title: Ray Liotta

text: He reunited with director James Mangold in 2003, alongside John Cusack and Alfred Molina, in the dark horror-thriller "Identity". In 2005, he narrated "Inside the Mafia" for the National Geographic Channel. In 2006 he appeared in "Smokin' Aces"—reuniting with "Narc" director Carnahan, in which he portrayed an FBI agent named Donald Carruthers in one of the lead roles. In 2004, Liotta made his Broadway debut opposite Frank Langella in the Stephen Belber play "Match". Ben Brantley of "The New York Times" described Liotta as "compelling" but "doesn't have much to work with for his Broadway debut." That same year he appeared in an advertisement for Heineken in the UK. The ads were eventually pulled by Ofcom "in breach of the advertising code for implying that stronger alcohol is better."


title: Ray Liotta

text: In 2007 Liotta appeared with John Travolta in the movie "Wild Hogs", and in "Battle in Seattle" as the city's mayor. In 2008 he starred in "Hero Wanted" as a detective alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. Also in 2008, he made a guest appearance on the "SpongeBob SquarePants" episode "What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?". In the episode, he voices the leader of a gang called the Bubble Poppin’ Boys, who try to kill an amnesiac SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny). In 2009 he appeared in "Crossing Over", co-starring Harrison Ford. Liotta played Detective Harrison in the 2009 Jody Hill comedy "Observe and Report" as Seth Rogen's nemesis from the local police. In 2011, he starred in "The Son of No One", opposite Channing Tatum and, for the first time in his career, with Al Pacino.


title: Ray Liotta

text: In the 2010s, Liotta appeared in "Date Night" with Steve Carell, in "Charlie St. Cloud" with Zac Efron, the independent drama "Snowmen", and "The River Sorrow", which stars Liotta as a detective alongside Christian Slater and Ving Rhames. He starred alongside Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini in the 2012 Andrew Dominik film "Killing Them Softly" and the 2012 Ariel Vromen film "The Iceman" features Liotta as the character of Roy DeMeo. He had a supporting role in "Muppets Most Wanted" (2014).


title: Ray Liotta

text: In 2014, he played a preacher in the faith-based film "The Identical". His other 2014 projects include "Kill the Messenger" with Jeremy Renner, "Stretch" with Chris Pine, and a David Guetta video. He starred in the Western miniseries "Texas Rising" for The History Channel in 2015. For his performance he earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie nomination. From 2015 to 2016, he narrated the AMC docu-series "The Making of the Mob". Liotta starred opposite Jennifer Lopez in "Shades of Blue" between 2016 and 2018. In 2018, he became a spokesperson for Pfizer's Chantix advertising campaign.


title: Ray Liotta

text: Liotta appeared as Charlie Barber's (Adam Driver) second divorce attorney, Jay Marotta in the 2019 Noah Baumbach film "Marriage Story." The film received widespread critical acclaim and earned six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Liotta received praise for his performance with Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" declaring, "what a thrill to hear his syrupy-gravelly voice again". "The Hollywood Reporter" described Liotta as being in "in fine, mischievous form".


title: Ray Liotta

text: In 2021, He played twin brothers "Hollywood Dick" Moltisanti and Salvatore "Sally" Moltisanti in the film "The Many Saints of Newark".


title: Ray Liotta

text: The actor was cast in "Cocaine Bear", a thriller film based on the true story of an American black bear that ingested a duffel bag full of cocaine in 1985. The movie, due in theaters in 2023, is directed by actress Elizabeth Banks and traces the aftermath of a drug runner's cocaine disappearing in a plane crash and being devoured by a bear.


title: Ray Liotta

text: Liotta married Michelle Grace, an actress and producer, in February 1997 after they met at a baseball game, where her former husband Mark Grace was playing for the Chicago Cubs. The couple had a daughter, Karsen, before divorcing amicably in 2004.


title: Ray Liotta

text: On an episode of "Jay Leno's Garage", Liotta revealed that Nancy and Tina Sinatra, daughters of Frank Sinatra, once sent Liotta a horse's head in the mail. The joke was in response to Liotta declining to play their late father in a miniseries they were working on, only to see Liotta play him in the 1998 HBO television film "The Rat Pack".


title: Ray Liotta

text: In February 2007, he was charged with driving under the influence after crashing his Cadillac Escalade into two parked vehicles in Pacific Palisades. He pleaded no contest.


title: Ray Liotta

text: From his experience shooting the Western "Texas Rising," Liotta continued horseback riding and said in September 2014: "I was obsessed with riding horses [on the show]. I love it now. I've never had a hobby. It might be my new hobby."


title: Ray Liotta

text: In 2018, while discussing his role alongside Jennifer Lopez as a corrupt cop targeted by the FBI in the NBC crime drama "Shades of Blue", Liotta told a reporter for "Long Island Weekly":


title: Ray Liotta

text: Liotta died in his sleep on May 26, 2022, at age 67, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, during the filming of "Dangerous Waters". At the time of his death, he was engaged to Jacy Nittolo.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: Kourtney Mary Kardashian (born April 18, 1979) is an American media personality and socialite. In 2007, she and her family began starring in the reality television series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians". Its success led to the creation of spin-offs including "Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami" and "Kourtney and Kim Take New York".


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: With sisters Kim and Khloé, Kardashian is involved in the retail and fashion industries. They have launched several clothing collections and fragrances, and additionally released the book "Kardashian Konfidential" in 2010. Kourtney launched her own website called Poosh in early 2019.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: Kardashian and her siblings are popular on social media and endorse products such as waist slimming pants, beauty products, Coca-Cola, and prescription drugs, for which they are paid (as of 2016) between $75,000 and $300,000 per post on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: Kourtney Mary Kardashian was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 18, 1979, to Robert Kardashian and Kris (née Houghton). She has two younger sisters, Kim and Khloé, and a younger brother, Rob. In 1991, her parents divorced and her mother married Bruce Jenner, the 1976 Summer Olympics decathlon winner (in 2015, Jenner changed her name to Caitlyn), later that year. Through their marriage, Kardashian gained stepbrothers Burton "Burt", Brandon, and Brody; stepsister Casey; and later half-sisters Kendall and Kylie.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: Kardashian attended Marymount High School, a Roman Catholic all-girls school in Los Angeles. Following graduation, she moved to Dallas, Texas, to attend Southern Methodist University for two years. Kardashian then lived in Tucson, Arizona, where she graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts and a minor in Spanish. Her classmates included Nicole Richie and Luke Walton. In 1994, her father garnered public attention as an additional defense lawyer for football player O. J. Simpson during his murder trial.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: Kardashian first became known to reality-television audiences on the 2005 series, "", on which she earned money for charity. In February 2007, a sex tape made by her sister Kim and former boyfriend Ray J in 2003, "Kim Kardashian, Superstar", was leaked, which largely contributed to her rise to prominence. Later that year, Kardashian, in addition to her mother Kris; her stepfather Bruce (now known as Caitlyn); her siblings Kim, Khloé, and Rob; and half-sisters Kendall and Kylie were commissioned to star in the reality television series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians". The series proved successful for E!, the network on which it is broadcast, and led to several spin-offs, including "Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami", "Khloé & Lamar," and "Kourtney and Kim Take New York" .


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: Kardashian and her mother opened children's clothing boutiques called Smooch in the Los Angeles area and New York City; the boutiques carry the brand Crib Rock Couture. With sisters Kim and Khloe, Kardashian co-owns and operates D-A-S-H, a clothing boutique in Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, and a pop-up store in the Hamptons.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: In the spring of 2010, Kardashian and her sisters released a clothing line for Bebe. In August 2010, Kardashian announced that she and her sisters were working on another clothing line called K-Dash, sold on QVC. Kardashian and her sisters created a sunless tanner called "Kardashian Glamour Tan" in 2010. Kardashian wrote the book "Kardashian Konfidential" with her sisters Khloe and Kim; it was released in November 2010.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: Kardashian made her acting debut with a guest appearance on the ABC soap "One Life to Live" on March 28, 2011, appearing as attorney Kassandra Kavanaugh. Kardashian, who had grown up watching the soap opera and described her appearance as the realization of a "lifelong dream," had reservations about her acting debut, stating: "I'd thought I'd only have two lines. But my script is so long... I'm not an actress." Her performance was met with negative reviews from critics. In November 2011 she released a novel "Dollhouse" along with sisters Khloe and Kim.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: In September 2012, she and younger sister Kim created another spinoff reality television series, "Kourtney and Kim Take Miami, "which began airing in January 2013. It features their mother Kris Jenner, Kardashian's boyfriend at the time, Scott Disick, and sister Khloé Kardashian.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: The Kardashian sisters were spokeswomen for the diet supplement Quick Trim, for weight loss. In March 2012 the three sisters were named in a $5 million class-action lawsuit against QuickTrim. The complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, accused the Kardashians, along with QuickTrim's manufacturer Windmill Health Products; the retailer GNC; and others in the sales and marketing chain, of false and deceptive marketing. The plaintiffs, from several states, brought claims under their respective states' consumer protection laws.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: Kardashian also represents the skincare line "PerfectSkin" with her sisters, which was developed by Dr. Ron DiSalvo for Perfect Science Labs. The three sisters also released a 20-piece collection of jewelry line for the company Virgins, Saints, and Angels, in March 2010. The jewelry is reflective of their partial Armenian background. In 2017, Kardashian launched her first solo fashion line as part of a collaboration with the site PrettyLittleThing. According to the website, the 32-piece line was inspired by Studio 54, classical Hollywood cinema, and the 1970s. She endorsed Calvin Klein along with her sisters in 2018. In the same year, she partnered with her younger half-sister Kylie to launch a collection of lipsticks and palettes with Kylie Cosmetics.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: On March 5, 2019, Kardashian released her lifestyle website named Poosh. In November 2019, Kardashian partnered with her sisters Kim and Khloé to create three new perfumes (one for each sister) for Kim's brand KKW Fragrance. The collection introduces Yellow Diamond (Kourtney's fragrance), Pink Diamond (Khloé's fragrance) and pure Diamond (Kim's fragrance). Each scent is individually inspired by and unique to her, Kim, and Khloé.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: On 12 September 2022, Kardashian announced the launch of her new health brand "Lemme", which started selling three products. The brand specialises in vitamins and supplements.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: In October 2019, Kardashian and her children were baptized in an Armenian Apostolic ceremony at the Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Vagharshapat, Armenia. During the ceremony, she was christened with the Armenian name Gayane.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: In October 2020, Kardashian posted messages and retweets in support of Armenia and Artsakh in regards to the Nagorno-Karabakh war.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: Kardashian was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Scott Disick from 2006 to 2015. The two met at mutual friend Joe Francis's house party in Mexico. Kardashian has three children with Disick: son Mason Dash Disick (born December 14, 2009), daughter Penelope Scotland Disick (born July 8, 2012), and son Reign Aston Disick (born December 14, 2014).


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: Kardashian and Disick's relationship has been shown on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" and its numerous spin offs. Kardashian's pregnancies and the births of all three of her children have also been featured on the show.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: In 2007, during the first season of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" while on a trip to Las Vegas, Disick and Kardashian were going to get married, but her mother Kris convinced her to wait.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: In early 2010, the couple temporarily moved to Miami with their son and Kardashian's sister Kim. During this time, Kardashian believed Disick had an alcohol problem. After regularly attending therapy and temporarily giving up alcohol, Disick and Kardashian reconciled and they continued their relationship in mid-2010.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: In 2011, during the final episode in the first season of "Kourtney and Kim Take New York", Disick purchased an engagement ring and planned to propose to Kardashian during an evening meal in New York City. However, when Disick asked Kardashian's opinion on marriage, she responded with, "If things are so good now...why would we want to change that?", so he did not propose.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: Kardashian was in another on-again, off-again relationship with model Younes Bendjima from 2016 to 2020.


title: Kourtney Kardashian

text: In January 2021, it was confirmed that Kardashian was in a relationship with musician Travis Barker. In October 2021, Kardashian and Barker got engaged after he proposed to her at a beachside hotel in Montecito, California. They had an unofficial wedding on April 3, 2022, in Las Vegas, after the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. The couple officially married on May 15, 2022, in Santa Barbara, California, with a religious wedding ceremony in Portofino, Italy on May 22, 2022.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia ( or ; ; ; ), officially the Republic of Latvia (, , ), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the Baltic states; and is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of , with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts; and speak Latvian, one of the only two surviving Baltic languages. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population.


title: Latvia

text: After centuries of Teutonic, Swedish, Polish-Lithuanian and Russian rule, which was mainly executed by the local Baltic German aristocracy, the independent Republic of Latvia was established on 18 November 1918 when it broke away from the German Empire and declared independence in the aftermath of World War I. However, by the 1930s the country became increasingly autocratic after the coup in 1934 establishing an authoritarian regime under Kārlis Ulmanis. The country's de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II, beginning with Latvia's forcible incorporation into the Soviet Union, followed by the invasion and occupation by Nazi Germany in 1941, and the re-occupation by the Soviets in 1944 to form the Latvian SSR for the next 45 years. As a result of extensive immigration during the Soviet occupation, ethnic Russians became the most prominent minority in the country, now constituting nearly a quarter of the population. The peaceful Singing Revolution started in 1987, and ended with the restoration of de facto independence on 21 August 1991. Since then, Latvia has been a democratic unitary parliamentary republic.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia is a developed country, with a high-income advanced economy; ranking very high in the Human Development Index. It performs favorably in measurements of civil liberties, press freedom, internet freedom, democratic governance, living standards, and peacefulness. Latvia is a member of the European Union, Eurozone, NATO, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the International Monetary Fund, the Nordic-Baltic Eight, the Nordic Investment Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the World Trade Organization.


title: Latvia

text: The name "Latvija" is derived from the name of the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes (along with Curonians, Selonians and Semigallians), which formed the ethnic core of modern Latvians together with the Finnic Livonians. Henry of Latvia coined the latinisations of the country's name, "Lettigallia" and "Lethia", both derived from the Latgalians. The terms inspired the variations on the country's name in Romance languages from "Letonia" and in several Germanic languages from "Lettland".


title: Latvia

text: Around 3000 BC, the proto-Baltic ancestors of the Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The Balts established trade routes to Rome and Byzantium, trading local amber for precious metals. By 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia: Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians (in Latvian: "kurši", "latgaļi", "sēļi" and "zemgaļi"), as well as the Finnic tribe of Livonians ("lībieši") speaking a Finnic language.


title: Latvia

text: In the 12th century in the territory of Latvia, there were lands with their rulers: Vanema, Ventava, Bandava, Piemare, Duvzare, Sēlija, Koknese, Jersika, Tālava and Adzele.


title: Latvia

text: Although the local people had contact with the outside world for centuries, they became more fully integrated into the European socio-political system in the 12th century. The first missionaries, sent by the Pope, sailed up the Daugava River in the late 12th century, seeking converts. The local people, however, did not convert to Christianity as readily as the Church had hoped.


title: Latvia

text: German crusaders were sent, or more likely decided to go on their own accord as they were known to do. Saint Meinhard of Segeberg arrived in Ikšķile, in 1184, traveling with merchants to Livonia, on a Catholic mission to convert the population from their original pagan beliefs. Pope Celestine III had called for a crusade against pagans in Northern Europe in 1193. When peaceful means of conversion failed to produce results, Meinhard plotted to convert Livonians by force of arms.


title: Latvia

text: At the beginning of the 13th century, Germans ruled large parts of what is currently Latvia. The influx of German crusaders in the present-day Latvian territory especially increased in the second half of the 13th century following the decline and fall of the Crusader States in the Middle East. Together with southern Estonia, these conquered areas formed the crusader state that became known as Terra Mariana (Medieval Latin for "Land of Mary") or Livonia. In 1282, Riga, and later the cities of Cēsis, Limbaži, Koknese and Valmiera, became part of the Hanseatic League. Riga became an important point of east–west trading and formed close cultural links with Western Europe. The first German settlers were knights from northern Germany and citizens of northern German towns who brought their Low German language to the region, which shaped many loanwords in the Latvian language.


title: Latvia

text: After the Livonian War (1558–1583), Livonia (Northern Latvia & Southern Estonia) fell under Polish and Lithuanian rule. The southern part of Estonia and the northern part of Latvia were ceded to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and formed into the Duchy of Livonia ("Ducatus Livoniae Ultradunensis"). Gotthard Kettler, the last Master of the Order of Livonia, formed the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. Though the duchy was a vassal state to Lithuanian Grand Duchy and later of Polish and Lithuanian commonwealth, it retained a considerable degree of autonomy and experienced a golden age in the 16th century. Latgalia, the easternmost region of Latvia, became a part of the Inflanty Voivodeship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.


title: Latvia

text: In the 17th and early 18th centuries, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden, and Russia struggled for supremacy in the eastern Baltic. After the Polish–Swedish War, northern Livonia (including Vidzeme) came under Swedish rule. Riga became the capital of Swedish Livonia and the largest city in the entire Swedish Empire. Fighting continued sporadically between Sweden and Poland until the Truce of Altmark in 1629. In Latvia, the Swedish period is generally remembered as positive; serfdom was eased, a network of schools was established for the peasantry, and the power of the regional barons was diminished.


title: Latvia

text: Several important cultural changes occurred during this time. Under Swedish and largely German rule, western Latvia adopted Lutheranism as its main religion. The ancient tribes of the Couronians, Semigallians, Selonians, Livs, and northern Latgallians assimilated to form the Latvian people, speaking one Latvian language. Throughout all the centuries, however, an actual Latvian state had not been established, so the borders and definitions of who exactly fell within that group are largely subjective. Meanwhile, largely isolated from the rest of Latvia, southern Latgallians adopted Catholicism under Polish/Jesuit influence. The native dialect remained distinct, although it acquired many Polish and Russian loanwords.


title: Latvia

text: During the Great Northern War (1700–1721), up to 40 percent of Latvians died from famine and plague. Half the residents of Riga were killed by plague in 1710–1711. The capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710 and the Treaty of Nystad, ending the Great Northern War in 1721, gave Vidzeme to Russia (it became part of the Riga Governorate). The Latgale region remained part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as Inflanty Voivodeship until 1772, when it was incorporated into Russia. The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a vassal state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was annexed by Russia in 1795 in the Third Partition of Poland, bringing all of what is now Latvia into the Russian Empire. All three Baltic provinces preserved local laws, German as the local official language and their own parliament, the Landtag.


title: Latvia

text: The emancipation of the serfs took place in Courland in 1817 and in Vidzeme in 1819. In practice, however, the emancipation was actually advantageous to the landowners and nobility, as it dispossessed peasants of their land without compensation, forcing them to return to work at the estates "of their own free will".


title: Latvia

text: During these two centuries Latvia experienced economic and construction boom – ports were expanded (Riga became the largest port in the Russian Empire), railways built; new factories, banks, and a university were established; many residential, public (theatres and museums), and school buildings were erected; new parks formed; and so on. Riga's boulevards and some streets outside the Old Town date from this period.


title: Latvia

text: Numeracy was also higher in the Livonian and Courlandian parts of the Russian Empire, which may have been influenced by the Protestant religion of the inhabitants.


title: Latvia

text: During the 19th century, the social structure changed dramatically. A class of independent farmers established itself after reforms allowed the peasants to repurchase their land, but many landless peasants remained, quite a lot Latvians left for the cities and sought for education, industrial jobs. There also developed a growing urban proletariat and an increasingly influential Latvian bourgeoisie. The Young Latvian () movement laid the groundwork for nationalism from the middle of the century, many of its leaders looking to the Slavophiles for support against the prevailing German-dominated social order. The rise in use of the Latvian language in literature and society became known as the First National Awakening. Russification began in Latgale after the Polish led the January Uprising in 1863: this spread to the rest of what is now Latvia by the 1880s. The Young Latvians were largely eclipsed by the New Current, a broad leftist social and political movement, in the 1890s. Popular discontent exploded in the 1905 Russian Revolution, which took a nationalist character in the Baltic provinces.


title: Latvia

text: World War I devastated the territory of what became the state of Latvia, and other western parts of the Russian Empire. Demands for self-determination were initially confined to autonomy, until a power vacuum was created by the Russian Revolution in 1917, followed by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Russia and Germany in March 1918, then the Allied armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918. On 18 November 1918, in Riga, the People's Council of Latvia proclaimed the independence of the new country and Kārlis Ulmanis was entrusted to set up a government and he took the position of Prime Minister.


title: Latvia

text: The General representative of Germany August Winnig formally handed over political power to the Latvian Provisional Government on 26 November. On 18 November, the Latvian People's Council entrusted him to set up the government. He took the office of Minister of Agriculture from 18 November to 19 December. He took a position of Prime Minister from 19 November 1918 to 13 July 1919.


title: Latvia

text: The war of independence that followed was part of a general chaotic period of civil and new border wars in Eastern Europe. By the spring of 1919, there were actually three governments: the Provisional government headed by Kārlis Ulmanis, supported by the Tautas padome and the Inter-Allied Commission of Control; the Latvian Soviet government led by Pēteris Stučka, supported by the Red Army; and the Provisional government headed by Andrievs Niedra and supported by the Baltische Landeswehr and the German Freikorps unit "Iron Division".


title: Latvia

text: Estonian and Latvian forces defeated the Germans at the Battle of Wenden in June 1919, and a massive attack by a predominantly German force—the West Russian Volunteer Army—under Pavel Bermondt-Avalov was repelled in November. Eastern Latvia was cleared of Red Army forces by Latvian and Polish troops in early 1920 (from the Polish perspective the Battle of Daugavpils was a part of the Polish–Soviet War).


title: Latvia

text: A freely elected Constituent assembly convened on 1 May 1920, and adopted a liberal constitution, the "Satversme", in February 1922. The constitution was partly suspended by Kārlis Ulmanis after his coup in 1934 but reaffirmed in 1990. Since then, it has been amended and is still in effect in Latvia today. With most of Latvia's industrial base evacuated to the interior of Russia in 1915, radical land reform was the central political question for the young state. In 1897, 61.2% of the rural population had been landless; by 1936, that percentage had been reduced to 18%.


title: Latvia

text: By 1923, the extent of cultivated land surpassed the pre-war level. Innovation and rising productivity led to rapid growth of the economy, but it soon suffered from the effects of the Great Depression. Latvia showed signs of economic recovery, and the electorate had steadily moved toward the centre during the parliamentary period. On 15 May 1934, Ulmanis staged a bloodless coup, establishing a nationalist dictatorship that lasted until 1940. After 1934, Ulmanis established government corporations to buy up private firms with the aim of "Latvianising" the economy.


title: Latvia

text: Early in the morning of 24 August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a 10-year non-aggression pact, called the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The pact contained a secret protocol, revealed only after Germany's defeat in 1945, according to which the states of Northern and Eastern Europe were divided into German and Soviet "spheres of influence". In the north, Latvia, Finland and Estonia were assigned to the Soviet sphere. A week later, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland; on 17 September, the Soviet Union invaded Poland as well.


title: Latvia

text: After the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, most of the Baltic Germans left Latvia by agreement between Ulmanis's government and Nazi Germany under the Heim ins Reich programme. In total 50,000 Baltic Germans left by the deadline of December 1939, with 1,600 remaining to conclude business and 13,000 choosing to remain in Latvia. Most of those who remained left for Germany in summer 1940, when a second resettlement scheme was agreed. The racially approved being resettled mainly in Poland, being given land and businesses in exchange for the money they had received from the sale of their previous assets.


title: Latvia

text: On 5 October 1939, Latvia was forced to accept a "mutual assistance" pact with the Soviet Union, granting the Soviets the right to station between 25,000 and 30,000 troops on Latvian territory.


title: Latvia

text: State administrators were murdered and replaced by Soviet cadres. Elections were held with single pro-Soviet candidates listed for many positions. The resulting people's assembly immediately requested admission into the USSR, which the Soviet Union granted. Latvia, then a puppet government, was headed by Augusts Kirhenšteins. The Soviet Union incorporated Latvia on 5 August 1940, as the "Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic."


title: Latvia

text: The Soviets dealt harshly with their opponents – prior to Operation Barbarossa, in less than a year, at least 34,250 Latvians were deported or killed. Most were deported to Siberia where deaths were estimated at 40 percent.


title: Latvia

text: On 22 June 1941, German troops attacked Soviet forces in Operation Barbarossa. There were some spontaneous uprisings by Latvians against the Red Army which helped the Germans. By 29 June Riga was reached and with Soviet troops killed, captured or retreating, Latvia was left under the control of German forces by early July. The occupation was followed immediately by SS Einsatzgruppen troops, who were to act in accordance with the Nazi Generalplan Ost that required the population of Latvia to be cut by 50 percent.


title: Latvia

text: Under German occupation, Latvia was administered as part of "Reichskommissariat Ostland". Latvian paramilitary and Auxiliary Police units established by the occupation authority participated in the Holocaust and other atrocities. 30,000 Jews were shot in Latvia in the autumn of 1941. Another 30,000 Jews from the Riga ghetto were killed in the Rumbula Forest in November and December 1941, to reduce overpopulation in the ghetto and make room for more Jews being brought in from Germany and the West. There was a pause in fighting, apart from partisan activity, until after the siege of Leningrad ended in January 1944, and the Soviet troops advanced, entering Latvia in July and eventually capturing Riga on 13 October 1944.


title: Latvia

text: More than 200,000 Latvian citizens died during World War II, including approximately 75,000 Latvian Jews murdered during the Nazi occupation. Latvian soldiers fought on both sides of the conflict, mainly on the German side, with 140,000 men in the Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS, The 308th Latvian Rifle Division was formed by the Red Army in 1944. On occasions, especially in 1944, opposing Latvian troops faced each other in battle.


title: Latvia

text: In the 23rd block of the Vorverker cemetery, a monument was erected after the Second World War for the people of Latvia who had died in Lübeck from 1945 to 1950.


title: Latvia

text: In 1944, when Soviet military advances reached Latvia, heavy fighting took place in Latvia between German and Soviet troops, which ended in another German defeat. In the course of the war, both occupying forces conscripted Latvians into their armies, in this way increasing the loss of the nation's "live resources". In 1944, part of the Latvian territory once more came under Soviet control. The Soviets immediately began to reinstate the Soviet system. After the German surrender, it became clear that Soviet forces were there to stay, and Latvian national partisans, soon joined by some who had collaborated with the Germans, began to fight against the new occupier.


title: Latvia

text: Anywhere from 120,000 to as many as 300,000 Latvians took refuge from the Soviet army by fleeing to Germany and Sweden. Most sources count 200,000 to 250,000 refugees leaving Latvia, with perhaps as many as 80,000 to 100,000 of them recaptured by the Soviets or, during few months immediately after the end of war, returned by the West.


title: Latvia

text: The Soviets reoccupied the country in 1944–1945, and further deportations followed as the country was collectivised


title: Latvia

text: On 25 March 1949, 43,000 rural residents ("kulaks") and Latvian nationalists were deported to Siberia in a sweeping Operation Priboi in all three Baltic states, which was carefully planned and approved in Moscow already on 29 January 1949. This operation had the desired effect of reducing the anti-Soviet partisan activity. Between 136,000 and 190,000 Latvians, depending on the sources, were imprisoned or deported to Soviet concentration camps (the Gulag) in the post-war years from 1945 to 1952.


title: Latvia

text: In the post-war period, Latvia was made to adopt Soviet farming methods. Rural areas were forced into collectivization. An extensive program to impose bilingualism was initiated in Latvia, limiting the use of Latvian language in official uses in favor of using Russian as the main language. All of the minority schools (Jewish, Polish, Belarusian, Estonian, Lithuanian) were closed down leaving only two media of instructions in the schools: Latvian and Russian. An influx of new colonists, including laborers, administrators, military personnel and their dependents from Russia and other Soviet republics started. By 1959 about 400,000 Russian settlers arrived and the ethnic Latvian population had fallen to 62%.


title: Latvia

text: Since Latvia had maintained a well-developed infrastructure and educated specialists, Moscow decided to base some of the Soviet Union's most advanced manufacturing in Latvia. New industry was created in Latvia, including a major machinery factory RAF in Jelgava, electrotechnical factories in Riga, chemical factories in Daugavpils, Valmiera and Olaine—and some food and oil processing plants. Latvia manufactured trains, ships, minibuses, mopeds, telephones, radios and hi-fi systems, electrical and diesel engines, textiles, furniture, clothing, bags and luggage, shoes, musical instruments, home appliances, watches, tools and equipment, aviation and agricultural equipment and long list of other goods. Latvia had its own film industry and musical records factory (LPs). However, there were not enough people to operate the newly built factories. To maintain and expand industrial production, skilled workers were migrating from all over the Soviet Union, decreasing the proportion of ethnic Latvians in the republic. The population of Latvia reached its peak in 1990 at just under 2.7 million people.


title: Latvia

text: In late 2018 the National Archives of Latvia released a full alphabetical index of some 10,000 people recruited as agents or informants by the Soviet KGB. 'The publication, which followed two decades of public debate and the passage of a special law, revealed the names, code names, birthplaces and other data on active and former KGB agents as of 1991, the year Latvia regained its independence from the Soviet Union.'


title: Latvia

text: In the second half of the 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev started to introduce political and economic reforms in the Soviet Union that were called glasnost and perestroika. In the summer of 1987, the first large demonstrations were held in Riga at the Freedom Monument—a symbol of independence. In the summer of 1988, a national movement, coalescing in the Popular Front of Latvia, was opposed by the Interfront. The Latvian SSR, along with the other Baltic Republics was allowed greater autonomy, and in 1988, the old pre-war Flag of Latvia flew again, replacing the Soviet Latvian flag as the official flag in 1990.


title: Latvia

text: In 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution on the "Occupation of the Baltic states", in which it declared the occupation "not in accordance with law", and not the "will of the Soviet people". Pro-independence Popular Front of Latvia candidates gained a two-thirds majority in the Supreme Council in the March 1990 democratic elections. On 4 May 1990, the Supreme Council adopted the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia, and the Latvian SSR was renamed Republic of Latvia.


title: Latvia

text: However, the central power in Moscow continued to regard Latvia as a Soviet republic in 1990 and 1991. In January 1991, Soviet political and military forces unsuccessfully tried to overthrow the Republic of Latvia authorities by occupying the central publishing house in Riga and establishing a Committee of National Salvation to usurp governmental functions. During the transitional period, Moscow maintained many central Soviet state authorities in Latvia.


title: Latvia

text: The Popular Front of Latvia advocated that all permanent residents be eligible for Latvian citizenship, however, universal citizenship for all permanent residents was not adopted. Instead, citizenship was granted to persons who had been citizens of Latvia on the day of loss of independence in 1940 as well as their descendants. As a consequence, the majority of ethnic non-Latvians did not receive Latvian citizenship since neither they nor their parents had ever been citizens of Latvia, becoming non-citizens or citizens of other former Soviet republics. By 2011, more than half of non-citizens had taken naturalization exams and received Latvian citizenship, but in 2015 there were still 290,660 non-citizens in Latvia, which represented 14.1% of the population. They have no citizenship of any country, and cannot participate in the parliamentary elections. Children born to non-nationals after the re-establishment of independence are automatically entitled to citizenship.


title: Latvia

text: The Republic of Latvia declared the end of the transitional period and restored full independence on 21 August 1991, in the aftermath of the failed Soviet coup attempt. Latvia resumed diplomatic relations with Western states, including Sweden. The Saeima, Latvia's parliament, was again elected in 1993. Russia ended its military presence by completing its troop withdrawal in 1994 and shutting down the Skrunda-1 radar station in 1998. The major goals of Latvia in the 1990s, to join NATO and the European Union, were achieved in 2004. The NATO Summit 2006 was held in Riga. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was President of Latvia from 1999 until 2007. She was the first female head of state in the former Soviet block state and was active in Latvia joining both NATO and the European Union in 2004.


title: Latvia

text: Approximately 72% of Latvian citizens are Latvian, while 20% are Russian; less than 1% of non-citizens are Latvian, while 71% are Russian. The government denationalized private property confiscated by the Soviets, returning it or compensating the owners for it, and privatized most state-owned industries, reintroducing the prewar currency. Albeit having experienced a difficult transition to a liberal economy and its re-orientation toward Western Europe, Latvia is one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union. In 2014, Riga was the European Capital of Culture, Latvia joined the eurozone and adopted the EU single currency euro as the currency of the country and Latvian Valdis Dombrovskis was named vice-president of the European Commission. In 2015 Latvia held the presidency of Council of the European Union. Big European events have been celebrated in Riga such as the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 and the European Film Awards 2014. On 1 July 2016, Latvia became a member of the OECD.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia lies in Northern Europe, on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea and northwestern part of the East European Craton (EEC), between latitudes 55° and 58° N (a small area is north of 58°), and longitudes 21° and 29° E (a small area is west of 21°). Latvia has a total area of of which land, agricultural land, forest land and inland water.


title: Latvia

text: The total length of Latvia's boundary is . The total length of its land boundary is , of which is shared with Estonia to the north, with the Russian Federation to the east, with Belarus to the southeast and with Lithuania to the south. The total length of its maritime boundary is , which is shared with Estonia, Sweden and Lithuania. Extension from north to south is and from west to east .


title: Latvia

text: Most of Latvia's territory is less than above sea level. Its largest lake, Lubāns, has an area of , its deepest lake, Drīdzis, is deep. The longest river on Latvian territory is the Gauja, at in length. The longest river flowing through Latvian territory is the Daugava, which has a total length of , of which is on Latvian territory. Latvia's highest point is Gaiziņkalns, . The length of Latvia's Baltic coastline is . An inlet of the Baltic Sea, the shallow Gulf of Riga is situated in the northwest of the country.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia has a temperate climate that has been described in various sources as either humid continental () or oceanic/maritime (Köppen "Cfb").


title: Latvia

text: Coastal regions, especially the western coast of the Courland Peninsula, possess a more maritime climate with cooler summers and milder winters, while eastern parts exhibit a more continental climate with warmer summers and harsher winters. Nevertheless, the temperature variations are little as the territory of Latvia is relatively small. Moreover, Latvia's terrain is particularly flat (no more than 350 meters high), thus the Latvian climate is not differentiated by altitude.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia has four pronounced seasons of near-equal length. Winter starts in mid-December and lasts until mid-March. Winters have average temperatures of and are characterized by stable snow cover, bright sunshine, and short days. Severe spells of winter weather with cold winds, extreme temperatures of around and heavy snowfalls are common. Summer starts in June and lasts until August. Summers are usually warm and sunny, with cool evenings and nights. Summers have average temperatures of around , with extremes of . Spring and autumn bring fairly mild weather.


title: Latvia

text: 2019 was the warmest year in the history of weather observation in Latvia with an average temperature +8.1 °C higher.


title: Latvia

text: Most of the country is composed of fertile lowland plains and moderate hills. In a typical Latvian landscape, a mosaic of vast forests alternates with fields, farmsteads, and pastures. Arable land is spotted with birch groves and wooded clusters, which afford a habitat for numerous plants and animals. Latvia has hundreds of kilometres of undeveloped seashore—lined by pine forests, dunes, and continuous white sand beaches.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia has the fifth highest proportion of land covered by forests in the European Union, after Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Slovenia. Forests account for or 56% of the total land area.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia has over 12,500 rivers, which stretch for . Major rivers include the Daugava River, Lielupe, Gauja, Venta, and Salaca, the largest spawning ground for salmon in the eastern Baltic states. There are 2,256 lakes that are bigger than , with a collective area of . Mires occupy 9.9% of Latvia's territory. Of these, 42% are raised bogs; 49% are fens; and 9% are transitional mires. 70% percent of the mires are untouched by civilization, and they are a refuge for many rare species of plants and animals.


title: Latvia

text: Agricultural areas account for or 29% of the total land area. With the dismantling of collective farms, the area devoted to farming decreased dramatically – now farms are predominantly small. Approximately 200 farms, occupying , are engaged in ecologically pure farming (using no artificial fertilizers or pesticides).


title: Latvia

text: Latvia's national parks are Gauja National Park in Vidzeme (since 1973), Ķemeri National Park in Zemgale (1997), Slītere National Park in Kurzeme (1999), and Rāzna National Park in Latgale (2007).


title: Latvia

text: Latvia has a long tradition of conservation. The first laws and regulations were promulgated in the 16th and 17th centuries. There are 706 specially state-level protected natural areas in Latvia: four national parks, one biosphere reserve, 42 nature parks, nine areas of protected landscapes, 260 nature reserves, four strict nature reserves, 355 nature monuments, seven protected marine areas and 24 microreserves. Nationally protected areas account for or around 20% of Latvia's total land area. Latvia's Red Book (Endangered Species List of Latvia), which was established in 1977, contains 112 plant species and 119 animal species. Latvia has ratified the international Washington, Bern, and Ramsare conventions.


title: Latvia

text: The 2012 Environmental Performance Index ranks Latvia second, after Switzerland, based on the environmental performance of the country's policies.


title: Latvia

text: Access to biocapacity in Latvia is much higher than world average. In 2016, Latvia had 8.5 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much more than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016 Latvia used 6.4 global hectares of biocapacity per person - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use less biocapacity than Latvia contains. As a result, Latvia is running a biocapacity reserve.


title: Latvia

text: Approximately 30,000 species of flora and fauna have been registered in Latvia. Common species of wildlife in Latvia include deer, wild boar, moose, lynx, bear, fox, beaver and wolves. Non-marine molluscs of Latvia include 159 species.


title: Latvia

text: Species that are endangered in other European countries but common in Latvia include: black stork ("Ciconia nigra"), corncrake ("Crex crex"), lesser spotted eagle ("Aquila pomarina"), white-backed woodpecker ("Picoides leucotos"), Eurasian crane ("Grus grus"), Eurasian beaver ("Castor fiber"), Eurasian otter ("Lutra lutra"), European wolf ("Canis lupus") and European lynx ("Felis lynx").


title: Latvia

text: Phytogeographically, Latvia is shared between the Central European and Northern European provinces of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF, the territory of Latvia belongs to the ecoregion of Sarmatic mixed forests. 56 percent of Latvia's territory is covered by forests, mostly Scots pine, birch, and Norway spruce. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 2.09/10, ranking it 159th globally out of 172 countries.


title: Latvia

text: Several species of flora and fauna are considered national symbols. Oak ("Quercus robur", ), and linden ("Tilia cordata", ) are Latvia's national trees and the daisy ("Leucanthemum vulgare", ) its national flower. The white wagtail ("Motacilla alba", ) is Latvia's national bird. Its national insect is the two-spot ladybird ("Adalia bipunctata", ). Amber, fossilized tree resin, is one of Latvia's most important cultural symbols. In ancient times, amber found along the Baltic Sea coast was sought by Vikings as well as traders from Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire. This led to the development of the Amber Road.


title: Latvia

text: Several nature reserves protect unspoiled landscapes with a variety of large animals. At Pape Nature Reserve, where European bison, wild horses, and recreated aurochs have been reintroduced, there is now an almost complete Holocene megafauna also including moose, deer, and wolf.


title: Latvia

text: The 100-seat unicameral Latvian parliament, the "Saeima", is elected by direct popular vote every four years. The president is elected by the "Saeima" in a separate election, also held every four years. The president appoints a prime minister who, together with his cabinet, forms the executive branch of the government, which has to receive a confidence vote by the "Saeima". This system also existed before World War II. The most senior civil servants are the thirteen Secretaries of State.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia is a unitary state, currently divided into 43 local government units consisting of 36 municipalities () and 7 state cities () with their own city council and administration: Daugavpils, Jelgava, Jūrmala, Liepāja, Rēzekne, Riga, 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.


title: Latvia

text: The largest city in Latvia is Riga, the second largest city is Daugavpils and the third largest city is Liepaja.


title: Latvia

text: In 2010 parliamentary election ruling centre-right coalition won 63 out of 100 parliamentary seats. Left-wing opposition Harmony Centre supported by Latvia's Russian-speaking minority got 29 seats. In November 2013, Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, in office since 2009, resigned after at least 54 people were killed and dozens injured in the collapse at a supermarket in Riga.


title: Latvia

text: In 2014 parliamentary election was won again by the ruling centre-right coalition formed by the Latvian Unity Party, the National Alliance and the Union of Greens and Farmers. They got 61 seats and Harmony got 24. In December 2015, country's first female Prime Minister, in office since January 2014, Laimdota Straujuma resigned. In February 2016, a coalition of Union of Greens and Farmers, The Unity and National Alliance was formed by new Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis.


title: Latvia

text: In 2018 parliamentary election pro-Russian Harmony was again the biggest party securing 23 out of 100 seats, the second and third were the new populist parties KPV LV and New Conservative Party. Ruling coalition, comprising the Union of Greens and Farmers, the National Alliance and the Unity party, lost. In January 2019, Latvia got a government led by new Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins of the centre-right New Unity. Karins' coalition was formed by five of the seven parties in parliament, excluding only the pro-Russia Harmony party and the Union of Greens and Farmers.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia is a member of the United Nations, European Union, Council of Europe, NATO, OECD, OSCE, IMF, and WTO. It is also a member of the Council of the Baltic Sea States and Nordic Investment Bank. It was a member of the League of Nations (1921–1946). Latvia is part of the Schengen Area and joined the Eurozone on 1 January 2014.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia has established diplomatic relations with 158 countries. It has 44 diplomatic and consular missions and maintains 34 embassies and 9 permanent representations abroad. There are 37 foreign embassies and 11 international organisations in Latvia's capital Riga. Latvia hosts one European Union institution, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC).


title: Latvia

text: Latvia's foreign policy priorities include co-operation in the Baltic Sea region, European integration, active involvement in international organisations, contribution to European and transatlantic security and defence structures, participation in international civilian and military peacekeeping operations, and development co-operation, particularly the strengthening of stability and democracy in the EU's Eastern Partnership countries.


title: Latvia

text: Since the early 1990s, Latvia has been involved in active trilateral Baltic states co-operation with its neighbours Estonia and Lithuania, and Nordic-Baltic co-operation with the Nordic countries. Latvia is a member of the interparliamentary Baltic Assembly, the intergovernmental Baltic Council of Ministers and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB-8) is the joint co-operation of the governments of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden. Nordic-Baltic Six (NB-6), comprising Nordic-Baltic countries that are European Union member states, is a framework for meetings on EU-related issues. Interparliamentary co-operation between the Baltic Assembly and Nordic Council was signed in 1992 and since 2006 annual meetings are held as well as regular meetings on other levels. Joint Nordic-Baltic co-operation initiatives include the education programme NordPlus and mobility programmes for public administration, business and industry and culture. The Nordic Council of Ministers has an office in Riga.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia participates in the Northern Dimension and Baltic Sea Region Programme, European Union initiatives to foster cross-border co-operation in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe. The secretariat of the Northern Dimension Partnership on Culture (NDPC) will be located in Riga. In 2013 Riga hosted the annual Northern Future Forum, a two-day informal meeting of the prime ministers of the Nordic-Baltic countries and the UK. The Enhanced Partnership in Northern Europe or "e-Pine" is the U.S. Department of State diplomatic framework for co-operation with the Nordic-Baltic countries.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia hosted the 2006 NATO Summit and since then the annual Riga Conference has become a leading foreign and security policy forum in Northern Europe. Latvia held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2015.


title: Latvia

text: On 29 April 2022, in an official ceremony in Vaduz, the Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia to the Principality of Liechtenstein, Guna Japiņa, presented her credentials to His Serene Highness Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein.


title: Latvia

text: The National Armed Forces (Latvian: "Nacionālie bruņotie spēki (NAF)") of Latvia consists of the Land Forces, Naval Forces, Air Force, National Guard, Special Tasks Unit, Military Police, NAF staff Battalion, Training and Doctrine Command, and Logistics Command. Latvia's defence concept is based upon the Swedish-Finnish model of a rapid response force composed of a mobilisation base and a small group of career professionals. From 1 January 2007, Latvia switched to a professional fully contract-based army.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia participates in international peacekeeping and security operations. Latvian armed forces have contributed to NATO and EU military operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996–2009), Albania (1999), Kosovo (2000–2009), Macedonia (2003), Iraq (2005–2006), Afghanistan (since 2003), Somalia (since 2011) and Mali (since 2013). Latvia also took part in the US-led Multi-National Force operation in Iraq (2003–2008) and OSCE missions in Georgia, Kosovo and Macedonia. Latvian armed forces contributed to a UK-led Battlegroup in 2013 and the Nordic Battlegroup in 2015 under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) of the European Union. Latvia acts as the lead nation in the coordination of the Northern Distribution Network for transportation of non-lethal ISAF cargo by air and rail to Afghanistan. It is part of the Nordic Transition Support Unit (NTSU), which renders joint force contributions in support of Afghan security structures ahead of the withdrawal of Nordic and Baltic ISAF forces in 2014. Since 1996 more than 3600 military personnel have participated in international operations, of whom 7 soldiers perished. Per capita, Latvia is one of the largest contributors to international military operations.


title: Latvia

text: Latvian civilian experts have contributed to EU civilian missions: border assistance mission to Moldova and Ukraine (2005–2009), rule of law missions in Iraq (2006 and 2007) and Kosovo (since 2008), police mission in Afghanistan (since 2007) and monitoring mission in Georgia (since 2008).


title: Latvia

text: Since March 2004, when the Baltic states joined NATO, fighter jets of NATO members have been deployed on a rotational basis for the Baltic Air Policing mission at Šiauliai Airport in Lithuania to guard the Baltic airspace. Latvia participates in several NATO Centres of Excellence: Civil-Military Co-operation in the Netherlands, Cooperative Cyber Defence in Estonia and Energy Security in Lithuania. It plans to establish the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence in Riga.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia co-operates with Estonia and Lithuania in several trilateral Baltic defence co-operation initiatives:


title: Latvia

text: Future co-operation will include sharing of national infrastructures for training purposes and specialisation of training areas "(BALTTRAIN)" and collective formation of battalion-sized contingents for use in the NATO rapid-response force. In January 2011, the Baltic states were invited to join Nordic Defence Cooperation, the defence framework of the Nordic countries. In November 2012, the three countries agreed to create a joint military staff in 2013.


title: Latvia

text: On 21 April 2022, Latvian Saeima passed amendments developed by the Ministry of Defence for the legislative draft Amendments to the Law on Financing of National Defence, which provide for gradual increase in the defence budget to 2.5% of the country's GDP over the course of the next three year.


title: Latvia

text: According to the reports by Freedom House and the US Department of State, human rights in Latvia are generally respected by the government: Latvia is ranked above-average among the world's sovereign states in democracy, press freedom, privacy and human development.


title: Latvia

text: More than 56% of leading positions are held by women in Latvia, which ranks first in Europe; Latvia ranks first in the world in women's rights sharing the position with five other European countries according to World Bank.


title: Latvia

text: The country has a large ethnic Russian community, which was guaranteed basic rights under the constitution and international human rights laws ratified by the Latvian government.


title: Latvia

text: Approximately 206,000 non-citizens – including stateless persons – have limited access to some political rights – only citizens are allowed to participate in parliamentary or municipal elections, although there are no limitations in regards to joining political parties or other political organizations. In 2011, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities "urged Latvia to allow non-citizens to vote in municipal elections." Additionally, there have been reports of police abuse of detainees and arrestees, poor prison conditions and overcrowding, judicial corruption, incidents of violence against ethnic minorities, and societal violence and incidents of government discrimination against homosexuals.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia is a member of the World Trade Organization (1999) and the European Union (2004). On 1 January 2014, the euro became the country's currency, superseding the Lats. According to statistics in late 2013, 45% of the population supported the introduction of the euro, while 52% opposed it. Following the introduction of the Euro, Eurobarometer surveys in January 2014 showed support for the euro to be around 53%, close to the European average.


title: Latvia

text: Since the year 2000, Latvia has had one of the highest (GDP) growth rates in Europe. However, the chiefly consumption-driven growth in Latvia resulted in the collapse of Latvian GDP in late 2008 and early 2009, exacerbated by the global economic crisis, shortage of credit and huge money resources used for the bailout of Parex Bank. The Latvian economy fell 18% in the first three months of 2009, the biggest fall in the European Union.


title: Latvia

text: The economic crisis of 2009 proved earlier assumptions that the fast-growing economy was heading for implosion of the economic bubble, because it was driven mainly by growth of domestic consumption, financed by a serious increase of private debt, as well as a negative foreign trade balance. The prices of real estate, which rose 150% from 2004 to 2006, was a significant contributor to the economic bubble.


title: Latvia

text: Privatisation in Latvia is almost complete. Virtually all of the previously state-owned small and medium companies have been privatised, leaving only a small number of politically sensitive large state companies. The private sector accounted for 70% of the country's GDP in 2006.


title: Latvia

text: Foreign investment in Latvia is still modest compared with the levels in north-central Europe. A law expanding the scope for selling land, including to foreigners, was passed in 1997. Representing 10.2% of Latvia's total foreign direct investment, American companies invested $127 million in 1999. In the same year, the United States of America exported $58.2 million of goods and services to Latvia and imported $87.9 million. Eager to join Western economic institutions like the World Trade Organization, OECD, and the European Union, Latvia signed a Europe Agreement with the EU in 1995—with a 4-year transition period. Latvia and the United States have signed treaties on investment, trade, and intellectual property protection and avoidance of double taxation.


title: Latvia

text: In 2010 Latvia launched a Residence by Investment program (Golden Visa) in order to attract foreign investors and make local economy benefit from it. This program allows investors to get a Latvian residence permit by investing at least €250,000 in property or in an enterprise with at least 50 employees and an annual turnover of at least €10M.


title: Latvia

text: The Latvian economy entered a phase of fiscal contraction during the second half of 2008 after an extended period of credit-based speculation and unrealistic appreciation in real estate values. The national account deficit for 2007, for example, represented more than 22% of the GDP for the year while inflation was running at 10%.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia's unemployment rate rose sharply in this period from a low of 5.4% in November 2007 to over 22%. In April 2010 Latvia had the highest unemployment rate in the EU, at 22.5%, ahead of Spain, which had 19.7%.


title: Latvia

text: Paul Krugman, the Nobel Laureate in economics for 2008, wrote in his New York Times Op-Ed column on 15 December 2008:


title: Latvia

text: The most acute problems are on Europe's periphery, where many smaller economies are experiencing crises strongly reminiscent of past crises in Latin America and Asia: Latvia is the new Argentina


title: Latvia

text: However, by 2010, commentators noted signs of stabilisation in the Latvian economy. Rating agency Standard & Poor's raised its outlook on Latvia's debt from negative to stable. Latvia's current account, which had been in deficit by 27% in late 2006 was in surplus in February 2010. Kenneth Orchard, senior analyst at Moody's Investors Service argued that:


title: Latvia

text: The strengthening regional economy is supporting Latvian production and exports, while the sharp swing in the current account balance suggests that the country's 'internal devaluation' is working.


title: Latvia

text: The IMF concluded the First Post-Program Monitoring Discussions with the Republic of Latvia in July 2012 announcing that Latvia's economy has been recovering strongly since 2010, following the deep downturn in 2008–09. Real GDP growth of 5.5 percent in 2011 was underpinned by export growth and a recovery in domestic demand. The growth momentum has continued into 2012 and 2013 despite deteriorating external conditions, and the economy is expected to expand by 4.1 percent in 2014. The unemployment rate has receded from its peak of more than 20 percent in 2010 to around 9.3 percent in 2014.


title: Latvia

text: The transport sector is around 14% of GDP. Transit between Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan as well as other Asian countries and the West is large.


title: Latvia

text: The four biggest ports of Latvia are located in Riga, Ventspils, Liepāja and Skulte. Most transit traffic uses these and half the cargo is crude oil and oil products. Free port of Ventspils is one of the busiest ports in the Baltic states. Apart from road and railway connections, Ventspils is also linked to oil extraction fields and transportation routes of Russian Federation via system of two pipelines from Polotsk, Belarus.


title: Latvia

text: Riga International Airport is the busiest airport in the Baltic states with 7.8 million passengers in 2019. It has direct flight to over 80 destinations in 30 countries. The only other airport handling regular commercial flights is Liepāja International Airport.


title: Latvia

text: airBaltic is the Latvian flag carrier airline and a low-cost carrier with hubs in all three Baltic States, but main base in Riga, Latvia.


title: Latvia

text: Latvian Railway's main network consists of 1,860 km of which 1,826 km is 1,520 mm Russian gauge railway of which 251 km are electrified, making it the longest railway network in the Baltic States. Latvia's railway network is currently incompatible with European standard gauge lines. However, Rail Baltica railway, linking Helsinki-Tallinn-Riga-Kaunas-Warsaw is under construction and is set to be completed in 2026.


title: Latvia

text: National road network in Latvia totals 1675 km of main roads, 5473 km of regional roads and 13 064 km of local roads. Municipal roads in Latvia totals 30 439 km of roads and 8039 km of streets. The best known roads are A1 (European route E67), connecting Warsaw and Tallinn, as well as European route E22, connecting Ventspils and Terehova. In 2017 there were a total of 803,546 licensed vehicles in Latvia.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia has three large hydroelectric power stations in Pļaviņu HES (908 MW), Rīgas HES (402 MW) and Ķeguma HES-2 (248 MW). In recent years a couple of dozen of wind farms as well as biogas or biomass power stations of different scale have been built in Latvia. In 2022, the Latvian Prime Minister announced about the planned investments of 1 billion euros in the new wind farms and the completed project will expectedly provide additional 800 MW of capacity.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia operates Inčukalns underground gas storage facility, one of the largest underground gas storage facilities in Europe and the only one in the Baltic states. Unique geological conditions at Inčukalns and other locations in Latvia are particularly suitable for underground gas storage.


title: Latvia

text: The total fertility rate (TFR) in 2018 was estimated to be 1.61 children born/woman, which is lower than the replacement rate of 2.1. In 2012, 45.0% of births were to unmarried women. The life expectancy in 2013 was estimated at 73.19 years (68.13 years male, 78.53 years female). As of 2015, Latvia is estimated to have the lowest male-to-female ratio in the world, at 0.85 males per female. In 2017, there were 1,054,433 females and 895,683 males living in Latvian territory. Every year, more boys are born than girls. Until the age of 39, there are more males than females. From the age of 70, there are 2.3 times as many females as males.


title: Latvia

text: As of March 2011, Latvians formed about 62.1% of the population, while 26.9% were Russians, Belarusians 3.3%, Ukrainians 2.2%, Poles 2.2%, Lithuanians 1.2%, Jews 0.3%, Romani people 0.3%, Germans 0.1%, Estonians 0.1% and others 1.3%. 250 people identify as Livonians (Baltic Finnic people native to Latvia). There were 290,660 "non-citizens" living in Latvia or 14.1% of Latvian residents, mainly Russian settlers who arrived after the occupation of 1940 and their descendants.


title: Latvia

text: In some cities, including Daugavpils and Rēzekne, ethnic Latvians constitute a minority of the total population. Despite a steadily increasing proportion of ethnic Latvians for more than a decade, ethnic Latvians also still make up slightly less than a half of the population of the capital city of Latvia – Riga.


title: Latvia

text: The share of ethnic Latvians declined from 77% (1,467,035) in 1935 to 52% (1,387,757) in 1989. In the context of a decreasing overall population, there were fewer Latvians in 2011 than in 1989, but their share of the population was larger – 1,285,136 (62.1% of the population).


title: Latvia

text: The sole official language of Latvia is Latvian, which belongs to the Baltic language sub-group of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. Another notable language of Latvia is the nearly extinct Livonian language of the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family, which enjoys protection by law; Latgalian – as a dialect of Latvian is also protected by Latvian law but as a historical variation of the Latvian language. Russian, which was widely spoken during the Soviet period, is still the most widely used minority language by far (in 2011, 34% spoke it at home, including people who were not ethnically Russian).


title: Latvia

text: While it is now required that all school students learn Latvian, schools also include English, German, French and Russian in their curricula. English is also widely accepted in Latvia in business and tourism. there were 109 schools for minorities that use Russian as the language of instruction (27% of all students) for 40% of subjects (the remaining 60% of subjects are taught in Latvian).


title: Latvia

text: On 18 February 2012, Latvia held a constitutional referendum on whether to adopt Russian as a second official language. According to the Central Election Commission, 74.8% voted against, 24.9% voted for and the voter turnout was 71.1%.


title: Latvia

text: From 2019, instruction in the Russian language was gradually discontinued in private colleges and universities in Latvia, as well as general instruction in Latvian public high schools, except for subjects related to culture and history of the Russian minority, such as Russian language and literature classes.


title: Latvia

text: In the Eurobarometer Poll 2010, 38% of Latvian citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", while 48% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 11% stated that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force".


title: Latvia

text: Lutheranism was more prominent before the Soviet occupation, when it was adhered to by about 60% of the population, a reflection of the country's strong historical links with the Nordic countries, and to the influence of the Hansa in particular and Germany in general. Since then, Lutheranism has declined to a slightly greater extent than Roman Catholicism in all three Baltic states. The Evangelical Lutheran Church, with an estimated 600,000 members in 1956, was affected most adversely. An internal document of 18 March 1987, near the end of communist rule, spoke of an active membership that had shrunk to only 25,000 in Latvia, but the faith has since experienced a revival.


title: Latvia

text: The country's Orthodox Christians belong to the Latvian Orthodox Church, a semi-autonomous body within the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2011, there were 416 religious Jews in Latvia and 319 Muslims in Latvia. As of 2004, there were more than 600 Latvian neopagans, "Dievturi" (The Godskeepers), whose religion is based on Latvian mythology. About 21% of the total population is not affiliated with a specific religion.


title: Latvia

text: The University of Latvia and Riga Technical University are two major universities in the country, both established on the basis of Riga Polytechnical Institute, which was evacuated to Moscow in 1914 when the World War I was started, and located in Riga. Other important universities, which were established on the base of State University of Latvia, include the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (established in 1939 on the basis of the Faculty of Agriculture) and Riga Stradiņš University (established in 1950 on the basis of the Faculty of Medicine). Both nowadays cover a variety of different fields. The University of Daugavpils is another significant centre of education.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia closed 131 schools between 2006 and 2010, which is a 12.9% decline, and in the same period enrolment in educational institutions has fallen by over 54,000 people, a 10.3% decline.


title: Latvia

text: Latvian policy in science and technology has set out the long-term goal of transitioning from labor-consuming economy to knowledge-based economy. By 2020 the government aims to spend 1.5% of GDP on research and development, with half of the investments coming from the private sector. Latvia plans to base the development of its scientific potential on existing scientific traditions, particularly in organic chemistry, medical chemistry, genetic engineering, physics, materials science and information technologies. The greatest number of patents, both nationwide and abroad, are in medical chemistry. Latvia was ranked 38th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, down from 34th in 2019.


title: Latvia

text: 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.


title: Latvia

text: Traditional Latvian folklore, especially the dance of the folk songs, dates back well over a thousand years. More than 1.2 million texts and 30,000 melodies of folk songs have been identified.


title: Latvia

text: Between the 13th and 19th centuries, Baltic Germans, many of whom were originally of non-German ancestry but had been assimilated into German culture, formed the upper class. They developed distinct cultural heritage, characterised by both Latvian and German influences. It has survived in German Baltic families to this day, in spite of their dispersal to Germany, the United States, Canada and other countries in the early 20th century. However, most indigenous Latvians did not participate in this particular cultural life. Thus, the mostly peasant local pagan heritage was preserved, partly merging with Christian traditions. For example, one of the most popular celebrations is Jāņi, a pagan celebration of the summer solstice—which Latvians celebrate on the feast day of St. John the Baptist.


title: Latvia

text: In the 19th century, Latvian nationalist movements emerged. They promoted Latvian culture and encouraged Latvians to take part in cultural activities. The 19th century and beginning of the 20th century is often regarded by Latvians as a classical era of Latvian culture. Posters show the influence of other European cultures, for example, works of artists such as the Baltic-German artist Bernhard Borchert and the French Raoul Dufy. With the onset of World War II, many Latvian artists and other members of the cultural elite fled the country yet continued to produce their work, largely for a Latvian émigré audience.


title: Latvia

text: The Latvian Song and Dance Festival is an important event in Latvian culture and social life. It has been held since 1873, normally every five years. Approximately 30,000 performers altogether participate in the event. Folk songs and classical choir songs are sung, with emphasis on a cappella singing, though modern popular songs have recently been incorporated into the repertoire as well.


title: Latvia

text: After incorporation into the Soviet Union, Latvian artists and writers were forced to follow the socialist realism style of art. During the Soviet era, music became increasingly popular, with the most popular being songs from the 1980s. At this time, songs often made fun of the characteristics of Soviet life and were concerned about preserving Latvian identity. This aroused popular protests against the USSR and also gave rise to an increasing popularity of poetry. Since independence, theatre, scenography, choir music, and classical music have become the most notable branches of Latvian culture.


title: Latvia

text: During July 2014, Riga hosted the eighth World Choir Games as it played host to over 27,000 choristers representing over 450 choirs and over 70 countries. The festival is the biggest of its kind in the world and is held every two years in a different host city.


title: Latvia

text: Starting in 2019 Latvia hosts the inaugural Riga Jurmala Music Festival, a new festival in which world-famous orchestras and conductors perform across four weekends during the summer. The festival takes place at the Latvian National Opera, the Great Guild, and the Great and Small Halls of the Dzintari Concert Hall. This year features the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Russian National Orchestra.


title: Latvia

text: Latvian cuisine typically consists of agricultural products, with meat featuring in most main meal dishes. Fish is commonly consumed due to Latvia's location on the Baltic Sea. Latvian cuisine has been influenced by neighbouring countries. Common ingredients in Latvian recipes are found locally, such as potatoes, wheat, barley, cabbage, onions, eggs, and pork. Latvian food is generally quite fatty and uses few spices.


title: Latvia

text: Grey peas with speck are generally considered as staple foods of Latvians. Sorrel soup ("skābeņu zupa") is also consumed by Latvians. Rye bread is considered the national staple.


title: Latvia

text: Ice hockey is usually considered the most popular sport in Latvia. Latvia has had many famous hockey stars like Helmuts Balderis, Artūrs Irbe, Kārlis Skrastiņš and Sandis Ozoliņš and more recently Zemgus Girgensons, whom the Latvian people have strongly supported in international and NHL play, expressed through the dedication of using the NHL's All Star Voting to bring Zemgus to number one in voting. Dinamo Riga is the country's strongest hockey club, playing in the Kontinental Hockey League. The national tournament is the Latvian Hockey Higher League, held since 1931. The 2006 IIHF World Championship was held in Riga.


title: Latvia

text: The second most popular sport is basketball. Latvia has a long basketball tradition, as the Latvian national basketball team won the first ever EuroBasket in 1935 and silver medals in 1939, after losing the final to Lithuania by one point. Latvia has had many European basketball stars like Jānis Krūmiņš, Maigonis Valdmanis, Valdis Muižnieks, Valdis Valters, Igors Miglinieks, as well as the first Latvian NBA player Gundars Vētra. Andris Biedriņš is one of the most well-known Latvian basketball players, who played in the NBA for the Golden State Warriors and the Utah Jazz. Current NBA players include Kristaps Porziņģis, who plays for the Washington Wizards, Dāvis Bertāns, who plays for the Dallas Mavericks, and Rodions Kurucs, who last played for the Milwaukee Bucks. Former Latvian basketball club Rīgas ASK won the Euroleague tournament three times in a row before becoming defunct. Currently, VEF Rīga, which competes in EuroCup, is the strongest professional basketball club in Latvia. BK Ventspils, which participates in EuroChallenge, is the second strongest basketball club in Latvia, previously winning LBL eight times and BBL in 2013. Latvia was one of the EuroBasket 2015 hosts.


title: Latvia

text: Other popular sports include football, floorball, tennis, volleyball, cycling, bobsleigh and skeleton. The Latvian national football team's only major FIFA tournament participation has been the 2004 UEFA European Championship.


title: Latvia

text: Latvia has participated successfully in both Winter and Summer Olympics. The most successful Olympic athlete in the history of independent Latvia has been Māris Štrombergs, who became a two-time Olympic champion in 2008 and 2012 at Men's BMX.


title: Latvia

text: In Boxing, Mairis Briedis is the first and only Latvian to date, to win a boxing world title, having held the WBC cruiserweight title from 2017 to 2018, the WBO cruiserweight title in 2019, and the IBF / The Ring magazine cruiserweight titles in 2020.


title: Latvia

text: In 2017, Latvian tennis player Jeļena Ostapenko won the 2017 French Open Women's singles title, being the first unseeded player to do so in the open era.


title: A.C. Milan

text: Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons, in the top flight of Italian football, known as Serie A since 1929–30.


title: A.C. Milan

text: AC Milan's 18 FIFA and UEFA trophies is the fourth highest out of any club (joint with Boca Juniors), and the most out of any Italian club. Milan has won a joint record three Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup, seven European Cup/Champions League titles (Italian record), the UEFA Super Cup a joint record five times and the Cup Winners' Cup twice. With 19 league titles, Milan is tied as the second most successful club in Serie A with local rivals Inter Milan (also with 19 league titles), behind Juventus (36 league titles). They have also won the Coppa Italia five times, and the Supercoppa Italiana seven.


title: A.C. Milan

text: Milan's home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which was built by Milan's second chairman Piero Pirelli in 1926 and is shared since 1947 with city rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, with a total capacity of 75,923. They have a long-standing rivalry with Inter, with whom they contest the Derby della Madonnina; it is one of the most followed derbies in football.


title: A.C. Milan

text: The club is one of the wealthiest in Italian and world football. It was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europe's leading football clubs as well as its replacement, the European Club Association.


title: A.C. Milan

text: AC Milan was founded as "Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club" in 1899 by English expatriate Herbert Kilpin. The club claims 16 December of that year as their foundation date, but historical evidence seems to suggest that the club was actually founded a few days earlier, most likely on 13 December. However, with the club's charter being lost, the exact date remains open to debate.


title: A.C. Milan

text: In honour of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the city's name, as opposed to the Italian spelling "Milano", which it was forced to bear under the fascist regime. Milan won its first Italian championship in 1901, interrupting a three-year hegemony of Genoa, and a further two in succession in 1906 and 1907. The club proved successful in the first decade of its existence, with several important trophies won, including, among others, the "Medaglia del Re" three times, the "Palla Dapples" 23 times and the "FGNI tournament" five times, a competition organized by the Italian Gymnastics Federation but not officially recognized by the Italian Football Federation.


title: A.C. Milan

text: In 1908, Milan experienced a split caused by internal disagreements over the signing of foreign players, which led to the forming of another Milan-based team, F.C. Internazionale Milano. Following these events, Milan did not manage to win a single domestic title until 1950–51, with some exceptions represented by the 1915–16 "Coppa Federale" and the 1917–18 "Coppa Mauro", two tournaments played during the First World War which, especially the former, received a lot of attention and proved to be highly competitive, despite them not being officially recognized by the Italian federation.


title: A.C. Milan

text: The 1950s saw the club return to the top of Italian football, headed by the famous Gre-No-Li Swedish trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm. This was one of the club's most successful periods domestically, with the Scudetto going to Milan in 1951, 1955, 1957 and 1959. This decade witnessed also the first European successes of Milan, with the triumphs in the 1951 and 1956 Latin Cup. Milan was also the first Italian club to take part to the newly born European Cup in the 1955–56 season, and reached the final two years later, when they were defeated by Real Madrid.


title: A.C. Milan

text: The 1960s began with the debut of Milan's legend Gianni Rivera in 1960: he will remain with the club for the rest of his career for the following 19 seasons. In 1961, Nereo Rocco was appointed as new coach of the club, which under his leadership won immediately a "scudetto" in 1961–62, followed, in the next season, by Milan's first European Cup triumph, achieved after beating Benfica in the final. This success was repeated in 1969, with a 4–1 win over Ajax in the final, which was followed by the Intercontinental Cup title the same year. During this period Milan also won its first Coppa Italia, with victory over Padova in the 1967 final, and two European Cup Winners' Cups: in 1967–68 and 1972–73.


title: A.C. Milan

text: Domestically, the 1970s were characterized by the pursue of the 10th Serie A title, which grants the winner the "Scudetto" star. For three years in a row, in 1971, 1972 and 1973, Milan ended up second in the league, after some memorable duels with Inter and Juventus. Finally, the achievement was reached in 1979. The same year saw the retirement of Gianni Rivera and the debut of Franco Baresi, at his first full season with the club. After this success, the team went into a period of decline. The club in 1980 was involved in the Totonero scandal and as punishment was relegated to Serie B for the first time in its history. The scandal was centred around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan achieved promotion back to Serie A at the first attempt, winning the 1980–81 Serie B title, but were again relegated a year later as the team ended its 1981–82 campaign in third-last place. In 1983, Milan won the Serie B title for the second time in three seasons to return to Serie A, where they achieved a sixth-place finish in 1983–84.


title: A.C. Milan

text: On 20 February 1986, entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi (who owns Fininvest and Mediaset) acquired the club and saved it from bankruptcy after investing vast amounts of money, appointing rising manager Arrigo Sacchi at the helm of the "Rossoneri" and signing Dutch internationals Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard. The Dutch trio added an attacking impetus to the team, and complemented the club's Italian internationals Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Roberto Donadoni. Under Sacchi, Milan won its first Scudetto in nine years in the 1987–88 season. The following year, the club won its first European Cup in two decades, beating Romanian club Steaua București 4–0 in the final. Milan retained their title with a 1–0 win over Benfica a year later and was the last team to win back-to-back European Cups until Real Madrid's win in 2017. The Milan team of 1988–1990, nicknamed the "Immortals" in the Italian media, has been voted the best club side of all time in a global poll of experts conducted by "World Soccer" magazine.


title: A.C. Milan

text: After Sacchi left Milan in 1991, he was replaced by the club's former player Fabio Capello whose team won three consecutive Serie A titles between 1992 and 1994, a spell which included a 58-match unbeaten run in Serie A (which earned the team the label "the Invincibles"), and back-to-back UEFA Champions League final appearances in 1993, 1994 and 1995. A year after losing 1–0 to Marseille in the 1993 Champions League final, Capello's team reached its peak in one of Milan's most memorable matches of all time, the famous 4–0 win over Barcelona in the 1994 Champions League final. Capello's side went on to win the 1995–96 league title before he left to manage Real Madrid in 1996. In 1998–99, after a two-year period of decline, Milan lifted its 16th championship in the club's centenary season.


title: A.C. Milan

text: Milan's next period of success came under another former player, Carlo Ancelotti. After his appointment in November 2001, Ancelotti took Milan to the 2003 Champions League final, where they defeated Juventus on penalties to win the club's sixth European Cup. The team then won the Scudetto in 2003–04 before reaching the 2005 Champions League final, where they were beaten by Liverpool on penalties despite leading 3–0 at half-time. Two years later, the two teams met again in the 2007 Champions League final, with Milan winning 2–1 to lift the title for a seventh time. The team then won its first FIFA Club World Cup in December 2007. In 2009, after becoming Milan's second longest serving manager with 420 matches overseen, Ancelotti left the club to take over as manager at Chelsea.


title: A.C. Milan

text: During this period, the club was involved in the Calciopoli scandal, where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favourable referees. A police inquiry excluded any involvement of Milan managers, but the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) unilaterally decided that it had sufficient evidence to charge Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani. As a result, Milan was initially punished with a 15-point deduction and was banned from the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League. An appeal saw that penalty reduced to eight points, which allowed the club to retain its Champions League participation.


title: A.C. Milan

text: Following the aftermath of Calciopoli, local rivals Internazionale dominated Serie A, winning four Scudetti. However, with the help a strong squad boasting players such as Zlatan Ibrahimović, Robinho and Alexandre Pato joining many of the veterans of the club's mid-decade European successes, Milan recaptured the Scudetto in the 2010–11 Serie A season, their first since the 2003–04 season, and 18th overall.


title: A.C. Milan

text: However, after the Scudetto the club declined in performance. Milan failed to qualify to European competitions for a few years, and the only trophy won was the 2016 Supercoppa Italiana, achieved under Vincenzo Montella's coaching after defeating Juventus in the penalty shoot-out.


title: A.C. Milan

text: On 5 August 2016, a new preliminary agreement was signed with the Chinese investment management company Sino-Europe Sports Investment Management Changxing Co., to which Fininvest sold a 99.93% stake of Milan for about €520 million, plus the refurbishment of the club financial debt of €220 million. On 13 April 2017, the deal was completed and Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux became the new direct parent company of the club. In order to finalise the deal, American hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation provided Li with a loan of €303 million (€180 million to complete the payment to Fininvest and €123 million issued directly to the club). On 10 July 2018, Li failed to keep up with his loan repayment plan, neglecting to deposit a €32 million instalment on time in order to refinance the €303 million loan debt owed to the American hedge fund. As a result, In July 2018, chairman Li Yonghong's investment vehicle Rossoneri Champion Inv. Lux. was removed as the shareholder of Rossoneri Sport Inv. Lux., the direct parent company of the club, making the investment vehicle majority controlled by Elliott Management Corporation the sole shareholder of Rossoneri Sport Inv. Lux.


title: A.C. Milan

text: On 27 November 2017, Montella was sacked due to poor results and replaced by former player Gennaro Gattuso. Milan qualified for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage after finishing 6th in the 2017–18 Serie A season, but were banned by UEFA from European competition due to violations of Financial Fair Play regulations for failure to break-even. Milan appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and was overturned on 20 July 2018.


title: A.C. Milan

text: In Gattuso's first full season in charge, Milan exceeded expectations and spent much of the campaign in the top 4. Despite winning their final 4 games, Milan missed out on the Champions League by one point. After Milan's failure to qualify for the Champions League, Gattuso resigned as manager. On 19 June 2019, Milan hired former Sampdoria manager Marco Giampaolo on a 2-year contract. On 28 June 2019, Milan was excluded from the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League for violating Financial Fair Play regulations for the years 2014–2017 and 2015–2018.


title: A.C. Milan

text: After just 4 months in charge, Giampaolo was sacked after losing 4 of his first 7 games which was exacerbated by poor performances and a lack of supporter confidence. Stefano Pioli was hired as his replacement. After the restart of the Serie A campaign due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Milan went on a 10 match unbeaten streak, winning 7 in the process including matches against Juventus, Lazio and Roma. This streak led to Milan abandoning their plans of hiring Ralf Rangnick as their new manager and sporting director, and instead extended Pioli's contract for a further 2 years. Following a stellar start in the 2020–21 Serie A, which was a continuation of the second half of the previous season, Milan under Pioli in his first full season were led to a second-place finish in the league which was the highest finish for the team since the 2011–12 Serie A. This result allowed Milan to qualify for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League for the following season, which would become their first appearance in the UEFA Champions League in seven years since their last appearance in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League.


title: A.C. Milan

text: Milan secured their 19th Italian championship title on the last round of the 2021–22 season, with a club-record tally of 86 points. It was their first league title since the 2010–11 season. In the Serie A Awards, Rafael Leão was named as the league's Most valuable player, Mike Maignan as the best goalkeeper and Pioli as coach of the season.


title: A.C. Milan

text: On 1 June 2022, RedBird Capital Partners agreed to acquire A.C. Milan at $1.3 billion, meanwhile Elliott Management Corporation would keep a minority stake.


title: A.C. Milan

text: Red and black are the colours which have represented the club throughout its entire history. They were chosen to represent the players' fiery ardor (red) and the opponents' fear to challenge the team (black). "Rossoneri", the team's widely used nickname, literally means "the red & blacks" in Italian, in reference to the colours of the stripes on its jersey.


title: A.C. Milan

text: Another nickname derived from the club's colours is "the Devil". An image of a red devil was used as Milan's logo at one point with a "Golden Star for Sport Excellence" located next to it. As is customary in Italian football, the star above the logo was awarded to the club after winning 10 league titles, in 1979. For many years, Milan's badge was simply the Flag of Milan, which was originally the flag of Saint Ambrose. The modern badge used today represents the club colours and the flag of the "Comune di Milano", with the acronym "ACM" at the top and the foundation year (1899) at the bottom.


title: A.C. Milan

text: White shorts and black socks are usually worn as part of the home strip. Milan's away strip has always been completely white. It is considered by both the fans and the club to be a lucky strip in Champions League finals, due to the fact that Milan has won six finals out of eight in an all white strip (losing only to Ajax in 1995 and Liverpool in 2005), and only won one out of three in the home strip. The third strip, which is rarely used, changes yearly, being mostly black with red trimmings in recent seasons.


title: A.C. Milan

text: "A.C. Milan Anthem – Milan Milan" debuted in 1988 and was composed by Tony Renis and Massimo Guantini.


title: A.C. Milan

text: The official mascot designed by Warner Bros., is "Milanello", a red devil with the A.C. Milan kit and a ball.


title: A.C. Milan

text: The team's stadium is the 75,923 seat San Siro, officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza after the former player who represented both Milan and Internazionale. The more commonly used name, "San Siro", is the name of the district where it is located. San Siro has been the home of Milan since 1926, when it was privately built by funding from Milan's president at the time, Piero Pirelli. Construction was performed by 120 workers, and took months to complete. The stadium was owned by the club until it was sold to the city in 1935, and since 1947 it has been shared with Internazionale when the other major Milanese club was accepted as joint tenant.


title: A.C. Milan

text: The first game played at the stadium was on 19 September 1926, when Milan lost 6–3 in a friendly match against Internazionale. Milan played its first league game in San Siro on 19 September 1926, losing 1–2 to Sampierdarenese. From an initial capacity of 35,000 spectators, the stadium has undergone several major renovations, most recently in preparation for the 1990 FIFA World Cup when its capacity was set to 85,700, all covered with a polycarbonate roof. In the summer of 2008 its capacity was reduced to 80,018, to meet the new standards set by UEFA.