Editing Republic of Latvia

{{Infobox country|name=Republic of Latvia|native_name=Latvijas Republika<br>Latvejas Republika<br>Leţmō Vabāmō|capital=Riga|largest_city=Riga|image_map=Latvia map.png|map_width=290|map_caption=Latvia (dark green) in the [[European Union]] (light green)|official_languages=Latvian|recognized_languages=Livonian<br>Latgalian|area_km2=64,589|population_estimate=1,907,675|population_estimate_year=2020}}

'''Latvia''', officially the '''Republic of Latvia''', is a country in the Baltic region of [[Eastern Europe]]. It is a member of the European Union and [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]].

== History ==
Latvia seceded from the [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet Union]] in 1991. As a result of the [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] [[counterrevolution]], Latvia's poverty rate increased from 1% in the late 1980s to 22% in 1995.<ref>{{Citation|author=Branko Milanovic|year=1998|title=Income, Inequality, and Poverty during the Transition from Planned to Market Economy|chapter=Poverty|section=By How Much Has Poverty Increased?|page=68|pdf=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314180055/https://www.gc.cuny.edu/CUNY_GC/media/CUNY-Graduate-Center/PDF/Centers/LIS/Milanovic/papers/Income_ineq_poverty_book.pdf|city=Washington, D.C.|publisher=World Bank|isbn=082133994X}}</ref> Latvia joined the European Union in 2004.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|author=Gilbert Doctorow|newspaper=[[Monthly Review]]|title=Republic of Latvia, Apartheid State within the EU|date=2018-08-04|url=https://mronline.org/2018/08/04/republic-of-latvia-apartheid-state-within-the-eu/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804194315/https://mronline.org/2018/08/04/republic-of-latvia-apartheid-state-within-the-eu/|archive-date=2021-08-04|retrieved=2022-08-08}}</ref>

== Anti-Russian discrimination ==
In 1992, Latvia passed a law revoking citizenship for more than half of its Russian population. 300,000 people, or 15% of the total population, are not allowed to own land or work in law or banking. Despite a quarter of Latvia's population being [[Russian Federation|Russians]], the Russian language is not allowed in public schools,<ref name=":0" /> and people can be sent to prison for 3 to 25 years for speaking in favor of Russia.<ref>{{Web citation|author=Patricia Gorky|newspaper=[[Liberation News]]|title=East European governments pledge loyalty to U.S. war drive|date=2022-06-19|url=https://www.liberationnews.org/east-european-governments-pledge-loyalty-to-u-s-war-drive/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630072432/https://www.liberationnews.org/east-european-governments-pledge-loyalty-to-u-s-war-drive/|archive-date=2022-06-30|retrieved=2022-08-08}}</ref>

== References ==
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Global north]]