Amazing facts about Latvia

25 Things Which You Might not Know

The British newspaper The Telegraph collected 25 amazing facts about the country right on the 25th anniversary of the independence of Latvia. Some of them would surprise not only the British people, but also the locals of Latvia.

The British newspaper TheTelegraph collected 25 amazing facts about the country to the anniversary of the independence of Latviawhich you may not know.

Fact 1 Fast Internet

Latvia is one of the countries with the most high-speed internet inthe world. The average transfer speed is event faster than  in the USA, UK and France.

Fact 2 Latvians love their capital

On average one out ofthree Latvians lives inRiga often called the Northern Paris.

Riga

Fact 3 Latvia had hard times in the XX century.

After Latvia joined the USSR 15 thousand people were repressed.12.5% ​​of the population died during the World War II, this is the largest percentage of all European countries, excluding Poland andLithuania.Then, from 1945 to1952, at least 190 thousand people were sent toSoviet concentration camps ordeported.

Fact 4 There is a lot of water ...

Latvia accounts 12 thousand rivers and3 thousand lakes.

Fact 5 ... and beaches ...

If you are okay with cold water, Latvia has 530 kilometers of sand beaches.West of Riga you can go to the city of Jurmala, the favorite resting place of Brezhnev and Khrushchev.

Fact 6 ... and wildlife

Approximately 54% of the territory of Latvia is covered by forests, which makes it one of the most green European countries. It inhabits black storks, otters, beavers, lynx andwolves as well asdeer, boars, moose andred foxes.

Fact 7 Latvia competes with Estonia

Latvia can’t be called a mountainous country; its highest point, Gaizinkalns Hill is only312 meters abovesea ​​level. But in order to over run the Estonian Suur-Munamagimountain, which is higher by 6 meters, Latvians built a tower on the top of Gaizinkalns, which was unfortunately pulled down in 2012.

Fact 8 Latvian women look like fashion models

In relation to population, Latvia brought up more photomodels than in any other country in the world, except Estonia, Iceland, Lithuania and Denmark. Among the representatives of Latvia in the world of high fashion isInguna Butane, Ieva Laguna, Ginta Lapina and Eurovision singer Aminata Sawadogo.

Fact 9 Latvian flag is one ofoldest inthe world

For the first time the Latvian flag in its actual representation was used back in 1280. Older than that one is only the Danish flag.
The German Rhymed Chronicle under the year 1279 mentions the banner of the Landwehr (militia) of Cesis Castle (on the territory of the modern city of Cesis) with red andwhite colors according to theVendian custom (hiute nach wendichen siten).

Fact 10 Latvia once owned a part of the Caribbean

In the 17th century, the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia owned two overseas colonies: the island of  St. Andrew onthe Gambia River in West Africa (now James Island) and Tobago Island, which now belongs to Trinidad and Tobago.

Fact 11 Latvia has one ofthe world's greatest (and tallest) female basketball players

Basketball is one of the favorite summer sports in Latvia (favorite winter sport is hockey). Among the famous Latvian players, Ulyana Semenova occupies an honorable place and has been the winner 12 times, and from 1964 to1975 helped the "TTT Riga" team to become the champion of  Europe. She is the first non-American athlete included in NBA Hall of  Fame. Ulyana is 2,18 meter high.

Fact 12 Latvia is the homeland of jeans

Tailor Jacob Youphes emigrated from Latvia to the US in 1854 and changed his name to Jacob Davis. In 1870, a client asked him to tailor durable pants forher husband who was a woodcutter, since those times appeared well-known jeans. Two years later, Davis and his companion Levi Strauss patented this invention.

Fact 13 The highest waterfall in the world was discovered by Latvian

The first to get to Angel Falls in Venezuela’s tropical forests, was the Latvian traveler  Aleksandrs Laime in 1949. This waterfall is the highest inthe world.

Lyme was born in 1911 in Riga district Grizinkalns and learned to handle a boat on Kisezers Island.
In 1939, he set out from Riga to Africa, and even the beginning of the World War II did not stop him. In 1940, he moved toVenezuela and settled in Caracas
It was Laime who first reached the waterfall, where American pilot James Angel flew in 1937. One oflocal rivers Laime called Gauja, inhonor of the Latvian river.

Fact 14 Latvia has got its own waterfall

The widest waterfall in Europe is located on Venta River in Kuldiga, its width can reach 270 meters. It’s only few meters high, though.

Fact 15. You must have seen one of its palaces on TV

British mini-series "War and peace" filmed in Latvia, where one of the most remarkable places turned out to be Rundale Palace. The director of the series enthusiastically called Rundale the “Yellow Versailles” and said that he saw the names of  Napoleonic soldiers written in Golden Hall.

Fact 16  Local alcohol treats cold

The famous Riga Balsam includes 24 vegetable ingredients: herbs, flowers, leaves, roots, buds andberries. It is infused in oak barrels. According to legend, Catherine II recovered from cold by drinking it during her visit to Riga, and even now, many believe Riga Balsam to be an excellent medicine.

Fact 17 Latvia takes care of its nature

Approximately 20% of Latvia are protected areas. There are 4 national parks in the country (Gauja, Kemeri, Spliter, Razna), 42 natural parks, 260 reserves, 255 nature monuments, 7 protected marine zones and North-vidzeme biosphere reserve.

Fact 18 AirBaltic airline company is an innovator in its area

AirBaltic established in 1995, transports passengers and trucking in 60 directions. In 2013, the airline was the first tooffer its passengers to personally select their lunch on board. Also airBaltic gained another fame, when a year ago four of five crew members onone offlights did not pass the alcohol test.

Recently airBalticonce again confirmed that it loves innovations: the airline offered its passengers the opportunity to win business class air tickets by hunting for Pokemons.

Fact 19 Latvians love sorrel soup

Rupjmaize - rye bread and speķapīrādzini pies withspeck andonions are also very popular in the country.
In the framework of the spring Riga week restaurants you could try milk-fed calf rack baked in oil and infused inblack currant leaves andjuniper berries, dumplings made fromcheese andnettle, honey fromdandelions, nettle-sorrel soup, carrot cream soup, marshmallow made of rhubarb, basil sorbet, ice cream with lilac andother dishes made from Latvian greens and vegetables.

Fact20. The symbol of the country is the white wagtail

White Wagtail

Fact 21 Here you can go toprison by your own will

Karosta, a former military town of the Soviet Baltic Fleet is now a popular tourist destination .In the summer Karostaattracts tourists from different countries of the world. This direction is especially in demand among Germans and Scandinavians.For them, the former "Soviet military object" is something really exotic.
There is a hotel in the former Karosta military prison where you can go through all the charm of prison life and live ina cell protected by security guards.

Fact 22 Latvia has two UNESCO World Heritage sites

One of   them is the historical center of Riga, in which preserved many houses built in the Art Nouveau style.
The other is the less known Struve arc, a chain of 265 triangulation points created todetermine the parameters of the Earth, its shape andsize. Struve's arc extends from Hammerfest in   Norway to Black Sea and goes through the territories of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine.

The Latvian National Opera

Fact 23 Its capital has a short name

There are only 14 capital cities in the world, whose names consist of  four letters. These are Rome, Oslo, Lima, Baku, Bern, Kiev, the capital of South Sudan Juba, the capital of  the Maldives Republic Male, the capital of Qatar Doha, the capital of the African state Togo Lome, the capital of Fiji Suva, the capital of East Timor Dili andthe only city of the Independent State of Samoa is Apia.

Fact 24 Crocodile Dundee was from Latvia

According to some reports, film makers of Crocodile Dundee were inspired by the history of the Latvian Arvids Blumentals nicknamed Harry Crocodile.He was born inDundaga in1925 and after school went toLatvian Legion. In 1944, Arvids Blumentals headed to West and in 1947 he was enrolled in French Foreign Legion.Then he turned up at Australia where he began to hunt crocodiles starting from 1955. During his life, Blumentals caught aboutforty thousand crocodiles.
Dundaga installed a monument in the form of a giant crocodile to honor him.

Fact 25 Latvians love beer

Latvia is well-known for its ancient brewing traditions. One of the first great breweries appeared in the city of Bauska right inmedieval castle, near the rivers Musa and Nemunelis in Lielupe. There people brewed beer andcarried on carts to sell it starting frommid -15th century.

At the end of the last century, products of the Riga brewers were considered one of best in Europe. There were over 700 breweries in Riga and nearest cities during Royal period. Latvia had its own quality beer in the Soviet era.

One Latvian inaverage drinks 65 liters of beera year. There is even a beer spa in Riga.