern parts.

This enchanted town stands on the southern edge of a picturesque, steep-sided, wooded section of the Gauja Valley and is spanned by a string of medieval castles and legend-laden caves. Known locally as the ‘Switzerland of Latvia’, Sigulda is a minor health resort and a winter sports centre – with an Olympic bobsled run snaking down into the valley.

In spring, the weather is warm, the days are long, flowery cottage gardens blossom and the cultural calendar oozes fun. April and May, when the lucky stork returns to its nest, and the land and its people open up after winter, convey a real magic. June is midsummer-madness month and equally evokes the Baltic peoples’ close ties to nature and their pagan past.

Summers are short but sweet. July and August (high season), the warmest and busiest months, and a time when many Balts go on holiday too, can also be the wettest and subject to the odd thunderstorm.

December to March sees snow-clogged streets, ice-glazed pavements and roofs laced with killer icicles. Ice skating, tobogganing, cross-country skiing, ice fishing and getting whipped in a sauna are this season’s invigorating activities.

Avoid soggy March when the snow thaws, bringing with it far too much slush for enjoyment. Autumn, when snow falls then melts, is equally miserable.