Riga — Capital of Latvia

Riga, the capital of Latvia, is the largest city in the Baltic states, home to around 600,000 people and an architectural heritage that rivals any city in Europe. Founded in 1201 by Bishop Albert of Livonia, Riga quickly grew into a major Hanseatic trading port whose merchants shaped the city's wealth and skyline for centuries.

The crown jewel of Riga's cityscape is its Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) architecture. With roughly 800 Art Nouveau buildings, Riga holds the world's largest concentration of this ornate early 20th-century style. Many of the most spectacular facades were designed by Mikhail Eisenstein — father of legendary Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein — whose exuberant decorative style defines entire streets of the city centre. Riga's historic centre, including this Art Nouveau district, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Riga's Central Market is another remarkable landmark: it operates inside five enormous former WWI Zeppelin hangars, forming one of Europe's largest markets and itself listed as part of the UNESCO zone. For a taste of Latvian culture in a glass, Riga Black Balsam — a 45% herbal liqueur blended from 24 plant ingredients according to a recipe dating to 1752 — is the city's proudest liquid export.

Latvia endured Soviet occupation from 1940, German occupation from 1941 to 1944, and Soviet rule again until independence was restored on August 21, 1991. Throughout the darkest Soviet years, Latvians kept their cultural identity alive through the Latvian Song and Dance Festival, held every five years since 1873 — even under occupation. This tradition of mass singing gave rise to the Singing Revolution, and the festival itself is now recognized as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Latvia joined NATO and the EU in 2004.