oordinates:
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

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, and
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, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants

Geography - note:
most of the country is composed of fertile, low-lying plains, with
some hills in the east

People Latvia

Population:
2,306,306 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 15% (male 177,223; female 169,241)
15-64 years: 69.2% (male 772,496; female 823,410)
65 years and over: 15.8% (male 118,035; female 245,901) (2004 est.)

Median age:
total: 38.8 years
male: 35.6 years
female: 41.9 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate:
-0.71% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
8.87 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate:
13.73 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Net migrati