Latvia (Latvian: Latvija), officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republika), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, one of the three Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, and Belarus to the southeast, as well as a maritime border to the west alongside Sweden. Latvia has 2,070,371 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi).
Latvian is an Indo-European language; it and Lithuanian are the only two surviving Baltic languages. Despite foreign rule from the 13th to 20th centuries, the Latvian nation maintained its identity throughout the generations via the language and musical traditions. Latvia and Estonia share a long common history. As a consequence of the Soviet occupation, both countries are home to a large number of ethnic Russians (26.9% in Latvia and 25.5% in Estonia), some of whom are non-citizens.
Links To Peel[]
Peel visited Latvia in the summer of 1992 as part of his visit to Russia and the Baltic States with the BBC World Service. He obtained a Latvian record by Bet Bet from his visit and played it on his show on 22 August 1992 and mentioned that he couldn't stop humming to one of the songs.
In 2002, Peel played some tracks from a Latvian band called Depo on his shows and made their album Alepo, his album of the month in August 2002 (Peel's Record Box).
John apparently also recorded some shows for a radio station in Latvia in the early 1990s.
Sessions[]
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Festive Fifty[]
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