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1[[quoteright:328:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lg-map.gif]]
2[[caption-width-right:328:Latvi-ya? I hardly know ya!]]
3
4->''"What if upvote is potato, and downvote is potato. When downvote, potato is actually rock. [[ShaggyDogStory But when upvote? Is also rock.]]"''
5-->-[[{{Website/Reddit}} r/LatvianJokes]]
6
7Latvia ('''Latvian:''' ''Latvija''), officially known as the '''Republic of Latvia''' ('''Latvian:''' ''Latvijas Republika''), is a Northern European country and the middle one of the three "Baltic Republics" along with {{UsefulNotes/Estonia}} and {{UsefulNotes/Lithuania}}, and has shared their modern history of brief independence following UsefulNotes/WorldWarI before being snapped up by the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] until independence in 1991. This is why the Soviet Union and Allies in general aren't very popular in Latvia - as the people often see [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] as the liberator, due to how he stopped the Soviet atrocities in Latvia (no, they're not supportive of his other policies). In fact, it wasn't until 1918 that the three of them had clearly delineated borders - for most of their history the area known as Livonia or Courland/Kurland was a vaguely-defined parcel of land passed around between UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} and UsefulNotes/TheTeutonicKnights, UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}.
8
9The country is bisected by the Daugava River, which flows into the Gulf of Riga, at, well, Riga, the capital and largest city of the country. In TheMiddleAges, the Baltic countries -- the last stronghold of paganism in Europe -- were targeted by the [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades Northern Crusade]]; crusader armies, mostly ethnic Germans, invaded the region and set up colonies and feudalist systems, which eventually evolved into the Duchy of Courland and Semigalia and the Duchy of Livonia. These settlers were the ancestors of the Baltic Germans, who formed a large part of the ruling class in the region up until UsefulNotes/WorldWarII[[note]]Most were deported in 1939, and the rest were driven out by Soviet forces in 1944[[/note]]. Riga, which was founded by Germans (on the site of several native Baltic settlements) was one of the most important ports of the UsefulNotes/HanseaticLeague, and German colonists founded many other key cities in the country as well, including Cesis and Daugavpils (or ''Wenden'' and ''Dünaburg'' in German). Over the centuries, the Germans intermingled with the native Baltic-speaking Latvians; many Baltic elite families intermarried with and assimilated into the German ruling class, while lowborn German colonists often married into and assimilated into the broader Latvian culture, especially in cities. German influence is still seen in the architecture of many Latvian cities, as well as Lutheranism's status as the largest Christian denomination.[[note]]Hence the standard way to distinguish between the three Baltic states from middle-school geography class: UsefulNotes/{{Lithuania}} is Baltic by language and Catholic by religion; UsefulNotes/{{Estonia}} is Finnic by language and Protestant by religion; and Latvia, sandwiched between the two, is Baltic by language and Protestant by religion.[[/note]] Eventually, though, the independent German duchies were conquered first by Poland-Lithuania, then by Sweden, then by Russia, under whose control they remained until they attained independence after UsefulNotes/WorldWarI.
10
11The interwar period was, for the most part, good for Latvia -- at least at first. No longer under the control of the absolutist Russian czars, Latvia (along with its Baltic neighbors Estonia and Lithuania) enjoyed a democratic regime, rapid economic growth, and good relations with Western European powers like the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom, {{UsefulNotes/France}}, {{UsefulNotes/Germany}}, and the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates. However, Karlis Ulmanis, who had been the country's prime minister several times since independence, staged a coup in 1934 and established a dictatorship, ending Latvian democracy for the next half-century. Things got worse when UsefulNotes/NaziGermany and UsefulNotes/JosefStalin's USSR signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, dividing Eastern Europe between them; Latvia was on the Soviet side, and Soviet forces overran the country in 1939. Though the Soviets officially annexed Latvia that same year, this was never recognized by the Western world, which continued to consider it (along with Estonia and Lithuania) legally independent and ''illegally'' occupied.
12
13The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact did not last. In 1941, Germany launched a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, and the Baltics, including Latvia, were relatively close to the border, meaning they were overrun quickly by the German advance. After two years of Soviet occupation, many Latvians welcomed the Germans as liberators, and Latvia was incorporated into ''Reichskomissariat Ostland''. A lot of people were drafted/volunteered into the Waffen SS Latvian Legion during the UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Nazi German]] occupation and used to fight the Soviets. Not supporting Hitler directly, they saw this as the only opportunity to secure some sort of an independence from the Soviets, which, by then, had sent huge amounts of Latvians to gulags or just shot them. Latvia has a remembrance day for them in the 16th of March, a date which is, unfortunately, portrayed in media as some sort of a Nazi-support celebration, but this is not the case. Of course, the true nature of the German occupation and their plans for the region quickly revealed itself, and the Germans proved to be even more draconian than the Soviets they had replaced. Most depressingly, 70,000 Latvian Jews were murdered in UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, more than 75% of their pre-war population. After the tide of the war turned at Stalingrad and Moscow, Soviet forces retook the region, but a small number of German troops managed to hold out in the "Courland Pocket," in the far west of Latvia, until Germany surrendered in May 1945.
14
15On the other hand, a lot of Latvians, ever since World War I, served in the Red Latvian Riflemen. They were crucial in the Revolution in Russia, providing a cadre of battle-hardened disciplined shock-troops, and later, [[CadreOfForeignBodyguards protecting Lenin himself]]. Many Latvians took high positions in the law enforcement, military, and intelligence services of the newly founded Soviet state. During World War II, many Latvians joined the Red Army and fought against the Nazis, notably during the Battle of Moscow.
16
17Also, a cool Latvian thing, done together with Estonians and Lithuanians, was getting independence via making a [[http://interestingworldhistory.blogspot.com/2013/04/baltic-way.html huge chain of people, stretching from Vilnius to Tallin]].
18
19Since independence, Latvia has become a popular tourist destination, joined the UsefulNotes/EuropeanUnion, and adopted the Euro as its national currency in January 2014. Also, Latvia has one of the fastest internet connection speeds in the world, [[http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2013-01-23/top-10-countries-with-the-fastest-internet.html#slide8 as seen here]], due to extensive government backing.
20
21In sports, apparently, the Latvians are really, really good in BMX and Beach Volleyball, getting a lot of success in these areas lately. The national sport is Ice Hockey, the fanaticism of this is around the same level as in UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}. If Latvia's only good hockey team - Dinamo Riga - performs well in KHL, it's a national celebration. And every Latvian who ends up in NHL is a national hero - in fact, thanks to a surge in online fan voting from Latvia, Zemgus Girgensons was the leading vote-getter for the 2015 NHL All-Star Game. The Latvians were also [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EuroBasket_1935 the very first European Champions in basketball.]]
22
23Culturally, due to everything that has happened with the small country, the Latvians are in the exact middle between the Russians and Germans, with the tropes associated to these countries appearing here almost equally, and sometimes in hilarious ways ([[LogicBomb for example]], [[GermanicEfficiency the Latvians are never late for work.]] [[VodkaDrunkenski Even when they are completely drunk]]).
24
25The Latvians (the older term 'Lett' has fallen out of use in English) are really touchy about being mistaken for the Russians - and by "touchy", we mean that calling a Latvian a Russian is a sure-fire way of getting into a fight. This might have something to do with the fact that out of the three Baltic states, Latvia was Russified the most; the number of Russians doubled from about 250,000 to 500,000 in just two decades after the Soviet annexation in 1940 and peaking at 900,000 in late 1980s (35% of the total population). For many years, the Russians actually made up the majority in the capital and most populous city, Riga, and still do in the second-biggest city Daugavpils. This created a problem after independence, as the Baltic countries have made a resolute agreement ''not'' to offer automatic citizenship to residents who migrated post-1940 or recognize languages other than their own at all. Latvian Russians who want to get Latvian citizenship will have to learn Latvian, and not many of them want to do so, which means that they are, legally speaking, stateless.
26
27Also, the Soviet era [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong made us strong]]. One of the least politically correct countries in the region, the Latvians are huge fans of BlackComedy and SelfDeprecation (usually such jokes, a lot like Russian 'anekdoty' are told in intentionally poor grammar for added comedy value). Here's some examples:
28* "Latvian has potato, is starve. Latvian save potato for tommorow. Eat dirt today. What if run out of dirt tomorrow?"
29* "One day, hear knock on door. Man ask 'Who Is?' 'Is potato man, I come around to give free potato.' Man is very excite and opens door. Is not potato man. Is secret police."
30
31Regarding the national language, it's considered by linguists to be one of the most conservative from the Indo-European language family, alongside Lithuanian. For non-speakers, it sounds vaguely Slavic-ish, which is understandable, since the language is a part of the clade that contains the Slavic languages, albeit (like Lithuanian) having split from the others thousands of years ago. And no, no matter what dictionary you find about Latvian, "[[Series/{{Seinfeld}} kavorka]]" does not mean "[[KavorkaMan the lure of the animal]]", nor it is a word of Latvian at all (or other languages for that matter).
32
33Latvian regional stereotypes are almost completely limited to those about Kurzeme (Courland, the northwest), the capital region around Riga, and Latgale (the southeast). The Kurzemnieki (Courlanders) are portrayed as rustic and slightly dim peasants with a drawling and near-incomprehensible accent that drops the latter half of every word, subsisting off of farming and forestry and eating potatoes, fish and assorted weeds. People from Riga, on the other hand, are portrayed as fancy city-dwellers with a pretentious accent who all have retail jobs and speak English. The Latgalians, when they aren't confused with the Russians, are portrayed as backwater savages who speak an alien tongue and are more Lithuanian-[[UsefulNotes/{{Belarus}} Belarusian]] than Latvian.
34Zemgale and Vidzeme? [[FlyoverCountry Where's that?]]
35
36Latvian cuisine is a simple and no-nonsense thing: potatoes, pork, smoked fish (in Kurzeme), sour cream and a whole lot of dill. Add various pickles and preserves to taste.
37
38Also, a special note for British tourists: our monument of freedom is ''not'' a public toilet. Otherwise, come and visit us, a pint of beer is cheaper that a 0.5lither bottle of coca-cola.
39
40!! Latvia in media
41
42[[AC: Anime]]
43
44* Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers has an anthropomorphication of Latvia named Raivis Galante, a TinySchoolboy CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass. He claims that he can drink up to 40 cups of alcohol with no issues.
45
46[[AC: Audio Play]]
47* Lavinia from AudioPlay/ThePrincessThieves
48
49[[AC: Literature]]
50* {{Literature/Holes}} is about a boy whose Latvian ancestors were cursed
51* Officer Berg of ''Literature/WarAndPeace'', a Latvian officer who proposes to a beautiful countess.
52* Pete of {{Literature/Bones}} is of Latvian descent. Following World War II and the subsequent Soviet occupation of the Baltics, Pete’s grandmother, her sons, and their wives decided it was best to seek greener pastures. According to family lore, the departure from Riga involved a dead-of-night dash and a harrowing voyage on a sketchy cargo ship.
53* Jakob Gradus of ''Literature/PaleFire''. His father was a Minister from Riga.
54* And by the same [[Creator/VladimirNabokov author]] of ''Literature/PaleFire'', we have Robert Karlovich Horn from {{Literature/Pnin}}.
55* The Latvian Sea Pirate from ''Literature/TheTinDrum''
56* Nathan and Larry of ''Literature/SophiesChoice'' are of Latvian Jewish descent.
57* ''Literature/OneDayInTheLifeOfIvanDenisovich'' gives us Kildigs, the plump red faced Latvian.
58
59[[AC: Films]]
60* Film/ForeignCorrespondent has a FunnyForeigner Latvian delegate. He has a [[PerpetualSmiler goofy grin]] on his face most of the time.
61
62[[AC: Series]]
63* In Series/BrooklynNineNine, Charles adopts a Latvian boy named Nikolaj
64* Aleks of ''Series/EastEnders''.
65* Red Jackal from GI Joe Red Shadows is a Latvian defector who eventually joined the Z force
66* Vlad, the Latvian exchange student from ''Series/ModernFamily''.
67
68[[AC: Other]]
69* A common misconception is that ComicBook/DoctorDoom is Latvian. He's actually ''[[https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Latveria Latverian]]''. However the country's Ruritania nature and aesthetics could have been drawn from Latvia.
70* {{Webcomic/Broodhollow}} gives us a Latvian logger named Maris Kruzevabole
71* There's an entire [[https://medium.com/@latviansdotco site]] dedicated to fictional Latvians
72* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike: Condition Zero'' has a mission set in Ventspils.
73* Ilona Vike from ''VideoGame/DinoDDay'' is Latvian. It's explained that her village of Sarauj was destroyed by Hitler's dinosaur army.
74
75!!See Also:
76[[index]]
77* Main/LatvianMedia
78[[/index]]
79
80!! Famous Latvians:
81* Music/GustavHolst, though thoroughly [[UsefulNotes/{{England}} English]] in his personal identity, was of partial Latvian descent.
82* Not a Latvian, but associated: Music/RichardWagner was the director of the Riga German's Theater (which later became Latvian National Opera) for a while.
83* Isaiah Berlin, Creator/SergeiEisenstein, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Mark Rothko although not technically Latvians, were also born in Riga.
84* Same for Mihails Tāls, a Latvian Jew who was World Chess Champion from 1960–1961. He's more commonly known by the Russian version of his name, Mikhail Tal.
85* Aleksandrs Liepa, the inventor of Pringles, was a Latvian (well, according to the patent, at least).
86** His surname means "linden" in Latvian, it is quite common surname among Latvians.
87* Edward Leedskalnin (Edvards Liedskalniņš), an immigrant from Latvia, created that [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Castle crazy coral castle in Florida]] - and nobody has any idea as of how.
88* Fred Norris (originally Fred Leon Nukis) of ''Radio/TheHowardSternShow'' is the son of Valija and Henry Nukis who were Latvian immigrants.
89* Maris Strombergs is the first (and as of now, the only) Olympic champion in BMX, getting gold in UsefulNotes/{{Beijing}} and UsefulNotes/{{London}}.
90* Creator/KseniaSolo from ''Series/LostGirl'' was born in Riga and then migrated to Canada with her parents, when she was 5.
91* DJ Lethal from Music/LimpBizkit (real name Leors Dimants) was also born in Riga, in a Latvian Jewish family.
92* Kārlis Irbītis, one of the pioneers of VTOL technology and the designer of the Canadian CL-84 plane was a Latvian. Exceedingly funny that he's almost unknown in Latvia, where his extremely eccentric (yet still loved) painter brother Voldemārs Irbe is known far better.
93* Highly ironically, the very first commander of the Soviet Army was a Latvian - Jukums Vācietis. It is widely thought that the Soviets only beat the Royalists in the civil war due to the Latvian Red Riflemen, which were much more disciplined and organized that the Red Army. Later, he served as [[UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin Lenin]]'s personal guard [[ThePurge until the great purges of 1937.]] Yeah, [[UnderStatement that didn't turn out so well.]]
94* Music/{{Aminata}} Savadogo, who represented the country at the Series/EurovisionSongContest 2015 and gave them their best result in a decade. She is a Latvian of [[UsefulNotes/BurkinaFaso Burkinabé]] and Russian descent.
95* Kristaps Porziņģis, current rising NBA star with the Dallas Mavericks.
96* Another non-Latvian closely associated with the country: CJ Perry, better known as WWE's [[Wrestling/RusevAndLana Lana]], though born in Florida, was mostly raised in Latvia as the daughter of Christian missionaries. She danced with Latvia's national ballet in her teens.
97----
98[[AC:The Latvian flag]]
99https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/latvia_flag_5855.png
100->The flag, consisting of a carmine red field and white bar, is said to be among the oldest flags still in use. Popular legend attributes its origins as the shroud used to wrap a wounded tribal leader during the wars of the late 13th century -- the parts which came into contact with him miraculously remained pure, while its edges became stained with his blood.
101----
102[[AC:The Latvian national anthem]]
103
104->Dievs, svētī Latviju!
105->Mūs' dārgo tēviju
106->Svētī jel Latviju
107->Ak, svētī jel to!
108
109->Dievs, svētī Latviju!
110->Mūs' dārgo tēviju
111->Svētī jel Latviju
112->Ak, svētī jel to!
113
114->Kur latvju meitas zied
115->Kur latvju dēli dzied
116->Laid mums tur laimē diet
117->Mūs' Latvijā!
118
119->Kur latvju meitas zied
120->Kur latvju dēli dzied
121->Laid mums tur laimē diet
122->Mūs' Latvijā!
123
124--
125
126->God, bless Latvia!
127->Our beloved fatherland,
128->Bless Latvia,
129->Oh bless it, yet again!
130
131->God, bless Latvia!
132->Our beloved fatherland,
133->Bless Latvia,
134->Oh bless it, yet again!
135
136->Where Latvian daughters bloom,
137->Where Latvian sons sing,
138->Let us dance for joy there,
139->In our Latvia!
140
141->Where Latvian daughters bloom,
142->Where Latvian sons sing,
143->Let us dance for joy there,
144->In our Latvia!
145----
146[[AC:Government]]
147* Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
148** President: Edgars Rinkēvičs
149** Prime Minister: Evika Siliņa
150** Speaker of the Saeima: Daiga Mieriņa
151----
152[[AC:Miscellaneous]]
153* '''Capital and largest city:''' Riga
154* '''Other major cities:''' Daugavpils, Liepaja, Jelgava
155* '''Population:''' 1,907,675
156* '''Area:''' 64,589 sq km (24,938 sq mi) (122nd)
157* '''Currency''': Euro (€) (EUR)
158* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' LV
159* '''Country calling code:''' 371
160* '''Highest point:''' Gaiziņkalns (312 m/1,024 ft) (184th)

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