Background:
After a brief period of independence between the two World Wars,
Latvia was annexed by the USSR in 1940. It reestablished its
independence in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Although the last Russian troops left in 1994, the status of the
Russian minority (some 30% of the population) remains of concern to
Moscow. Latvia joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004.
Geography Latvia
Location:
Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and
Lithuania
Geographic coordinates:
57 00 N, 25 00 E
Map references:
Europe
Area:
total: 64,589 sq km
water: 1,000 sq km
land: 63,589 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly larger than West Virginia
Land boundaries:
total: 1,150 km
border countries: Belarus 141 km, Estonia 339 km, Lithuania 453 km,
Russia 217 km
Coastline:
531 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation