Riga, Latvia, Old Town Tour

Riga, Latvia Old Town Tour

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 641,481 inhabitants (2016), it is also the largest city in the three Baltic states, home to one third of Latvia's population and one tenth of the three Baltic states' combined population.
The city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the Daugava. Riga's territory covers 307.17 km2 and lies 1–10 m above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain.

It is generally recognized that Riga has largest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in the world. This is due to the fact that at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, when Art Nouveau was at the height of its popularity,

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 34 million tons of cargo in 2011[59] and has potential for future growth with new port developments on Krievu Sala.
Tourism is also a large industry in Riga and after a slowdown during the global economic recessions of the late 2000s, grew 22% in 2011 alone.