partners: Russia, Germany, Sweden, UK, Lithuania

Imports: $1.7 billion (c.i.f., 1995 est.)
commodities: fuels, cars, chemicals
partners: Russia, Germany, Sweden, Ukraine, UK, Lithuania, Finland

External debt: $NA

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $122 million (1993)
note: commitments from the West and international institutions, $525
million (1992-95)

Currency: 1 lat = 100 cents; introduced NA March 1993

Exchange rates: lats per US$1 - 0.544 (January 1996), 0.528
(1995), 0.560 (1994), 0.675 (1993), 0.736 (1992)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Transportation
--------------

Railways:
total: 2,412 km
broad gauge: 2,379 km 1.520-m gauge (271 km electrified) (1992)
narrow gauge: 33 km 0.750-m gauge (1994)

Highways:
total: 66,718 km
paved: 12,076 km
unpaved: 54,642 km (1992 est.)

Waterways: 300 km perennially navigable

Pipelines: crude oil 750 km; refined products 780 km; natural gas
560 km (1992)

Ports: Daugavpils, Liepaja, Riga, Ventspils

Merchant marine:
total: 56 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 519,859 GRT/678,987 DWT
ships by type: cargo 7, oil tanker 24, refrigerated cargo 18,
roll-on/roll-off cargo 7 (1995 est.)

Airports:
total: 50
with paved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 6
with paved runways 1 524 to 2 437 m: 2
with paved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 1
with paved runways under 914 m: 27
with unpaved runways 2 438 to 3 047 m: 2
with unpaved runways 914 to 1 523 m: 2
with unpaved runways under 914 m: 10 (1994 est.)

Communications
--------------

Telephones: 660,000 (1993 est.)

Telephone system: service is better than in most of the other
former Soviet republics
domestic: an NMT-450 analog cellular telephone network covers 75% of
Latvia's population
international: international traffic carried by leased connection to
the Moscow international gateway switch, through the new Ericsson
digital telephone exchange in Riga, and through the Finnish cellular
net; Sprint data network carries electronic mail

Radio broadcast stations: AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA; note - there
are 25 radio broadcast stations of unknown type

Radios: 1.4 million (1993 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 30

Televisions: 1.1 million (1993 est.)

Defense
-------

Branches: Ground Forces, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces,
Security Forces, Border Guard, Home Guard (Zemessardze)

Manpower availability:
males age 15-49: 58