Riga

Riga
Riga old town skyline.
Town rights	1225
Location of Riga within Latvia
Location
Other names	Estonian: Riia; Finnish: Riika; Lithuanian: Ryga; Russian: Рига; Polish: Ryga
Mayor	Jānis Birks
Area	303 km2 (117 sq mi)
Water	48.50 km2 (19 sq mi)
Population	717,371
Metropolitan	885,145
Density	2,367 /km² (6,131 /sq mi)
Postal code	LV-10(01-84)
Calling code	+371 67 ,+371 66
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Homepage of Riga

Riga (Latvian: Rīga, IPA: [riːga], pronunciation) the capital of Latvia, is situated on the Baltic Sea coast on the mouth of the river Daugava. Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states. The Historic Centre of Riga has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the city is particularly notable for its extensive Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) architecture, which UNESCO considers to be unparalleled anywhere in the world ^[1].

History

Main article: History of Riga

The Riga skyline in the mid-16th century, Cosmographia Universalis

Riga is located on the site of an ancient settlement of the Livonians, an ancient Finnic tribe, at the junction of the Daugava and the Riga River, at one point forming a natural harbor called the Riga Lake, neither of which exist today.^[2] It is believed that the name of the river gave Riga its name.^[3]

The modern founding of Riga is regarded by historians to have begun with the arrival of German traders, mercenaries and religious crusaders in the second half of the 12th century, attracted by a sparsely populated region, potential new markets and by the missionary opportunities to convert the local population to Christianity. German merchants established an outpost for trading with the Balts near the Liv settlement at Riga in 1158. The Augustinian monk Meinhard built a monastery there ca. 1190.

Bishop Albert was proclaimed Bishop of Livonia by his uncle Hartwig, Archbishop of Bremen and Hamburg in 1199. He landed in Riga in 1201 with 23 ships and more than 1500 armed crusaders, making Riga his bishopric. He established the Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword (later a branch of the Teutonic Knights) and granted Riga city rights in 1225.^[4]

Riga served as a gateway to trade with the Baltic tribes and with Russia. In 1282 Riga became a member of the Hanseatic League. The Hansa was instrumental in giving Riga economic and political stability, thus providing the city with a strong foundation which endured the political conflagrations that were to come, down to modern times.

As the influence of the Hansa waned, Riga became the object of foreign military, political, religious and economic aspirations. Riga accepted the Reformation in 1522, ending the power of the archbishops. In 1524, a venerated statue of the Virgin Mary in the Cathedral was denounced as a witch, and given a trial by water in the Daugava River. The statue floated, so it was denounced as a witch and burnt at Kubsberg.^[5] With the demise of the Teutonic Knights in 1561, Riga for twenty years had the status of a Free Imperial City, then in 1581, Riga came under the influence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1621 Riga and the outlying fortress of Daugavgriva came under the rule of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, who intervened in the Thirty Years' War not only for political and economic gain but also in favor of German Lutheran Protestantism. During the Russo-Swedish War, 1656-1658, Riga withstood a siege by Russians. Riga remained the largest city in Sweden until 1710 during a period in which the city retained a great deal of self-government autonomy. In that year, in the course of Great Northern War, Russia under Tsar Peter the Great invaded Riga. Sweden's northern dominance ended, and Russia's emergence as the strongest Northern power was formalized through the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. Riga was annexed by Russia and became an industrialized port city of the Russian empire, where it remained until World War I. By 1900, Riga was the third largest city in Russia after Moscow and Saint Petersburg in terms of numbers of industrial workers.

Riga in 1650. The inscription reads: Prospect der Stadt Riga ums Jahr 1650 (View at the City of Riga in the year 1650). Drawing by Johann Christoph Brotze

Riga seen from Spot Satellite

During these many centuries of war and changes of power in the Baltic, the Baltic Germans in Riga remained in their dominant position despite demographic changes. Riga employed German as its official language of administration until the imposition of Russian language in 1891 as the official language in the Baltic provinces. Latvians began to supplant Germans as the largest ethnic group in the city in the mid-19th century. The rise of a Latvian bourgeoisie made Riga a center of the Latvian National Awakening with the founding of the Riga Latvian Association in 1868 and the organization of the first national song festival in 1873. The nationalist movement of the Young Latvians was followed by the socialist New Current during the city's rapid industrialization, culminating in the 1905 Revolution led by the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party.

The 20th century brought World War I and the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 to Riga. The German army marched into Riga in 1917. In 1918 the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed giving the Baltic countries to Germany. Because of the Armistice with Germany of November 11, 1918, Germany had to renounce that treaty, as did Russia, leaving Latvia and the other Baltic States in a position to claim independence. Latvia, with Riga as its capital city, thus declared its independence on November 18, 1918.

A view of Riga on a postcard. circa 1900.

Between World War I and World War II (1918–1940), Riga and Latvia shifted their focus from Russia to the countries of Western Europe. The United Kingdom and Germany replaced Russia as Latvia's major trade partners.

During the World War II, Latvia was occupied first by the Soviet Union in 1941 and then by Nazi Germany in 1941-1944. The Baltic Germans were forcibly repatriated to Germany. The city's Jewish community was forced into a ghetto in the Maskavas neighbourhood, and concentration camps were constructed in Kaiserwald and the city of Salaspils.

In 1945 Latvia was once again occupied by the Red Army. As a result of the war Latvia lost approximately one-third of its population. Forced industrialization and planned large-scale immigration of large numbers of non-Latvians from other Soviet republics into Riga, particularly Russians, changed the demographic composition of Riga.

The policy of economic reform, introduced in 1986 as Perestroika, led to dissolution of the Soviet Union and restoration of independent Latvia in 1991. Latvia formally joined the United Nations as an independent country on September 17, 1991. In 2004 Latvia joined both NATO and the European Union.

In 2004, the arrival of low-cost airlines resulted in cheaper flights from other European cities such as London and Berlin and consequently a substantial increase in numbers of tourists.^[6]

Geography

Historic Centre of Riga*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii
Reference	852
Region**	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1997  (21st Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Cityscape

• The Lutheran Cathedral, the largest church in the Baltic states. Built in the 13th century, it was modified several times in its history. It has a magnificent organ that dates from 1844.
• Riga Castle (Rīgas Pils), which houses the Museum of Latvian History and the Museum of Foreign Art.
• Saint Peter's Church, Riga, with its 123 m (404 ft) high tower.
• St. John's Church, a small 13th-century chapel, behind Saint Peter's Church.
• The Powder Tower (Pulvertornis), the only tower that remains from the original city walls. The Latvian Museum of War is located inside.
• St James's Roman Catholic cathedral.
• Wooden architecture.
• Ethnographic Open-Air Museum (Brīvdabas Muzejs), houses, farm buildings, and church representing rural life going back hundreds of years. Situated along Jugla Lake (Juglas Ezers).
• The Occupation Museum of Latvia, which documents the seizure and occupation of Latvia by different forces from 1940 to 1991.
• Art Nouveau architecture on Central Riga streets such as Alberta and Elizabetes Iela.
• Riga Radio and TV Tower - the third highest tower in Europe.
• Motor Museum (Motormuzejs) - collection of retro motorcycles and automobiles, including some of the first motorcycles and remants of the Soviet era, for example, Brezhnev's and Stalin's armored limousines with waxworks of these political figures. Located in Mežciems.
• Riga Zoo and Mežaparks (Forest Park) with a Ferris wheel.
• Riga Circus - the only permanently situated circus in the Baltic States.

Neighbourhoods

The Powder Tower of Riga

Left-bank Riga is distinguished by its green streets and large parks.

The city of Riga consists of six administrative regions, four of which are named after regions of Latvia - Kurzeme district, Latgale suburb, Vidzeme suburb, Zemgale suburb. There is also a Central District and a Northern district. Residents, however, divide Riga into residential neighbourhoods called micro regions. Unlike the city centre, they are mostly residential although they are equipped with commercial sectors. These neighbourhoods include:

• Āgenskalns - Left bank, old neighbourhood, mainly built in late 19th - early 20th century.
• Andrejsala - An emerging art, culture and entertainment district, located within former territory of the industrial port.
• Beberbeķi - A neighbourhood consisting mainly of private houses, it lies on the western edge of the city. The swampy forest Mukupurvs and Riga Airport noise area separate it from the rest of the city.
• Bolderāja - Left bank, northernmost neighbourhood. The 18th-century fort built by Peter the Great is one of the oldest buildings in this part of the city.
• Čiekurkalns - Right bank, old neighbourhood.
• Dārzciems - Right bank, mainly consists of one or two-storey private houses.
• Dreiliņi - A newly built neighbourhood in the eastern part of the city.
• Dzirciems - Left bank, south of Iļģuciems.
• Iļģuciems - Left bank, north of Āgenskalns.
• Imanta - Left bank, newly built neighbourhood.
• Jugla - Right bank, large neighbourhood, lies just west of lake Juglas.
• Ķengarags - Right bank, south-east of city center. One of the most populous neighbourhoods in town.
• Ķīpsala - island located just west of the Old Town. Home to the Press Office and Exhibition Hall.
• Maskavas Forštate - located south of the city centre.
• Mežaparks - Right bank, consists largely of private houses. Notable for its large forest-like park and the city zoo.
• Mežciems - Right bank, just east of the large Biķernieku forest.
• Pārdaugava - Not really a neighbourhood in itself, but the name is frequently used when talking about left bank, particularly Āgenskalns and Torņakalns.
• Pleskodāle - A neighbourhood consisting mostly of private houses on the west side of the city. It borders Zolitūde and Šampēteris neighbourhoods.
• Pļavnieki - Right bank, one of the town's most populous neighbourhoods.
• Purvciems - Right bank.
• Sarkandaugava - Right bank, east of the small river with the same name.
• Šampēteris - An old neighbourhood on the best bank of the Daugava, with many houses built in the first part of 20th century still surviving.
• Šmerlis - Right bank, more of a forest than a neighbourhood, it is home to Riga's Cinema Studio.
• Torņakalns - Left bank, old neighbourhood known for the Māras pond.
• Vecmīlgrāvis - Right bank, cut off from the mainland by a small river, Mīlgrāvis.
• Vecrīga - Old Town.
• Ziepniekkalns - Left bank, consists both of old and new buildings.
• Zolitūde - Left bank, another newly-built neighbourhood, just south of Imanta.

Some common factors in these place names are "vec" meaning old [vecs], "kalns" meaning hill, "ciems" meaning village, "sala" meaning island and "mež" meaning forest [mežs].

Panorama over Riga from Latvian Academy of Sciences

Climate

The climate of Riga is in between maritime and humid continental. The coldest months are January and February, when the average temperature is -6°C but temperatures as low as -20°C to -25°C can be observed almost every year on the coldest days. Due to the proximity of the sea autumn rains and fogs are frequent. Continuous snow cover may last eighty days. The summers in Riga are warm and humid with the average temperature of 18°C, while the temperature on the hottest days usually exceed 30°C.

Weather averages for Riga
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high °C (°F)	-2.3 (28)	-1.7 (29)	2.7 (37)	9.8 (50)	16.2 (61)	20.1 (68)	21.7 (71)	21.0 (70)	16.3 (61)	10.4 (51)	3.9 (39)	0.3 (33)
Average low °C (°F)	-7.8 (18)	-7.6 (18)	-4.7 (24)	1.0 (34)	5.9 (43)	10.0 (50)	12.3 (54)	11.8 (53)	8.0 (46)	4.0 (39)	-0.5 (31)	-4.4 (24)
Precipitation mm (inches)	34 (1.34)	27 (1.06)	28 (1.1)	41 (1.61)	44 (1.73)	63 (2.48)	85 (3.35)	73 (2.87)	75 (2.95)	60 (2.36)	57 (2.24)	46 (1.81)
Source: World Weather Information Service [7] 11.11.2008

Economy

Business and leisure travel to Riga have increased significantly in recent years due to improved infrastructure. Most tourists travel to Riga by air via Riga International Airport, the largest airport in the Baltic states, which was renovated and modernized in 2001 on the occasion of Riga's 800th anniversary. In the near future, the face of Riga will undergo notable changes. The construction of a new landmark — the Latvian National Library building — is beginning in the autumn of 2007 and is due to be built by 2010.^[8] Currently discussions are underway in Riga council about the development of the central areas on the left bank of the Daugava. The major dispute surrounds plans to build skyscrapers in Ķīpsala. The construction of 3 buildings in Ķīpsala has already started — the Da Vinci complex (25 floors) and two high-rises called Z-Towers (30 floors).^[9][10] Almost all important Latvian financial institutions are located in Riga, including the Bank of Latvia, which is Latvia's central bank. Foreign commercial trade through Riga has been on the increase in recent years and received new impetus on May 1, 2004 when Latvia became a member of the European Union. Riga accounts for about half of the total industrial output of Latvia, focusing on the financial sector, public utilities, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, wood processing, printing and publishing, textiles and furniture, and communications equipment manufacturing. More than 50% of Latvian companies are registered in Riga region.^[11] The port of Riga is an important cargo shipping center. It is the main all-weather port in the Baltic and is expected to grow in the next few years due to increased trade with other ex-Soviet states and China.

Infrastructure

Riga has one airport, Riga International Airport, that serves commercial airlines. Air traffic at the airport doubled between 1993 and 2004. Baltic sea ferries connect Riga to Stockholm, Kiel and Lübeck. Riga was also home to two air bases during the Cold War: Rumbula and Spilve. Riga as a city-port is a major transportation hub and is the center of the local road and railway system. In 2008, the first stage of the new Southern Bridge route across the Daugava was completed, and opened to traffic on November 17.^[12] The Southern Bridge is currently the biggest construction project in Baltic States in 20 years, and will help to reduce traffic jams and the amount of traffic in the city centre.^[13] Another big construction project is the planned Riga Northern Transport Corridor,^[14] which is scheduled to start in 2010.

Public transportation in the city is provided by Rīgas Satiksme which operates a large fleet of trams, buses and trolleybuses on an extensive network of routes across the city. In addition, many private owners operate minibus services. Riga is connected to the rest of Latvia by trains operated by the national railway company Pasažieru Vilciens, whose headquarters are in Riga. There are also international rail links to Russia and Estonia (Valga).

Demographics

With 719,613 inhabitants in 2008, Riga is the largest city in the Baltic States, though its population has decreased since 1991.^[15] Notable causes include out-migration and low fertility rates. Some have estimated that the population may fall by as much as 50% by 2050.^[16] According to the 2008 data, native Latvians make up 42.3% of the population of Riga, with the percentage of Russians at 41.7%, Belarusians at 4.3%, Ukrainians at 3.9%, Poles at 2.0%, and others at 5.8%.^[17] By comparison, 59% of Latvia's inhabitants are native Latvians, 28.5% are Russians, 3.8% are Belarusians, 2.5% are Ukrainians, 2.4% are Polish, 1.4% are Lithuanians and the remaining 2.4% are accounted for by other nationalities (2006).^[17] Upon restoration of Latvian independence in 1991, Soviet-era migrants (and any of their offspring born before 1991) were not automatically granted Latvian citizenship. Some have emigrated; this partially accounts for the recent decline in Riga's population. As a result of this repatriation of some Soviet-era migrants, the proportion of Latvians in Riga has increased from 36.5% in 1989 to 42.3% in 2007. In contrast the percentage of Russians has fallen from 47.3% to 42.1% in the same time period. Latvians overtook Russians as the largest ethnic group in 2006. ^[18]

Universities

• University of Latvia (LU)
• Riga Technical University
• Riga Graduate School of Law (RGSL)
• Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga)

Sister cities

The clock presented to Riga by its sister city Kobe. It shows time in both cities

Riga maintains sister city relationships with the following cities:^[19]

Aalborg, Denmark	Almaty, Kazakhstan	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Astana, Kazakhstan
Beijing, China	Bordeaux, France	Bremen, Germany	Cairns, Australia
Calais, France	Dallas, USA	Florence, Italy	Kiev, Ukraine
Kobe, Japan	Minsk, Belarus	Moscow, Russia	Norrköping, Sweden
Pori, Finland	Providence, USA[20]	Rostock, Germany	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Santiago, Chile	Slough, UK[21]	Stockholm, Sweden	Suzhou, China
Taipei, Taiwan	Tallinn, Estonia	Vilnius, Lithuania	Warsaw, Poland

See also

• Rīgas Satiksme
• Riga City Council
• Archbishops of Riga
• Riga International Airport
• Riga Marathon

References

External links

• Riga Municipality portal
• Riga travel guide from Wikitravel
• Map of Greater Riga
• Riga—entry (article and engraving) from The National Encyclopedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge, circa 1900
• "Riga/Рига" photo album, circa 1910
• "Foreign Corn Ports-Riga"—The Illustrated London News, news article with engraved illustrations, published 1847]

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