The United States established diplomatic relations with Latvia on July 28, 1922. The U.S. Legation in Riga was officially established on November 13, 1922, and served as the headquarters for U.S. representation in the Baltics during the interwar era. The Soviet invasion forced the closure of the legation on September 5, 1940, but Latvian representation in the United States has continued uninterrupted for 85 years. The United States never recognized the forcible incorporation of Latvia into the U.S.S.R. and views the present government of Latvia as a legal continuation of the interwar republic.
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 Latvia |
 United States |
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| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of Latvia, Washington, D.C. | Embassy of the United States, Riga |
Latvia and the United States have signed treaties on investment, trade, intellectual property protection, extradition, mutual legal assistance, and avoidance of double taxation. Latvia has enjoyed most-favored-nation treatment with the United States since December 1991.
According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 30% of Latvians approve of U.S. leadership, with 30% disapproving and 39% uncertain.[1]
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials include:
- Ambassador— Nancy Bikoff Pettit
- Deputy Chief of Mission— Sharon Hudson-Dean
The U.S. Embassy in Latvia is located in Riga.
Country comparison
edit Latvia
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 United States
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| Flag | 
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| Coat of Arms | 
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| Population | 1,953,200[2] | 337,233,000 |
| Area | 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi) | 9,526,468 km2 (3,678,190 sq mi) [3] |
| Population density | 34.3/km2 (88.9/sq mi) | 31/km2 (80/sq mi) |
| Capital | Riga | Washington, D.C. |
| Largest city | Riga - 641,423 (1,018,295 Metro) | New York City – 8,175,133 (19,006,798 Metro) |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic | Federal presidential constitutional republic |
| First Leader | Jānis Čakste | George Washington |
| Current Leader | Edgars Rinkēvičs | Joe Biden |
| Official languages | Latvian | English (de facto) |
| Main religions | 80% Christianity (34.3% Lutheranism, 25.1% Catholicism, 19.4% Eastern Orthodoxy/Old Believers, 1.2% other Christian), 20% non-Religious | 70.6% Christianity (46.5% Protestantism, 20.8% Catholicism, 1.6% Mormonism, 1.7% Other Christianity), 22.8% non-Religious, 1.9% Judaism, 0.9% Islam, 0.7% Buddhism, 0.7% Hinduism[4] |
| Ethnic groups | 62% Latvian, 25.4% Russian, 3.3% Belarusian, 2.2% Ukrainian, 2.1% Polish, 1.2% Lithuanian, 3.8% other[5] | 74% White American, 13.4% African American, 6.5% Some other race, 4.4% Asian American, 2% Two or more races, 0.7% Native American or Native Alaskan, 0.14% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander |
| GDP (nominal) | $30.176 billion ($15,403 per capita) | $14.4 trillion ($47,440 per capita) |
| GDP (PPP) | $53.467 billion ($27,291 per capita) | $18.558 trillion ($57,220 per capita) |
| Real GDP growth rate | 2.00% | 1.60% |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ U.S. Global Leadership Project Report - 2012 Gallup
- ^ "The number of population is decreasing – the mark has dropped below 2 million". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Nov 2015. Archived from the original on 2017-10-14. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
- ^ "United States". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
- ^ "America's Changing Religious Landscape". Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center. 2015-05-12. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
- ^ [1] [dead link]
This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.
Further reading
edit- Andersons, Edgars, and M. G. Slavenas. "The Latvian and Lithuanian Press." in The Ethnic Press in the United States: A Historical Analysis and Handbook, edited by Sally M. Miller. (Greenwood Press, 1987).
- Kārklis, Maruta, Līga Streips, and Laimonis Streips. The Latvians in America, 1640–1973: A Chronology and Fact Book (Oceana Publications, 1974).
- Straumanis, Andris. "Latvian Americans." in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 3, Gale, 2014), pp. 65–78. Online
- "Latvians" in Stephan Thernstrom, Ann Orlov and Oscar Handlin, eds. Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (1980) Online
- Zake, Ieva (2017). American Latvians : Politics of a Refugee Community. Routledge. ISBN 9781351532563.
External links
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Media related to Relations of Latvia and the United States at Wikimedia Commons- History of Latvia - U.S. relations
