Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
Climate:
maritime; wet, moderate winters
Terrain:
low plain
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m highest point: Gaizinkalns 312 m
Natural resources: peat, limestone, dolomite, amber, hydropower, wood, arable land
Land use: arable land: 29.67% permanent crops: 0.47% other: 69.86% (2001)
Irrigated land:
200 sq km
note: land in Latvia is often too wet, and in need of drainage, not
irrigation; approximately 16,000 sq km or 85% of agricultural land
has been improved by drainage (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
NA
Environment - current issues:
Latvia's environment has benefited from a shift to service
industries after the country regained independence; the main
environmental priorities are improvement of drinking water quality
and sewage system, household, and hazardous waste management, as
well as reduction of air pollution; in 2001, Latvia closed the EU
accession negotiation chapter on environment committing to full
enforcement of EU environmental directives by 2010
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements