Latvia Geography Facts

Geography ::Latvia

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 kmcountry comparison to the world: 123
land: 62,249 sq km
water: 2,340 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly larger than West Virginia

Land boundaries:

total: 1,382 km
border countries: Belarus 171 km, Estonia 343 km, Lithuania 576 km, Russia 292 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: Gaizina Kalns 312 m

Natural resources:

peat, limestone, dolomite, amber, hydropower, timber, 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, Desertification, 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