o Russia in 1944
Climate:
maritime; wet, moderate winters
Terrain:
low plain
Natural resources:
minimal; amber, peat, limestone, dolomite
Land use:
27% arable land; NA% permanent crops; 13% meadows and pastures; 39% forest
and woodland; 21% other; includes NA% irrigated
Environment:
heightened levels of air and water pollution because of a lack of waste
conversion equipment; Gulf of Riga heavily polluted

:Latvia People

Population:
2,728,937 (July 1992), growth rate 0.6% (1992)
Birth rate:
15 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
12 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
4 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
19 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
65 years male, 75 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
2.1 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Latvian(s);adjective - Latvian
Ethnic divisions:
Latvian 51.8%, Russian 33.8%, Byelorussian 4.5%, Ukrainian 3.4%, Polish
2.3%, other 4.2%
Religions:
Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox
Languages:
Latvian NA% (official), Lithuanian NA%, Russian NA%, other NA%
Literacy:
NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write
Labor force:
1,407,000; industry and construction 41%, agriculture and forestry 16%,
other 43% (1990)
Organized labor:
NA

:Latvia Government

Long-form name:
Republic of Latvia
Type:
republic
Capital:
Riga
Administrative divisions:
none - all districts are under direct republic jurisdiction
Independence:
18 November 1918; annexed by the USSR 21 July 1940, the Latvian Soviet
Socialist Republic declared independence 6 September 1991 from USSR
Constitution:
April 1978, currently rewriting constitution, but readopted the 1922
Constitution
Legal system:
based on civil law system
National holiday:
Independence Day, 18 November (1918)
Executive branch:
Prime Minister
Legislative branch:
unicameral Supreme Council
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State:
Chairman, Supreme Council, Anatolijs GORBUNOVS (since October 1988);
Chairmen, Andrejs KRASTINS, Valdis BIRKAVS (since NA 1992)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister Ivars GODMANIS (since May 1990)
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Labor Party of Latvia, Juris BOJARS, chairman; Inter-Front of the
Working Peo