ABSTRACT
Latvia is located on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea and enjoys over 500 km of coastline. Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania are collectively known as the Baltic republics. Latvia’s geographical location on the Baltic Sea has provided it with a maritime direction and has made it an attractive center of trade. Latvia is unusual because of its mix of ethnic groups. Only 52% of the population was found to be Latvian in 1989. Beginning in the thirteenth century, the various Latvian tribes were conquered one at a time by Crusaders mobilized in Germany to Christianize the pagans. The greatest impact on the history of Latvia besides the German barons has been that of its imperial neighbor, Russia. The Soviet period left Latvia with difficult demographic and linguistic dilemmas. The World Wildlife Fund in its 1992 Latvian project acknowledged the existence of many unique ecological sites and animal species rarely found in other parts of Europe.
