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Republic on the Baltic Sea, bordered by Estonia to the north, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and Lithuania to the south. Its capital and largest city is Riga.

Note: Nationalist sentiments brewing since the mid-nineteenth century erupted at the time of the Russian Revolution; after the collapse of Russia and Germany in World War I, Latvia was able to proclaim its independence. After twenty years of political instability, however, Latvia was forcibly integrated into the Soviet Union in 1940, along with Estonia and Lithuania. The collapse of the Soviet Union enabled Latvians to reassert their national identity, and they declared their country independent in August 1991.