RIGA is the Baltic metropolis, a major port and industrial centre of nearly a million people. The city was founded by Albert von Buxhoeveden, a German canon who arrived in 1201 with twenty shiploads of crusaders to convert the Latvian tribes to Christianity. Before then, a Liv village of merchants and sailors existed where Old Town nowadays sits. The Livs were one of several nations that resided in the territory now known as Latvia. The territory of Latvia has been inhabited by the ancient Balts since 9000 B.C.
The arrival of the German Crusaders brought to an end the development of separate Baltic realms. In the 13th century a confederation of feudal nations called Livonia developed under German rule. In 1282 Riga and other cities were included in the Hanseatic League. Riga became an important point in west-east trading. Riga was run by German nobles and merchants even when wider political control passed to other powers, starting with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late sixteenth century. After the Polish-Swedish war (1600 - 1629) Riga came under the Swedish rule and became the largest and most developed Swedish City. After a subsequent period of Swedish rule Riga became part of the Russian Empire in 1710 and during the second half of the nineteenth century it developed into a major manufacturing centre.
Badly damaged during World War I, the city made a comeback during the first Latvian independence and remained a major centre after the country was swallowed up by the Soviet Union in 1940. Under the Soviets, the flow of Russian immigrants reduced the Latvians to a minority in their own capital: 30 % of the city's population is now Russian, with a further 16 % made up of other non-Latvian nationalities.
In the 1980s were formed several groups for reinstatement of National Independence of Latvia. On the 23rd of August, 1989 Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians joined hands in a human chain that stretched 600 km from Tallinn, to Riga, to Vilnius and symbolized the united wish of the Baltic States for independence. Latvian independence was recognized by the USSR in September 1991. Soon after regaining independence Latvia became a member of the United Nations. In 1992 Latvia became eligible for the International Monetary Fund and was accepted into the World Trade Organization. On April 2, 2004 Latvia became a member of NATO and on May 1, 2004 became a full-fledged member of the European Union.
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Where will you stay in Riga?
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EUR: 0.7028 USD: 0.5620
RUR: 0.0200 CAD: 0.4538
GBP: 0.8308 SEK: 0.0693
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HISTORY OF RIGA