What is Latvia's current governing system?
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The politics of Latvia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The President holds a primarily ceremonial role as Head of State. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, the Saeima. 
The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Economist Intelligence Unit has rated Latvia as "flawed democracy" in 2017.
Politics of Latvia
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Between World War I and World War II (1918–1940), Riga and Latvia shifted their focus from Russia to the countries of Western Europe. A democratic, parliamentary system of government with a President was instituted. Latvian was recognized as the official language of Latvia. Latvia was admitted to the League of Nations. The United Kingdom and Germany replaced Russia as Latvia's major trade partners. As a sign of the times, Latvia's first Prime Minister, Kārlis Ulmanis, had studied agriculture and worked as a lecturer at the University of Nebraska in the United States of America.
History of Riga
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In European elections, Latvia is a constituency of the European Parliament, currently represented by eight MEPs. It covers the member state of Latvia. The electoral system used is party-list proportional representation.
Latvia (European Parliament constituency)
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Latvia is a unitary state, currently divided into 110 one-level municipalities () and 9 republican cities () with their own city council and administration: Daugavpils, Jēkabpils, Jelgava, Jūrmala, Liepāja, Rēzekne, Riga, Valmiera, and Ventspils. There are four historical and cultural regions in Latvia – Courland, Latgale, Vidzeme, Zemgale, which are recognised in Constitution of Latvia. Selonia, a part of Zemgale, is sometimes considered culturally distinct region, but it is not part of any formal division. The borders of historical and cultural regions usually are not explicitly defined and in several sources may vary. In formal divisions, Riga region, which includes the capital and parts of other regions that have a strong relationship with the capital, is also often included in regional divisions; e.g., there are five planning regions of Latvia (), which were created in 2009 to promote balanced development of all regions. Under this division Riga region includes large parts of what traditionally is considered Vidzeme, Courland, and Zemgale. Statistical regions of Latvia, established in accordance with the EU Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, duplicate this division, but divides Riga region into two parts with the capital alone being a separate region.
The largest city in Latvia is Riga, the second largest city is Daugavpils and the third largest city is Liepaja.
Latvia
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The Government of Latvia is the central government of the Republic of Latvia. The Constitution of Latvia (Satversme) outlines the nation as a parliamentary republic represented by a unicameral parliament (Saeima) and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: "Latvijas Republikas Ministru kabinets"), which form the executive branch of the Government of Latvia.
Government of Latvia
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The Yachting Union of Latvia () is the national governing body for the sport of sailing in Latvia, recognised by the International Sailing Federation. It was founded in 1926. Currently, 26 organizations (11 associations, 11 yacht clubs and 4 others) are members of the union.
Yachting Union of Latvia
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The Latvia national under-21 football team represents the under-21s of Latvia and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body of football in Latvia. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years. The team is coached by former Latvia football team and Southampton F.C. player Marians Pahars and is currently captained by defender Vitālijs Jagodinskis.
Latvia national under-21 football team
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The State Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia is an independent collegial supreme audit institution, a key element in the State’s financial control system serving public interest by providing independent assurance on the effective and useful utilization of central and local government resources.
Constitution of Latvia
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The Latvian healthcare system is a universal programme, largely funded through government taxation. It is among the lowest-ranked healthcare systems in Europe, due to excessive waiting times for treatment, insufficient access to the latest medicines, and other factors. There were 59 hospitals in Latvia in 2009, down from 94 in 2007, and 121 in 2006.
Latvia
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Latvia welcomed the 20th century with an explosion of popular discontent during the 1905 Revolution. It started with the shooting of demonstrators in Riga on January 13, progressed to mass strikes in October and armed uprising in December. The revolution was aimed not only against the czarist authorities, but against the hated German barons. For in Latvia most did not feel primarily oppressed by Russia or Russians, but by the Baltic Germans —roughly seven percent of the population— who had instituted a feudal system with themselves at the top and Latvian-speakers being left mostly poor and landless. As such, it involved not only left wing social democrats and industrial workers, but also more conservative peasants and Latvian intelligentsia since —despite being second class citizens in their own country— Latvia was also a highly literate and industrialised society. Riga was behind only St. Petersburg and Moscow by the number of industrial workers, and at the turn of the century over 90% of Latvians could read. In this regard, Latvia was equally primed for radical leftism and nationalism. In all, spearheaded by the Latvian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (LSDSP), the governorates making up what is now Latvia were probably the most ungovernable in the whole Russian Empire.
History of Latvia
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On 8 November 2016 the government adopted Latvia’s Media Policy Guidelines for 2016–2020 and the accompanying action plan. These are the first media policy planning documents in Latvia. The media authority in Latvia is The National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEMMC), but the body regulates only the public service media (PSM) and the commercial broadcasting. The media authority has the right to impose sanctions on these media organizations. Although the NEMMC holds the right to regulate plurality of media ownership through the distribution of the licenses to commercial broadcasting services, there is no regulation in terms of giving up licenses/activities in other media sectors, nor the obligation to allocate windows for third-party programming, or of divestiture. The commercial media do have self-regulatory mechanisms (both codes of ethics or conduct and monitoring systems) but their effectiveness is put into question in cases of non-compliance with the rules.
Media of Latvia