Get to know LATVIA

Laima Ķevere, Katrīna Valaine

Geography

Latvia is a democratic , parliamentary republic Legislative power is in the hands of the single

chamber Saeima, which has 100 deputies Latvia joined the Europe Union and NATO in

2004 In 1st January 2014 Latvia will join euro zone

Government & Politics

President of Latvia

Andris Bērziņš, President of the Republic of Latvia, was elected on 2 June 2011 by the Parliament for a four-year term.

The maroon – white – maroon flag of Latvia is

one of the oldest in the world and dates back to a battle near Cēsis in the 13th century.

Red colour of our flag sometimes is called latvian red.

National Symbols of Latvia

Symbols

The National Anthem

God bless Latvia,Our dearest fatherland,Do bless Latvia,Oh, do bless it!Where latvian daughters bloom,Where latvian sons sing,Let us dance in happiness there,In our Latvia!

The Coat of Arms

Name: Lats Code: LVL Symbol: Ls The lats was reintroduced in 1993 and has

been one of Europe’s most stable and secure currencies.

Lats is 4th valuable currency in the world.

Currency

Population

Latvians are the indigenous people of Latvia.

2.4 million. Latvia’s present ethnic

mix is largely a result of massive post – war immigration, which resulted in a decline in the share of ethnic Latvians from 77% in 1935 to 52% in 1989.

Ethnic composition: 59,3% Latvian, 27,8% Russian, 3,6% Belorussian, 2,5% Ukrainian, 2,4% Polish, 1,3% Lithuanian, 3,1% other

nationalities.

The people of Latvia

The people of Latvia are hospitable and cheerful; friendly and open towards visitors, and able to get on with anyone, as throughout the centuries they have gained a vast culture heritage

Lasrgest religious confessions

Evangelic Lutheran Roman Catholic Russian Orthodox Since the 16th

century Reformation, the Lutheran church has played a leading role in Latvia.

Cities

Rīga 2014 Capital city of Latvia, 2 parts – Old and

New Rīga, About half of

population – russians,

Tourism and economic center,

In 2014 Riga is Europe’s capital city of culture.

Cēsis Ventspils

Liepāja Madona

Jelgava

Daugavpils

Latvian is a Baltic language that belongs to

the Indo- European language family. Its only linguistic relative Lithuanian, and is

considered to be among the oldest and last changed of all living Indo- European languages in the world.

It is estimated that 1,5 million people worldwide use Latvian as their primary language.

Language

Nature

Over 44% of Latvias territory covers forests.

Over 27 thousand species of flora and fauna thrive in natural settings that are still relatively undisturbed by man.

Latvia’s weather features a temperate

maritime climate, with mild summers, moderate winters and frequently high levels of humidity and precipitation.

Climate

The average temperature in summer: 15.8°C (in the capital 16.1°C),

Summer: June - August.

Autumn

Autumn of Latvia is especially gorgeous. In this season we are celebrating the date of the proclamation of Latvia`s independence in 1918.

Winter: December - February.

The average temperature in winter: -4.5°C (in the capital -3.8°C).

Spring

Spring of Latvia comes often with a thorough flood.

Sometines even in April there is snow.

Latvian foods

Among Latvia`s traditionally most popular foods are caraway cheese, gray peas with bacon, bacon-filled pastries and special rye bread prepared to ancient recepies.

Famous people

Musicians Pēteris Vasks Mariss Jansons Gidon Kremer Inese Galante Mārtiņš

Saulespurēns Elīna Garanča

Big personalities Arvīds Blūmentāls Aleksandrs Laime

Eduards Liedskalniņš

Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov

Jacob Davis

Latvian Traditions

Birthday Celebration Name Day

Celebration New Year's Day Meteņi Ūsiņi Jāņi Māras diena Miķeļi Mārtiņi Christmas

National Public HolidaysNew Year’s Day – 1 January

Good Friday – April Easter Monday – April May Day – 1 May Ligo Day – 23 June St John’s Day (Summer

Solstice) – 24 June National Day (Proclamation

of the Republic) – 18 November

Christmas (Winter Solstice) – 25 to 26 December

New Year’s Eve – 31 December

In Latvia we celabrate 1st day of school - 1st september.

We are celabrating graduation of school.

Jāņi is celebrated on the summer solstice on

23 and 24 June. This pagan-like holiday is almost more popular

in Latvia than New Year's Eve and Christmas.

‘’Jāņi’’- the most Latvian holiday

Womens traditional costume costs about 1060

EURO! Mans costume costs about 800 EURO!

National costume

Singing, dancing, and culture in all its forms

are part of the day to day life in Latvia. The celebration brings together around 40,000

participants – choir singers, dancers, orchestral musicians.

Its uniqueness is recognized to be a national treasure by UNESCO.

Song and dance celebration

Ice hockey

Sports

Skeleton

Javelin

BMX

Lubāna

Lubana is small town with 2000 inhabitants in Latvia

Lubana is located 200 km south east from the capital city Riga

Lubana is named after Latvian largest lake Lubans which is 25 km far from our town

Every year in summer people who live by the riverside celebrate festival of the river Aiviekste

Lubana Secondary School

In Lubana Secondary School there are 206 students and 36 teachers

School traditions

The first school day on the 1st of September

Teachers day Christmas Token celebration Colour week Song contest Prom night Sports day Health week Valentines day

‘’Fukši’’ Patritism week 10th grade evening Clean-up day Charity concerts Dance contest

Folk dance group “Žuburi”

Interesting facts

The capital of Latvia, Riga is the largest city in the Baltic States and is famous for some of the best Art Nouveau architecture in Europe.

According to a worldwide survey, Latvia ranks 2nd best in the world in the global Environmental Performance Index.

95% of all worlds amber is found in cost line of Baltic sea.

Ask.fm is made in Latvia

Limp Bizkit drummer was latvian. After Finland, Sweden and Slovenia, Latvia has

the 4th highest portion of land covered by forests in the European Union.

Obrigado!