Riga
Rīga (
Russian Рига,
Lithuanian Ryga),situated on the
Baltic Sea coast at the mouth of the
Daugava river, is the capital of
Latvia and a major regional port and industrial centre. Riga is the biggest city in the
Baltic States. The city's population has fallen since Latvia's independence from 910,000 (in 1991) to 747,000 (in 2003). Only 42% of Riga's inhabitants are ethnic Latvians (2003).
History
\n
In 1158 AD Baltic-German traders founded a commercial settlement at Riga in Livland or
Livonia. In
1201 Archbishop
Albert of Buxhoeveden-Bremen and Riga granted Riga city rights. Riga as well as Livonia and Prussia came under the protection of the
Holy Roman (German) Empire, which included archbishops among its subordinate rulers. At the time of
Luther Livonia and Prussia became Protestant.
A member from 1282 of the powerful
Hanseatic League of northern European trading cities, Riga employed German as its official language of administration until the imposition of Russian in
1891 (all birth, marriage and death records are in German until then). In 1900 Riga's population of 282,943 was a quarter Latvian, a quarter Russian and a half Baltic-German.
After a period as a free city (1561-1581) Riga came under the rule of first the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth and then
Sweden (1621-1710) and subsequently
Russia. After the region's terrible losses during the
Great Northern War (1700-1721), Riga enjoyed rapid growth as a leading port and later industrial city of the rising Russian empire, its population doubling in the latter half of the 18th century and again in the first half of the 19th, and more than quadrupling in 1850-1900.
1900-Present
\n
]]\nAfter severe losses in 1914-1920 owing to war, military occupation, revolution and a brief civil war, a first period of Latvian national independence (1918-1940) saw a slowing of growth as Riga, though now a national capital, lost most of the trade of its former Russian hinterland, now under communist government in the Soviet Union.
World War II brought further losses following Soviet annexation (
1940) and German occupation (1941-1944).
Restored Soviet rule brought renewed population growth augmented by the immigration of large numbers of non-Latvians from other Soviet republics, particularly Russians: by 1975 less than 40% of Riga's inhabitants were ethnic Latvians, a proportion which has risen since independence.
Transportation
The city is a major transportation hub. It is the center of the local
road and
railway system, and has a port. The city is served by
Riga international airport.
See also
Notable natives
\n*Mikhail Baryshnikov - famous dancer and actor\n*
Sergei Eisenstein - Russian film maker\n*
Johann Gottfried Herder - German poet, critic, theologian, and philosopher, father of
ethnic nationalism\n*The father of
Gustav Holst\n*
Laila Freivalds - Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs\n*
Arturs Irbe - ice hockey player (NHL), goalkeeper\n*
Vasili Ulrikh - notorious hanging judge of the
Great Purges\n*
Richard Wagner - composer
A list of rulers of Riga:\n
Archbishops of Riga who were also secular rulers until 1561:\n---- \n*
Riga, New York is a town in the
USA
Category:Latvian towns and villages
External link
\n*riga.lv - The web site of the city of Riga\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nnds:Riga\n\n\n\n\n
