LATVIA

The Republic of Latvia, international abbreviation LV
The Republic of Latvia is founded on November 18, 1918
Location: Latvia is situated in Northern Europe, on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
The Territory of Latvia: 64,589 square kilometers (24,938 square miles).
National anthem: ‘Dievs, sveti Latviju!’ (God Bless Latvia)
International code: LV
Constitution: democratic parliamentary republic
The parliament, called the Saeima consists of 100 elected MPs.
President: Valdis Zatlers (since 8 July, 2007)
Official language: Latvian
Total population: 2 274 700 (uz 07.2007)
Capital city: Riga (with 723931 inhabitants)
Administrative organisation: 7 cities, 65 towns, 26 regions, 11 districts, 467 parishes
Traditionally divided into 4 regions: Vidzeme, Latgale, Kurzeme and Zemgale

Largest cities apart from Riga: Daugavpils, Jelgava, Jurmala, Liepaja, Rezekne, Ventspils

Major ports: Ventspils, Riga, Liepaja

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LITHUANIA

Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika) is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the southwest. Lithuania is a member of NATO and of the European Union. Its population is 3.4 million. Its capital and the largest city is Vilnius. This year (2009) Vilnius is European Capital of Culture.
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ESTONIA

Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti or Eesti Vabariik), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by the Russian Federation (338,6 km). The territory of Estonia covers 45,227 km² and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate.

The Estonians are descendants of Baltic Finns, the Estonian language sharing many similarities with Finnish. The modern name of Estonia is thought to originate from the Roman historian Tacitus, who in his book Germania (ca. AD 98) described a people called the Aestii. Similarly, ancient Scandinavian sagas refer to a land called Eistland, close to the German, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish terms Estland for the country. Early Latin and other ancient versions of the name are Estia and Hestia. Until the late 1930s, the name was often written as Esthonia in most English speaking countries.
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