Latvia Geography Profile 2008

Location

Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania

Geographic coordinates

57 00 N, 25 00 E

Map references

Europe

Area

total: 64,589 sq km
land: 63,589 sq km
water: 1,000 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries

total: 1,348 km
border countries: Belarus 141 km, Estonia 343 km, Lithuania 588 km, Russia 276 km

Coastline

498 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Climate

maritime; wet, moderate winters

Terrain

low plain

Elevation extremes

lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m
highest point: Galzina Kalns 312 m

Natural resources

peat, limestone, dolomite, amber, hydropower, wood, arable land

Land use

arable land: 28.19%
permanent crops: 0.45%
other: 71.36% (2005)

Irrigated land

200 sq km
note: land in Latvia is often too wet, and in need of drainage, not irrigation; approximately 16,000 sq km or 85% of agricultural land has been improved by drainage (2003)

Total renewable water resources

49.9 cu km (2005)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)

total: 0.25 cu km/yr (55%/33%/12%)
per capita: 108 cu m/yr (2003)

Natural hazards

NA

Environment - current issues

Latvia's environment has benefited from a shift to service industries after the country regained independence; the main environmental priorities are improvement of drinking water quality and sewage system, household, and hazardous waste management, as well as reduction of air pollution; in 2001, Latvia closed the EU accession negotiation chapter on environment committing to full enforcement of EU environmental directives by 2010

Environment - international agreements

party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note

most of the country is composed of fertile, low-lying plains, with some hills in the east