๐ฑ๐ป Riga is the capital of Latvia and is the country's primate city. The city lies on a flat and sandy plain on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Baltic Sea.
Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member. Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture in 2014. It is home to the European Union's office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). In 2017, it was named the European Region of Gastronomy. Riga is a member of Eurocities, the Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) and Union of Capitals of the European Union (UCEU).
Economy Riga is one of the key economic and financial centres of the Baltic States. Roughly half of all the jobs in Latvia are in Riga and the city generates more than 50% of Latvia's GDP as well as around half of Latvia's exports. The biggest exporters are in wood products, IT, food and beverage manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, transport and metallurgy. Riga Port is one of the largest in the Baltics. It handled a record 34ย million tons of cargo in 2011 and has potential for future growth with new port developments on Krievu Sala. Tourism is also a large industry in Riga and in 2016, Riga received over 1.4ย million visitors. The city is served by Riga International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in the Baltic states.
In 1995, twenty Latvian banks organised the Riga Stock Exchange which was the first Latvian stock exchange in Riga.
Riga is rated Gamma + by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) which evaluates and ranks the relationships between world cities in the context of globalisation. Gamma level cities are cities that link smaller economic regions into the world economy.
Riga is the #96 city in the world according to the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) which evaluates and ranks the competitiveness of the major financial centres of the world according to a wide range of criteria โ Human Capital, Business, Finance, Infrastructure and Reputation.
Riga is rated C by the Global Urban Competitiveness Report (GUCR) which evaluates and ranks world cities in the context of economic competitiveness. C cities are international gateway cities. Riga was ranked #99 by the Nomad List which evaluates and ranks remote work hubs by cost, internet, fun and safety. Riga has a population of over 627,487 people. Riga also forms the centre of the wider Riga metropolitan area which has a population of over 1,003,203 people. Riga is ranked #155 for startups with a score of 3.685.
To set up a UBI Lab for Riga see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork
Twin Towns, Sister Cities Riga has links with:
๐ฉ๐ฐ Aalborg, Denmark ๐ฐ๐ฟ Almaty, Kazakhstan ๐ณ๐ฑ Amsterdam, Netherlands ๐ฐ๐ฟ Astana, Kazakhstan ๐จ๐ณ Beijing, China ๐ซ๐ท Bordeaux, France ๐ฉ๐ช Bremen, Germany ๐ฆ๐บ Cairns, Australia ๐ซ๐ท Cenon, France ๐จ๐ณ Cheongwen, China ๐บ๐ธ Dallas, USA ๐ฎ๐น Florence, Italy ๐ฑ๐น Kaunas, Lithuania ๐ธ๐ช Kista, Sweden ๐ฏ๐ต Kลbe, Japan ๐บ๐ฆ Kyiv, Ukraine ๐ง๐พ Minsk, Belarus ๐ท๐บ Moscow, Russia ๐ธ๐ช Norrkรถping, Sweden ๐ฐ๐ฟ Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan ๐ต๐ช Paita, Perรบ ๐ซ๐ฎ Pori, Finland ๐ฉ๐ช Rostock, Germany ๐ท๐บ Saint Petersburg, Russia ๐จ๐ฑ Santiago, Chile ๐จ๐ณ Shunyi, China ๐ธ๐ช Stockholm, Sweden ๐จ๐ณ Suzhou, China ๐น๐ผ Taipei, Taiwan ๐ช๐ช Tallinn, Estonia ๐ช๐ช Tartu, Estonia ๐บ๐ฟ Tashkent, Uzbekistan ๐ฌ๐ช Tbilisi, Georgia ๐ฑ๐น Vilnius, Lithuania ๐ต๐ฑ Warsaw, Poland ๐ฆ๐ฒ Yerevan, Armenia๐ท๐บ Pervouralsk 56.905
๐ท๐บ Beryozovsky 56.9
๐ท๐บ Yekaterinburg 56.858
๐ท๐บ Sverdlovsk 56.838
๐บ๐ฆ Novovolynsk 24.167
๐บ๐ฆ Sheptytskyi 24.217
๐บ๐ฆ Chervonohrad 24.217
๐ณ๐ฆ Katima Mulilo 24.267
๐ง๐ฌ Pazardzhik 24.333
Locations Near: Riga 24.1149,56.946
๐ฑ๐ป Jลซrmala 23.75,56.967 d: 22.2
๐ฑ๐ป Jelgava 23.724,56.652 d: 40.4
๐ฑ๐ป Ogre 24.606,56.817 d: 33.1
๐ฑ๐ป Centrs 23.15,56.967 d: 58.5
๐ฑ๐น Panevฤลพys 24.37,55.737 d: 135.3
๐ฑ๐น Radviliลกkis 23.55,55.8 d: 132.1
๐ฑ๐น ล iauliai 23.316,55.933 d: 122.9
๐ช๐ช Pรคrnu 24.497,58.387 d: 161.9
๐ฑ๐น Kฤdainiai 23.967,55.283 d: 185.1
Antipodal to: Riga -155.885,-56.946
๐ต๐ซ Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 15601.4
๐น๐ด Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 15730.7
๐ฆ๐ธ Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 15107.8
๐ผ๐ธ Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 15035.7
๐บ๐ธ Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 11489.3
๐บ๐ธ Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 11378.9
๐บ๐ธ Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 11362.3
๐บ๐ธ Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 11359.8