The Republic of Latvia is a 25,499-square-mile area (about the size of West Virginia) situated on the Baltic Sea.  It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Russia and Belarus to the east, and Lithuania to the south.  Latvia's population is approximately 2.1 million, almost one-third of whom live in the capital, Riga.

In 1918, non-Communist Latvia proclaimed independence from Russia, which lasted until the outbreak of World War II. A brief period of Soviet rule was followed by four years of German occupation until Latvia was again incorporated into the former Soviet Union in 1944. Tens of thousands of Latvians were deported to Siberia both during and after the war, and Russians and people from other Soviet Republics began migrating to Latvia. Today, Latvians comprise only 59.5 percent of the country's population.  The Russian population is about 27 percent of the total, with the remainder consisting mostly of Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, and Lithuanians.

In 1987, an independence movement emerged in the country, and independence was finally restored in September 1991.  Latvia joined both the EU and NATO in 2004. From 1993 to 2001, Latvia hosted an OSCE mission that successfully assisted the Latvian government in addressing citizenship issues, building government institutions, and fully realizing Latvia’s commitments to OSCE principles. 

A 2014 ODIHR parliamentary election monitoring report found that elections took place in an open and peaceful environment with respect for fundamental freedoms.  However, the same report raised concerns with regard to Latvian criminalization of defamation, the concentration of media ownership in politically affiliated blocks, and the large number of non-citizen but Latvian-born residents (Russians).  The latter is due in part to Latvia’s strict language fluency laws, which only recognize Latvian as a state language.

In a move reflecting Latvia’s growing anxiety about Russian aggression, the country has joined its two Baltic neighbors in requesting that NATO permanently deploy forces within its borders as a deterrent.  Specifically, Latvia is concerned that recent Russian declarations of an “obligation” to protect Russian speakers across the former Soviet States signal an increasing Russian willingness to intervene militarily elsewhere in the region.  With regard to human rights, Latvia’s largest challenge is corruption, while issues such as incidents of anti-Semitism, trafficking in persons, and prisoner abuse arise sporadically.