Latvia–United States relations

Bilateral relations

Latvia – United States relations

Latvia |
United States
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of Latvia, Washington, D.C.| Embassy of the United States, Riga
Embassy of Latvia in Washington, D.C.

The United States established diplomatic relations with Latvia on July 28, 1922. The U.S. Legation in Riga was officially established on November 13, 1922, and served as the headquarters for U.S. representation in the Baltics during the interwar era. The Soviet invasion forced the closure of the legation on September 5, 1940, but Latvian representation in the United States has continued uninterrupted for 85 years. The United States never recognized the forcible incorporation of Latvia into the U.S.S.R. and views the present government of Latvia as a legal continuation of the interwar republic.

Latvia and the United States have signed treaties on investment, trade, intellectual property protection, extradition, mutual legal assistance, and avoidance of double taxation. Latvia has enjoyed most-favored-nation treatment with the United States since December 1991.

According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 30% of Latvians approve of U.S. leadership, with 30% disapproving and 39% uncertain.[1]

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials include:

* Ambassador— Nancy Bikoff Pettit
* Deputy Chief of Mission— Sharon Hudson-Dean

The U.S. Embassy in Latvia is located in Riga.

## Country comparison

[edit]

|  Latvia |  United States

|
|

Flag |  |
Coat of Arms |  |
Population | 1,953,200[2] | 337,928,000
Area | 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi)  | 9,526,468 km2 (3,678,190 sq mi) [3]
Population density | 34.3/km2 (88.9/sq mi)  | 31/km2 (80/sq mi)
Capital | Riga | Washington, D.C.
Largest city | Riga - 641,423 (1,018,295 Metro)  | New York City – 8,175,133 (19,006,798 Metro)
Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic | Federal presidential constitutional republic
First Leader | Jānis Čakste | George Washington
Current Leader | Edgars Rinkēvičs | Donald Trump
Official languages | Latvian | English (de facto)
Main religions | 80% Christianity (34.3% Lutheranism, 25.1% Catholicism, 19.4% Eastern Orthodoxy/Old Believers, 1.2% other Christian), 20% non-Religious  | 70.6% Christianity (46.5% Protestantism, 20.8% Catholicism, 1.6% Mormonism, 1.7% Other Christianity), 22.8% non-Religious, 1.9% Judaism, 0.9% Islam, 0.7% Buddhism, 0.7% Hinduism[4]
Ethnic groups | 62% Latvian, 25.4% Russian, 3.3% Belarusian, 2.2% Ukrainian, 2.1% Polish, 1.2% Lithuanian, 3.8% other[5] | 74% White American, 13.4% African American,
6.5% Some other race, 4.4% Asian American, 2% Two or more races,
0.7% Native American or Native Alaskan, 0.14% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
GDP (nominal) | $30.176 billion ($15,403 per capita)  | $14.4 trillion ($47,440 per capita)
GDP (PPP) | $53.467 billion ($27,291 per capita)  | $18.558 trillion ($57,220 per capita)
Real GDP growth rate | 2.00%  | 1.60%

## See also

[edit]

* Latvian Americans
* Foreign relations of the United States
* Foreign relations of Latvia
* United States Ambassador to Latvia

## References

[edit]

1. ^ U.S. Global Leadership Project Report - 2012 Gallup
2. ^ "The number of population is decreasing – the mark has dropped below 2 million". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Nov 2015. Archived from the original on 2017-10-14. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
3. ^ "United States". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
4. ^ "America's Changing Religious Landscape". Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center. 2015-05-12. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
5. ^ [1] [dead link]

This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Andersons, Edgars, and M. G. Slavenas. "The Latvian and Lithuanian Press." in The Ethnic Press in the United States: A Historical Analysis and Handbook, edited by Sally M. Miller. (Greenwood Press, 1987).
* Kārklis, Maruta, Līga Streips, and Laimonis Streips. The Latvians in America, 1640–1973: A Chronology and Fact Book (Oceana Publications, 1974).
* Straumanis, Andris. "Latvian Americans." in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 3, Gale, 2014), pp. 65–78. Online
* "Latvians" in Stephan Thernstrom, Ann Orlov and Oscar Handlin, eds. Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (1980) Online
* Zake, Ieva (2017). American Latvians : Politics of a Refugee Community. Routledge. ISBN 9781351532563.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Relations of Latvia and the United States at Wikimedia Commons
* History of Latvia - U.S. relations

* v
* t
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Foreign relations of Latvia

Americas|

* Canada
* Mexico
* United States

Asia|

* Azerbaijan
* Bangladesh
* China
* India
* Israel
* Taiwan
* Turkey
* Uzbekistan

Europe|

* Albania
* Belarus
* Bulgaria
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* Georgia
* Greece
* Iceland
* Kosovo
* Lithuania
* Poland
* Russia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Ukraine

Oceania|

* Australia

Diplomatic missions|

* Diplomatic missions of Latvia / in Latvia
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs

* v
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Foreign relations of the United States

Bilateral relations

| Africa|

| Central|

* Angola
* Cameroon
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Republic of the Congo
* Equatorial Guinea
* Gabon
* São Tomé and Príncipe

|

East|

* Burundi
* Comoros
* Djibouti
* Eritrea
* Ethiopia
* Kenya
* Madagascar
* Malawi
* Mauritius
* Mozambique
* Rwanda
* Seychelles
* Somalia
* Somaliland
* South Sudan
* Tanzania
* Uganda
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe

North|

* Algeria
* Egypt
* Libya
* Morocco
* Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
* Sudan
* Tunisia

Southern|

* Botswana
* Eswatini
* Lesotho
* Namibia
* South Africa

West|

* Benin
* Burkina Faso
* Cape Verde
* Côte d'Ivoire
* The Gambia
* Ghana
* Guinea
* Guinea-Bissau
* Liberia
* Mali
* Mauritania
* Niger
* Nigeria
* Senegal
* Sierra Leone
* Togo

Americas|

| Caribbean|

* Antigua and Barbuda
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Cuba
* Dominica
* Dominican Republic
* Grenada
* Haiti
* Jamaica
* St. Kitts and Nevis
* St. Lucia
* St. Vincent and the Grenadines
* Trinidad and Tobago

|

Central|

* Belize
* Costa Rica
* El Salvador
* Guatemala
* Honduras
* Mexico
* Nicaragua
* Panama

Northern|

* Canada
* trade

South|

* Argentina
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Chile
* Colombia
* Ecuador
* Guyana
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Suriname
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

Asia|

| Central|

* Kazakhstan
* Kyrgyzstan
* Tajikistan
* Turkmenistan
* Uzbekistan

|

East|

* China
* Hong Kong
* Macau
* Japan
* Mongolia
* North Korea
* South Korea
* Taiwan

South|

* Afghanistan
* Bangladesh
* Bhutan
* India
* Maldives
* Nepal
* Pakistan
* military
* Sri Lanka

Southeast|

* Brunei
* Cambodia
* Indonesia
* Laos
* Malaysia
* Myanmar
* Philippines
* Singapore
* Thailand
* Timor-Leste
* Vietnam

Western|

* Armenia
* Azerbaijan
* Bahrain
* Georgia
* Iran
* Iraq
* Israel
* military
* Jordan
* Kuwait
* Lebanon
* Oman
* Palestine
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* Syria
* United Arab Emirates
* Yemen

Europe|

| Eastern|

* Belarus
* Bulgaria
* Czech Republic
* Hungary
* Moldova
* Transnistria
* Poland
* Romania
* Russia
* Slovakia
* Ukraine

|

Northern|

* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Norway
* Sweden
* United Kingdom
* Special Relationship
* Bermuda
* Cayman Islands

Southern|

* Albania
* Andorra
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Croatia
* Cyprus
* Northern Cyprus
* Greece
* Holy See
* Italy
* Kosovo
* Malta
* Montenegro
* North Macedonia
* Portugal
* San Marino
* Serbia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Turkey

Western|

* Austria
* Belgium
* France
* Germany
* Liechtenstein
* Luxembourg
* Monaco
* Netherlands
* Switzerland

Oceania|

| Australasia|

* Australia
* New Zealand

|

Melanesia|

* Fiji
* Papua New Guinea
* Solomon Islands
* Vanuatu

Micronesia|

* Kiribati
* Marshall Islands
* Micronesia
* Nauru
* Palau

Polynesia|

* Cook Islands
* Samoa
* Tonga
* Tuvalu

Former states|

* Artsakh
* Grand Duchy of Baden
* Kingdom of Bavaria
* Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg
* Federal Republic of Central America
* Greater Republic of Central America
* Congo Free State
* Czechoslovakia
* East Germany
* Republic of Genoa
* German Empire
* Kingdom of Hanover
* Hanseatic Republics
* Hawaiian Kingdom
* Grand Duchy of Hesse
* Mecklenburg-Schwerin
* Mecklenburg-Strelitz
* Duchy of Nassau
* North German Confederation
* Grand Duchy of Oldenburg
* Orange Free State
* Ottoman Empire
* Papal States
* Duchy of Parma
* Prussia
* Russian Empire
* Ryukyu Kingdom
* Kingdom of Sardinia
* Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe
* Soviet Union
* Republic of Texas
* Grand Duchy of Tuscany
* Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
* United Arab Republic
* Kingdom of Württemberg
* Yugoslavia

Multilateral relations

* Africa
* Arab League
* Asia
* East Asia
* European Union
* Latin America
* Middle East
* United Nations
* C5+1
* Major non-NATO ally
* Third Border Initiative
* International organizations

Doctrines, policies, concepts

| Presidential
doctrines|

* Proclamation of Neutrality
* Monroe
* Roosevelt Corollary
* Good Neighbor policy
* Truman
* Eisenhower
* Kennedy
* Johnson
* Nixon
* Carter
* Reagan
* Clinton
* Bush
* Obama

|

Other doctrines|

* Lodge Corollary
* Stimson
* Kirkpatrick
* Weinberger
* Powell
* Rumsfeld
* Wolfowitz

Policies and
concepts|

* Blowback
* China policy
* Containment
* Domino theory
* Foreign aid
* Middle East policy
* Non-interventionism
* Progressive realism
* Rollback
* Special Relationship

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