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Lettland

Exciting sporting facts

The journey to Olympic triumph
In 1924, when the Olympics were held in Paris, Latvia took part in the games for the first time ever. But it wasn't until the 1932 Los Angeles games that a Latvian won an Olympic medal. Then, Janis Dalins won silver in the men's 50 km walking competition.

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Official name
Republic of Latvia

Location in Europe

National flag

National holiday
18th November: Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia in 1918

Political system
Parliamentary democracy

Area
64,589 km2

Population
2,300,000

Capital
Riga

International dialling code
00371

Country code
LV

Largest cities
Riga 826,508 inhabitants
Daugavpils 118,530 inhabitants
Liepaja 98,490 inhabitants
Jelgava 70,957 inhabitants
Jurmala 59,002 inhabitants

Highest mountain
Gaizinkalns 311 m

Longest river
Daugava (section) 1,060 km

Currency
1 Lats = 100 Santimi, exchange rate (at the beginning of 2005): 1 Lats = 1,43 EUR