Latvia is a small country on the Baltic Sea, with a population of just over two million. It is steeped in ancient history and traditions. If you want to enjoy nature, there is not only the serene Gulf of Riga and the open Baltic Sea, but also nature parks, lakes and beautiful forests. In Old Riga, the capital city, visitors can find fabulous architectural monuments as well as a choice of nightclubs and pubs.

Latvia as a nation regained its independence in 1991, after more than 50 years of forced annexation to the Soviet Union. The official language is Latvian. Latvian is an Indo-European, non-Slavic and non-Germanic language, which is similar only to Lithuanian. More than 30 per cent of the population speak Russian as their mother tongue, which is understood by most people here. English and German may also be understood.

Latvia is located on the Baltic coast and borders with Estonia in the north, Lithuania in the south, the Russian Federation in the east and Belarus in the southeast. The coastal area is mainly flat, but inland to the east, the terrain is hilly with forests and lakes. Latvia is home to about 12,000 rivers, of which the biggest is the River Daugava.

Located on a sandy plain, 15kms from the mouth of the River Daugava, Riga is the capital city and is among the most beautiful of the Baltic cities. It is teeming with history and culture, with extraordinary Gothic, Baroque, Classical and Art Nouveau buildings. The city centre is thought to be home to the finest concentration of Art Nouveau buildings in Europe, and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Outside Riga, which is currently the chief location of the present expansion in hotel accommodation, Latvia offers a good variety of modest accommodation, left over from the pre-independence days, including large hotels and smaller pension-type establishments.

Climate in Latvia is not as cold as people generally think. The average temperature in summer is between 20°C and 28°C, making summer holidays in Latvia very pleasant.

Latvia enjoys a temperate climate, but with considerable variations in temperature. Summer is warm, with fairly mild weather in spring and autumn. Winter, which lasts from November to mid-March, can be very cold. Rainfall is spread throughout the year, with the heaviest rainfall in August. Snowfall is frequent in the winter months.

May to September (spring and summer) are the best times to visit, with daytime temperatures averaging 16°C, but July and August is the peak tourist season, and hotels can be fully booked during this time. The coldest months are January and February, and winter can bring with it extreme temperatures, with averages of -4°C during the day.

Latvia has been inhabited since 9000 BC and by 3000 BC, the ancestors of the Finns had settled the region.

In 1054, German sailors stranded on the Daugave River inhabited the area, which led to a growing German influence. Germanic Bishop Alberth of Livonia founded Riga in 1201, and the city joined the Hanseatic League in 1285 and benefited from important cultural and economic connections to the rest of Europe. But the new German aristocracy enslaved the farmers and subjected non-Germanic inhabitants to restricted trading and property rights.

The following wars and treaties led to Livonia's separation and colonisation for several centuries. The Polish-Swedish War (1600 to 1629) gave Sweden possession of Riga. In turn, Sweden lost control over Latvia to Russia in the Great Northern War (1700 to 1721). Until the 1860s, there was not much sense of a Latvian national identity, as both serfdom and institutional controls on migration and social mobility restricted the boundaries of the peasants' intellectual and social geography.

The beginning of WWI saw German occupation of the western coastal province of Kurzeme, and Latvians courageously resisted the invasion with the establishment of a number of regiments of riflemen led by Czarist generals. Against all odds, Latvia won independence in 1920. Amid post-war economic misery and destruction, land was taken from the German nobility and redistributed to the poor.

As the Nazis invaded France in 1940, the Soviets occupied Latvia. Deportations by Stalinist forces began. Between 1940 and 1949, Latvia lost 35 per cent of its population to war, deportation, exile and mass murder.

In 1987, Latvia saw its first open protests against Soviet rule and in 1990, Soviet Latvian legislature declared a transition to independence. In January 1991, the Soviets cracked down on widespread independence movements in the Baltics. In August of that year, a coup in the Kremlin unravelled as swiftly as it had begun. All of a sudden, with Moscow’s influence having collapsed, the unattainable dream of restoring independence became a reality. In 2004, Latvia was accepted into NATO and later that year, it joined the European Union.