Riga is the Baltic capital of Art Nouveau and Hanseatic memory
Riga, Latvia's capital and largest city, holds about 588,900 residents as of 2026—roughly a third of the nation—and ranks second among Baltic cities. Founded in 1201 and once Hanseatic, its historic centre is UNESCO-listed for Art Nouveau and nineteenth-century wooden streets.
European Capital of Culture in 2014 with Umeå, it drew over 1.4 million foreign visitors in 2019. Riga International Airport is the Baltics' busiest, and the city joins Eurocities and Baltic capital networks.
The name's origin is uncertain. It may come from Riege, the German name for the Rīdzene, a former Daugava tributary; Bishop Albert claimed Latin rigata, irrigated, for watering pagan souls; but the best-documented account, from historian Dionysius Fabricius in 1610, ties it to riverside warehouses the Livs called riae. The Daugava had long been a trade artery on the Viking route to Byzantium, and a sheltered harbour here was noted as Duna Urbs as early as the 2nd century.
The Livonian Chronicle of Henry calls 12th-century Riga an ancient port storing flax and hides, and German traders set up a nearby outpost in 1158. Albert landed in 1200 with 23 ships and 500 Westphalian crusaders, moved the Livonian bishopric here from Uexküll in 1201, founded the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in 1202 and began fortifying the town in 1207. Papal bulls forced German merchants to route Baltic trade through Riga, which minted its first coins in 1211, the year Albert laid the cornerstone of the Riga Dom; by 1221 the citizens had won self-government and a city constitution.
It also hosted the 2006 NATO Summit and the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest, and its metro area counted an estimated 847,162 people in 2025.
Source: Riga
