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Welcome To Latvia
Country number
169
Selected MR Agencies

An Introduction to Latvia

The Republic of Latvia is one of the least populous and least densely populated countries of the EU. It has shared much of its history with neighbouring Estonia, and both countries have large populations (just over a quarter) of ethnic Russians. See full country profile.

Latest Research News from Europe (Other)

Mar 26
Advertising Resource Management (ARM) software company MINT has appointed Christoph Kruse as Global Marketing Director. He was previously Director of Regional Marketing in Europe at Outbrain. Mar 26 2024
Mar 18
European research agency Bilendi has appointed Cecilia Glauser as the Country Manager for Sweden, replacing Björn Söderlin. Mar 18 2024


11 current Other European jobs including:

Research Manager - Social Insights, Remote Working (GMT plus / minus 3h time zone), GBP 35-42,000 (depending on qualifications, expertise and experience) - (posted Mar 7 2024)
Survey Research Manager, Remote Working - Worldwide, $ Competitive salary - (posted Feb 27 2024)
Head of Consumer Market Intelligence (CMI), Kilchberg, Switzerland, CHF Competitive - (posted Nov 20 2023)
Head of Consumer Market Intelligence (CMI), Kilchberg, Switzerland, CHF Competitive - (posted Nov 17 2023)


Fast Facts
Map of Latvia
CAPITAL: Riga
GOVERNMENT: parliamentary republic
AREA: 64,589 sq km
POPULATION: 2,217,053 (2012 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Language: Latvian
Cobbled street, Riga, Latvia
Cobbled street, Riga, Latvia


Four Legs Good... When Latvia became independent in 1991, citizenship was not given to all permanent residents - most ethnical non-Latvians were left out even though they had voted in support of independence and in many cases were born in the country. There remain today around 290,000 non-citizens (14.1% of the population), who have no citizenship of any country and cannot vote in Latvia.

Nature, by contrast, gets plenty of respect in Latvia, which has been passing laws to protect it since the 16th century and has no fewer than 706 specially state-level protected natural areas covering around 20% of its land area. The 2012 Environmental Performance Index ranks Latvia 2nd after Switzerland.

A little More Knowledge?
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Latvia in Profile

The Republic of Latvia is one of the least populous and least densely populated countries of the EU. It has shared much of its history with neighbouring Estonia, and both countries have large populations (just over a quarter) of ethnic Russians.

United with southern Estonia in the state of Livonia from the 13th century, the area fell under Polish and Lithuanian rule in the 16th century and then Russian at the end of the eighteenth century. It was independent between 1918 and 1940 and then again from 1991 onwards, with Soviet rule in between.The recent financial crisis has given the country a rollercoaster ride - it was one of Europe's leaders for GDP growth from 1998 to 2006, saw a 26.5% decline between 2008 and 2010 and in 2011 returned to being one of the fastest growers again.

Some Business and General Info

GDP: $34.9bn (2011 est.) - $15,662 per capita (2011 est.)

Religions Evangelical Lutheran 20.4%; Roman Catholic 19.5%; Orthodox 16%; c.40% not affiliated

Currency: Latvian Lats: 0.7 Ls = I Euro

Telephone Code: + 371

Research Industry

Latvia is the 59th largest research market in the world, and the 29th largest in Europe. According to the ESOMAR Global Prices Study 2012 the country was the 66th most expensive for carrying out research.

Overview of Trade and Industry

Latvia's consumption-driven growth, rapid before the crisis of 2008, has been partly restored since last year. In the early years of the century, the capital Riga emerged as a regional financial and commercial center. The country's mostly privatised economy has a negative trade balance, while unemployment remains high (15.2% in early 2012). High inflation has kept it out of the Euro thus far, but a new deadline has been set for 2014, the tenth anniversary of its joining the EU.

Exports totalled $6.7bn in 2009 while imports were $8.8bn. Wood, machinery and metals are key export commodities, with Lithuania (15.4%), Russia (14.7%) and Estonia (13.1%) taking a good proportion. Imports include machinery, chemicals, fuels and vehicles with Lithuania again topping the list of partners (16.0%), Germany 2nd on 12.8% and Russia 3rd (10.6%) - figures are from 2008.

My view
from...
Latvia
Researchers Talk!
Have your say!
If you are a researcher based in Latvia, in whatever capacity, then we would love to hear from you!

Email me:
laurence@mrweb.com

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