Place details
Place nameRiga
Other namesRiga
CountryLatvija
Latitude56.883
Longitude24.133
SourceThesaurus of Geographic Names
Overview
Inhabited by early Baltic tribes; settled by German merchants in 1158; Bishop Albert I of Livonia & Crusaders made it center of Livonian Brothers of the Sword; joined Hanseatic League 1282; later ruled by Sweden, Poland & Russia; badly damaged in WW II.