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PHP Framework
Web application MVC framework for PHP4 and PHP5. Event driven, component based, AJAX compatible. |
| Overview | People | Geography | Economy | Government | Communications | Transport | Military | Map |
| Country | Latvia |
| Flag |  |
| Capital | name: Riga geographic coordinates: 56 57 N, 24 06 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
| Population | 2,259,810 (July 2007 est.) |
| GMT | +2 |
| Location | Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania see map |
| Area | total: 64,589 sq km land: 63,589 sq km water: 1,000 sq km |
| Ethnic groups | Latvian 57.7%, Russian 29.6%, Belarusian 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.7%, Polish 2.5%, Lithuanian 1.4%, other 2% (2002) |
| Religions | Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox |
| Languages | Latvian (official) 58.2%, Russian 37.5%, Lithuanian and other 4.3% (2000 census) |
| Government type | parliamentary democracy |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 18 November (1918); note - 18 November 1918 was the date Latvia declared itself independent from Soviet Russia; 4 May 1990 is when it declared the renewal of independence; 21 August 1991 was the date of de facto independence from the Soviet Union |
| Constitution | 15 February 1922; restored to force by the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Latvia adopted by the Supreme Council on 21 August 1991; multiple amendments since |
| Legal system | based on civil law system |
| Background | After a brief period of independence between the two World Wars, Latvia was annexed by the USSR in 1940 - an action never recognized by the US and many other countries. It reestablished its independence in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Although the last Russian troops left in 1994, the status of the Russian minority (some 30% of the population) remains of concern to Moscow. Latvia joined both NATO and the EU in the spring of 2004. |
| Internet country code | .lv |
