Welcome to Latvia, one of the three Baltic states!
Subdivisions
Latvia is divided into 36 municipalities, also known as novads:
- Ādaži
- Aizkraukle
- Alūksne
- Augšdaugava
- Balvi
- Bauska
- Cēsis
- Dobele
- Gulbene
- Jelgava
- Jēkabpils
- Ķekava
- Krāslava
- Kuldīga
- Limbaži
- Līvāni
- Ludza
- Madona
- Mārupe
- Ogre
- Olaine
- Preiļi
- Rēzekne
- Ropaži
- Salaspils
- Saldus
- Saulkrasti
- Sigulda
- Smiltene
- South Kurzeme
- Talsi
- Tukums
- Valka
- Valmiera
- Varakļāni
- Ventspils
License Plates
As a member of the EU, Latvia's license plates feature a blue band on the left side of the plate with the EU circle of stars and the country code LV. Plates are white with black text: LVAB-1234.
Phone Codes
Phone numbers are prefixed with a six (6), and are tied to the municipality:
West 3x
- Jelgava
- Tukums
- Talsi
- Kuldiga
- Liepāja
- Ventspils
- Ventspils
- Dobele
- Saldus
- Bauska
North 4x
- Limbaži
- Cēsis
- Valmiera
- Alūksne
- Gulbene
- Balvi
- Rēzekne
- Valka
- Madona
- Aizkraukle
East 5x
- Ogre
- Aizkraukle
- Jēkabpils
- Preiļi
- Daugavpils
- Ogre
- Krāslava
- Ludza
- Daugavpils
- Cēsis
Other 6x-9x
-
Riga
-
Riga
-
Miscelaneous
- N/A
- Valmiera
- Jēkabpils
- Liepāja
- N/A
- Jelgava
-
Riga
Roads, Markings, and Signage
Highways & Road Numbering Schemes
The Latvian road numbering system splits roads into three tiers – main, first-class, and second-class – although only the first two are usually signposted.
Main Roads (Autocela)
These routes are usually signposted with the letter A and up to two digits in white text on a red background: A12. A1-A3 and A6-A10 are radial roads out of Riga, arranged clockwise, while A4 and A5 form a partial ring route around Riga. A11 is the coastal route south of Liepāja, A12 branches off to the east from Jēkabpils, and A13-A15 form connector roads between and around Daugavpils and Rēzekne.
First-Class Roads
These routes are usually signposted with the letter P and up to three digits in white text on a blue background: P123. These roads are not very well-ordered but are loosely clustered and seem to increase in number going clockwise around Riga, although there are exceptions.
Architecture
Language
Latvian is the primary language used in Latvia, and is one of two major Baltic languages in use today (the other being Lithuanian). It is fairly unique compared to other European languages, as Baltic languages occupy their own branch of the Indo-European language family.
Script
Latvian uses 33 characters, including 22 letters of the standard Latin alphabet (all except Q, W, X, and Y):
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh
Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo
Pp Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Zz
The remaining eleven characters are nearly all unique to Latvian, being modified versions of other Latin characters. In particular, note the use of macrons on vowels, which is unique to Latvia.
Āā Čč Ēē Ģģ Īī Ķķ Ļļ Ņņ Šš Ūū Žž
Sample
Visi cilvēki piedzimst brīvi un vienlīdzīgi savā pašcieņā un tiesībās. Viņi ir apveltīti ar saprātu un sirdsapziņu, un viņiem jāizturas citam pret citu brālības garā.