Latvian SSR (TheodoresTomfooleries)

Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Latvijas Padomju Sociālistiskā Republika (Latvian) Латвийская Советская Социалистическая Республика (Russian)
Flag State Emblem
Motto: Visu zemju proletārieši, savienojieties! "Workers of the world, unite!"
Anthem: State Anthem of the Latvian SSR
Capital and largest city	Riga
Official languages	Latvian Russian
Recognised languages	Latgalian
Religion	Secularism (de-jure) State atheism (de-facto)
Demonym(s)	Latvian Soviet
Government	Unitary Marxist-Leninist one-party soviet socialist republic
• First Secretary of the CPLV	WIP
• Chairman of the Latvian Council of Ministers	WIP
Legislature	Supreme Soviet
(De facto) Union Republic of the Soviet Union (1940-)
Area
• Total	64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi)
Population
• 2022 census	3,248,061
• Density	50.28/km2 (130.2/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2022 estimate
• Total	$144.896 billion
• Per capita	$44,610
Currency	Soviet Ruble (SUR)
Date format	CE, mm dd yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+7
ISO 3166 code	LV
Internet TLD	.su

Latvia (Latvian: Latvija), officially the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian: Latvijas Padomju Sociālistiskā Republika) is a union republic of the Soviet Union in the Baltics. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, the Baltic Sea to the west, Lithuania to the south, Byelorussia to the southeast, and Russia to the east. It covers an area of 64,589 km² (24,938 sq mi), with a population of 3.248 million as of the 2019 census. Riga, the capital city and largest city, is home to over a quarter of its population. By percentage of the population, Latvia is home to the second largest Russian diaspora in the Soviet Union, with 38% of the population claiming Russian ethnicity.

Modern day Latvia was, for most of history, divided between Livonia and Courland. Both were dominated by Baltic Germans owing to colonization starting from the 12th century with the Baltic Crusades. Latvia would fall under Swedish, Polish-Lithuanian and Imperial Russian control, before declaring its independence on 18 November 1918 as the Republic of Latvia. As part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Latvia fell under the sphere of influence and was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. Latvia would later fall under German occupation from 1941 to 1944, and after the war remained a union republic of the Soviet Union.

Latvia's political status is controversial, especially among the Western and Eastern Blocs. Internationally, Latvia's status as a union republic of the Soviet Union is not recognised, and the Latvian government in exile is regarded as the legitimate government of the Republic of Latvia. To distinguish between the two entities, Soviet Latvia (or Latvian SSR) may be used to clarify the Soviet republic, but commonly Latvia simply refers to the union republic and not the government in exile.