L A T V I A

NATIONAL SYMBOLS OF LATVIA

LATVIAN

MONEY

Situated on the Baltic coast, Latvia is a low-

lying country with large forests that supply timber

for construction and paper industries. The

environment is rich in wildlife.

ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKE LATVIA CULTURALLY RICH

AND INTERESTING IS ITS INHABITANTS. NOT ONLY

LATVIANS, BUT ALSO RUSSIANS, BELARUSSIANS, POLES,

UKRAINIANS, LITHUANIANS, ESTONIANS, JEWS, ROMA,

GERMANS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF OTHER NATIONS

LIVE IN LATVIA.

ETHNICALLY, THE

POPULATION IS 59%

LATVIAN AND 29%

RUSSIAN, AND MORE THAN

A THIRD LIVE IN THE

CAPITAL RIGA.

IT IS CONSIDERED THAT A CLASSICAL LATVIAN HAS BLUE

EYES AND BLONDE HAIR, IS HARD-WORKING, MODEST,

DOES NOT LOVE TO STAND OUT AND WILL NOT MAKE AN

EFFORT TO BE NOTICED ABOVE ALL THE REST.

A LATVIAN IS HONEST,

SIMPLE, BUT ALSO

ENVIOUS. IS NOT TOO

TALKATIVE AND IS

RETICENT, WHICH IS

REFLECTED IN A

LATVIAN PROVERB:

“TALKING IS SILVER,

KEEPING SILENT IS

GOLD”.

A LATVIAN

IS JOYFUL,

CHEERFUL

AND IS

A GREAT SINGER!

THE PEOPLE OF LATVIA

RESPECT FAMILY VALUES,

TREAT NATURE WITH

REVERENCE, ARE RATHER

RESERVED, BUT ARE

TOLERANT TOWARDS THE

CULTURE OF OTHER

NATIONS.

FOUNDED IN 1201, RIGA IS THE LARGEST CITY IN THE

THREE BALTIC STATES WITH A POPULATION OF 730 000.

THE FREEDOM

STATUE

IS ONE OF THE

HIGHEST

MONUMENTS IN

EUROPE,

AT 43 METRES.

CLOSE CIRCUIT VIDEO-CAMERAS MAKE THE A MUCH SAFER

PLACE, ALLOWING THE POLICE TO RECORD VIOLATIONS AND

ARRIVE AT THE PLACE OF INCIDENT FAST.

Producer and pioneer of modern cinema

Sergey Eisenstain

was from Riga and is the author of the movie thatshocked the world “The Battleship Potyomkin”

(1925)

American ballet starMihail Baryshnikov

was born in Riga andtook his first steps inart in Riga. In 1974 during a tour inCanada, Baryshnikov, the soloist of theLeningrad Kirov Operaand ballet theatre, decided to stay inCanada.

AERODIUM IS A VERTICAL WIND TUNNEL THAT ALLOWS

YOU TO SOAR IN THE AIR JUST LIKE IN A FREE FALL, BUT

YOU DON’T NEED TO JUMP WITH A PARACHUTE FROM AN

AIRPLANE IN THIS CASE.

BALTIC AMBER IS THE MOST POPULAR LATVIAN PRODUCT.