The Republic of Latvia is a nation of 2.2 million people, located in the Baltic Region of Northern Europe.
The sole official language is Latvian. Russian was widely spoken during the Soviet era and remains the most prevalent minority language today.
Latvia is a unitary parliamentary republic and a member of the European Union.
Christianity is the most prevalent religion, with followers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, Roman Catholic, and Russian Orthodox faith, however less than 10% of the population regularly attends church services.
The Lats, abbreviated Ls, is the official currency of Lativa, although the nation is scheduled to switch to Euros in early 2014.