Talk:Riga
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This page has been selected for the release version of Wikipedia and rated Start-Class on the assessment scale. It is in the category Geography. |
Contents |
[edit] Transportations
Could some one tell me about the transports in Riga...is there a metro, is it easy to use the transports, prices, etc. Does anyone know how far is Riga from Ventspils? Tnx
Nope, there is no metro currently in Riga, but there is a wide network of city trams, buses and other public transportations. Tickets in most public transports cost 0.30Ls (30 santims, $0.20-0.23). Well, I guess, that useage of transports isn't much more complicated than in other countires/cities :) And the distance between Riga and Ventspils is 159km, but the highway between them is ~200km long.
--The thruth is in here 16:26, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Population
The article doesn't state how many people live in Riga. Any idea? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 83.134.30.228 (talk • contribs) 10:17, December 16, 2005 (UTC)
- On a related note, it would be interesting to know why Riga's population is decreasing again in recent times. Emigration? Death rate higher than birth rate? Something else?
Following quote is not neutral in perspective: "...any non-Latvians whose families arrived after the 1940 annexation were stripped of their citizenship.".
How can "non-Latvians" be stripped of a citizenship they never held?
All citizens of the Latvian SSR had citizenship of the Soviet Union until the new Latvian independence. All (even "non-Latvians") who lived in Latvia until the 1940 Soviet annexation and their descendants automatically became Latvian citizens after the new Latvian independence. All (even emigree Latvians) who did not live in Latvia until the 1940 Soviet annexation and their descendants kept their old citizenship - which, for the majority was citizenship of the Soviet Union, which at the time of the new Latvian citizenship legislation (1992) was a non-existing state. The use of "non-Latvians" is vague and really quite undefined. Another aspect to this is the fact, that ethnic Latvians who lived outside Latvia but within the former Soviet Union at the time of new Latvian independence were not given citizenship automatically (about 40.000 people). Philaweb 11:51, 20 January 2007 (UTC)
- I might add that the Latvian legislation on citizenship has been amended several times since 1992, the above written is based on the original 1992 legislation. Philaweb 12:04, 20 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Lido
Does anyone have a picture of Lido (esepcially around christmas time)? That would definately be a good picture to include. — Ilγαηερ (Tαlκ) 16:39, 16 July 2005 (UTC)
[edit] "Riga" or "Rīga"
I cannot even see the new name of the article (Rīga) on my PC with the fonts installed with MS Windows. This is the English language Wikipedia. How far can we go in the these demands for ethnic spelling?
Moving the article back to Riga -- Petri Krohn 22:54, 12 October 2005 (UTC)
- That is not an appropriate reason for renaming an article. (How about a situation where I'm a public servant, you come to get a new passport and you find out that I have printed the new passport with your name spelled completely differently just because I couldn't read it in the first place. Would you feel that the change was justified?)
- However, I don't mind in this particular case, because in the English language the spelling Riga is used more often and it is the standard spelling for this city. --Jūzeris | Talk 20:11, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Demographics
"During these many centuries [...] the Baltic Germans in Riga [...] remained steadfast in their positions, and in 1900 Riga's population of 282,943 was composed approximately of 50% Baltic Germans, 25% Latvians, and 25% Russians." Source? According to Straubergs' history (Rīgas vēsture) and other reference works, the Germans made up 42,9% of the population of the city in 1867, 39,4% in 1881, 23,8% in 1897... and only 13,3% in 1913. I cannot find figures for 1900, but "approximately 50%" is most definitely wrong. The percentages from the 1897 census were 45% Latvian, 23,8% German, 16,1% Russian, 6% Jewish, 4,8% Polish, 2,3% Lithuanian, 1,3% Estonian, 0,7% other -- total population 282 230. --Pēteris Cedriņš 23:38, 5 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] "Occupation"
Soviet military presence cannot be called an "occupation" in terms of international law as there has not been war between the USSR and Latvia. DamianOFF 11:43, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
- Dealt with extensively on the Talk:Lithuania page, where it was suggested this issue be entered into the Village Pump —Pēters J. Vecrumba 13:45, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] German Repatriation
Prior version made it appear Latvia threw Germans out when it was Hitler who issued the call home (knowing that with the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact it was only a matter of time until Latvia fell to the Soviet "sphere." —Pēters J. Vecrumba 20:07, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Links?
I see "non-encyclopedic" links were removed. Why? Certainly if someone is looking for information on Riga, Riga Municipality portal would be more than appropriate to list. If "encyclopedic" were applied across the board, 90% of the links in Wikipedia would disappear. Any good reason (before I revert)? —Pēters J. Vecrumba 01:05, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
- Oops, was looking thtough history, some already appear to have returned! —Pēters J. Vecrumba 01:11, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
- Hi Pēters. I didn't remove the Riga municipality link, I changed it. Since this is the English language wikipedia our policy is to favour English language links, and to not link to non-English language links in the external links section (except in exceptional circumstances). So it seemed more appropriate to link directly to the English language home page instead of making user click through to it. I did the same with Virtual tour of riga and the University sites. The sites I removed were either non-encyclopedic, like holiday booking sites, or the site had shut down, or there was no English language content. If you think I removed a link that adds useful encyclopedic value to the article please put it back. I was just trying to cleanup what looked like a neglected list. --Siobhan Hansa 01:37, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
-
- Hi, Siobhan. Many thanks! Since Latvian isn't a foreign language to me that distinction flies by me sometimes. —Pēters J. Vecrumba 12:35, 23 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] People who live in Riga. Who they are?
How to call them ? In Russian language it is рижане, in Latvian Ridzenieki, in German - Rigaer. But how to say in english correctly? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 159.148.88.2 (talk) 07:48, 5 January 2007 (UTC).
It's Rigan as far as I know but I could be wrong. Valenciano 21:09, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] A question out of pure quriosity
I don't know the background, nor the precise demographics of Latvia...but why is the Estonian name of the city listed in the opening paragraph? Isn't Latvian and (de facto) Russian the two languages of the country? MoRsE 23:01, 20 January 2007 (UTC)
- The only explanaton that comes to mind is the fact that Riga is spelled the same way in all languages, except for Estonian and Lithuanian (and perhaps Polish). Perhaps the Lithuanian, Polish version should be added as well? Philaweb 09:03, 21 January 2007 (UTC)
In Finnish it is Riika. r.Soms
