Riga (Latvian: Rīga, pronounced [riːɡa]( listen)) is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltics, and an important seaport, situated on the mouth of the Daugava. With 713,016 inhabitants (2009) it is the largest city of the Baltic states and third-largest in the Baltic region, behind Saint Petersburg and Stockholm (counting residents within the city limits). Riga's territory...
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Riga (Latvian: Rīga, pronounced [riːɡa]( listen)) is the capital and largest city of Latvia, a major industrial, commercial, cultural and financial centre of the Baltics, and an important seaport, situated on the mouth of the Daugava. With 713,016 inhabitants (2009) it is the largest city of the Baltic states and third-largest in the Baltic region, behind Saint Petersburg and Stockholm (counting residents within the city limits). Riga's territory covers 307.17 km (118.60 sq mi) and lies between 1 and 10 metres (3.3 and 33 ft) above sea level,on a flat and sandy plain.
Riga's historical centre has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the city is particularly notable for its extensive Jugendstil (German Art Nouveau) architecture, which UNESCO considers to be unparalleled anywhere in the world.
The river Daugava (Western Dvina) has been a trade route since antiquity, part of the Vikings' Dvina-Dnieper navigation route to Byzantium. A sheltered natural harbour 15 km (9.3 mi)...
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