 |
| 3342 |
Posted on 05.03.2013, 09.01.2020
Located between Lithuania and Estonia, with outlet to the Baltic Sea, Latvia is one of the least populous and least densely populated countries of the European Union. More than 1,000 years ago, four Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia (Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, and Semigallians), as well as the Livonians, speaking a Finnic language. Conquered in the 13th century by Teutonic Knights (who Christianized, with the sword, the indigenous tribes) it formed, together with Southern Estonia, the crusader state that became known as Terra Mariana or Livonia.
 |
| 0541 The map of Latvia in 1919 |
In 16th century it fell under Polish and Lithuanian rule, and in the following two centuries it has been involved in a struggle between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden, and Russia for supremacy in the eastern Baltic. Northern Livonia was conquered by Swedish, and throughout the 18th century Russia gradually occupied the whole territory, and so things remained until 1991, with only two interruptions (1918-1939 and 1941-1944).
Read more »