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GeographyLocation: Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania
Area: Land boundaries: total 1,078 km, Belarus 141 km, Estonia 267 km, Lithuania 453 km, Russia 217 km Coastline: 531 km
PeoplePopulation: 2,762,899 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
Population growth rate: 0.5% (1995 est.) Birth rate: 13.71 births/1,000 population Death rate: 12.49 deaths/1,000 population Net migration rate: 3.76 migrant(s)/1,000 population Infant mortality rate: 21 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
Total fertility rate: 1.97 children born/woman Ethnic divisions: Latvian 51.8%, Russian 33.8%, Byelorussian 4.5%, Ukrainian 3.4%, Polish 2.3%, other 4.2% Religions: Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox Languages: Lettish (official), Lithuanian, Russian, other
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1989)
Government
Names:
Type: republic Capital: Riga Independence: 6 September 1991 (from Soviet Union) Constitution: newly elected Parliament in 1993 restored the 1933 constitution
EconomyNational product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $12.3 billion National product real growth rate: 2% National product per capita: $4,480 Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.9% Unemployment rate: 6.5%
Electricity:
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| Pin trading was one of the most popular Olympic sports, with more than 1.2 million pins changing hands during the Games in the Coca Cola Pin Trading Center at Centennial Olympic Park. |