Latvia
covers
64,600
km²,
almost
as
much
as
The
Netherlands
and
Belgium
together,
or
just
over
one
fourth
of
the
UK.
But
the
population
is
only
two
millions,
of
which
almost
half
live
in
Rīga.
So,
visitors
will
find
the
country
thinly
populated,
leaving
room
for
a
rich
and
interesting
nature.
Latvia
holds
good
mammal
populations;
about
900
Wolves,
750
Lynxes,
5,600
Otters,
80,000
Beavers,
>12
Brown
Bears
and
an
unknown
number
of
Golden
Jackals.
Also
birds
are
well
represented,
with
the
following
number
of
breeding
pairs
for
selected
species:
Hazel
Grouse
12,000,
Black
Grouse
10,000,
Capercaillie
2,500,
White
Stork
10,500,
Black
Stork
900,
Lesser
Spotted
Eagle
2,800,
Osprey
150,
Corn
Crake
57,000,
Crane
600,
Great
Snipe
200,
Marsh
Sandpiper
30,
Terek
Sandpiper
10,
Little
Gull
2,000,
Whiskered
Tern
10,
Black
Tern
3,000,
White-winged
Tern
300,
Tengmalm’s
Owl
1,500,
Ural
Owl
2,500,
Pygmy
Owl
1,200,
Kingfisher
1,500,
Hoopoe
300,
Roller
50,
Black
Woodpecker
8,000,
Grey-headed
Woodpecker
3,000,
Middle
Spotted
Woodpecker
2,000,
White-backed
Woodpecker
2,500,
Three-toed
Woodpecker
2,500,
Citrine
Wagtail
200,
River
Warbler
100,000,
Blyth’s
Reed
Warbler
10,000,
Great
Reed
Warbler
20,000,
Barred Warbler 6,000 and Common Rosefinch 50,000.
Latvia’s
history
is
dominated
by
occupation;
from
1200
to
1918
by
Germans,
Poles,
Swedes
and
Russians
and
from
1940
to
1991
by
Russians.
Few
people
have
been
forced
to
fight
so
hard
for
their
independence
as
the
Latvians.
At
the
end
of
WW
I,
Latvians
had
to
fight
against
both
the
Russian
and
German
army,
at
the
same
time
as
they
got
no
support
from
Western
Europe.
When
the
Russians
returned
in
1940,
the
war
lasted
until
1956
when
the
last
defenders
gave
up.
The
years
of
occupation
have
left
fortifications,
buildings,
ruins,
battle
grounds
and
cemeteries
all
over
the
country
but
there
are
also
several
remnants
from
the
time
before
1200.
Latvia
was
a
prosperous
country
at
the
start
of
WW
II,
but
has
far
from
recovered
after
the
devastating
Russian
occupation.
This
gives,
however,
a
rich
mix
of
old
and
new,
of
poor
and
rich,
of
traditional
and modern.