Country · Europe
Latvia
Republic of Latvia
Latvia is a country in Northern Europe. About 1.9 million people live there, in an area of 64 559 square kilometres. Its capital city is Riga.
Picture credit: Artis Pupins (CC BY 2.0) · Artis Pupins (CC BY 2.0) · alinco_fan (CC BY 3.0) · Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Latvia?
Latvia lies in Northern Europe, on the continent of Europe.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 6 345 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 498 km long.
It shares a border with 4 countries: Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania and Russia.
How big is Latvia?
Latvia covers 64 559 square kilometres.
That is about 25 times the size of Luxembourg.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 122nd largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 29.9 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Latvia?
About 1.9 million people live in Latvia.
That is the 146th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Latvian.
They pay with the Euro (€).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 68 years.
The land of Latvia
The land of Latvia sits on average 87 metres above sea level, which makes it one of the flatter countries on Earth.
Its coast runs for about 498 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 25 days.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Latvia different?
A dish the country is known for: Latke.
Websites from here often end in .lv.
Latvia and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Latvia.
It takes up about 0.05 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Europe the country ranks 24th of 45 by size, and 34th by population.
Latvia and its neighbours
Russia, its largest neighbour, is about 264.8 times bigger.
Russia has more people: 144.5 million against 1.9 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, one lives wild in Latvia: Moose. The highest mountain in the country is Gaiziņkalns, at 312 metres. The longest river in the country is the Gauja. The largest lake in the country is Lake Lubāns.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
How big is Latvia compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 145 times as big as Latvia: 9 372 610 km² against 64 559 km².
- The United Kingdom is about 3.8 times as big as Latvia: 242 900 km² against 64 559 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Latvia?
The capital of Latvia is Riga. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Latvia?
About 1.9 million people live in Latvia, which makes it the 146th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Latvia?
How big is Latvia?
Latvia covers 64 559 square kilometres, making it the 122nd largest country in the world. That is about 25 times the size of Luxembourg.
What is the highest mountain in Latvia?
The highest mountain in Latvia is Gaiziņkalns, 312 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Latvia?
The longest river in Latvia is the Gauja, about 452 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Latvia?
The largest lake in Latvia is Lake Lubāns. It covers about 81 km².
Which continent is Latvia in?
Latvia is in Europe, in the part called Northern Europe.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
Last checked: · How these pages are made