Latvia

Latvia is the middle one of the three "Baltic Republics" along with Estonia and Lithuania, and has shared their modern history of brief independence following World War I before being snapped up by the Soviet Union until independence in 1991. In fact, it wasn't until 1918 that the three of them had clearly delineated borders - for most of their history the area known as Livonia or Courland/Kurland was a vaguely-defined parcel of land passed around between Prussia and the Teutonic Knights, Sweden, and Russia.

Since independence, Latvia has become a popular tourist destination and joined the European Union and plans to join the Euro in 2012 or 2013.

The Latvian flag