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Latvia (Swedish Lavonia) under King of Sweden – Carl XI
1660-1665 Billon Solidus (Schilling / Silins) 15mm (0.59 grams)
Reference: Ahlström# 19, Haljak II# 1446, Fed# 974, KM# A5
CAROLVS · D · G · REX · S · CR, Crowned monogram surrounded by legend.
SOLIDVS · LIVONIÆ ·, Griffin holding two swords with its feet and surrounded by legend.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
.svg/85px-Coat_of_arms_of_Swedish_Livonia_(18th_century).svg.png) Swedish Livonia (Swedish: Svenska Livland) was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1629 until 1721. The territory, which constituted the southern part of modern Estonia (including the island of Ösel ceded by Denmark after the Treaty of Brömsebro) and the northern part of modern Latvia (the Vidzeme region), represented the conquest of the major part of the Polish-Lithuanian Duchy of Livonia during the 1600–1629 Polish-Swedish War. Parts of Livonia and the city of Riga were under Swedish control as early as 1621 and the situation was formalized in Truce of Altmark 1629, but the whole territory was not ceded formally until the Treaty of Oliva in 1660. The minority part of the Wenden Voivodeship retained by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was renamed the Inflanty Voivodeship (“Livonian Principality“), which today corresponds to the Latgale region of Latvia.
Riga was the second largest city in the Swedish Empire at the time. Together with other Baltic Sea dominions, Livonia served to secure the Swedish dominium maris baltici. In contrast to Swedish Estonia, which had submitted to Swedish rule voluntarily in 1561 and where traditional local laws remained largely untouched, the uniformity policy was applied in Swedish Livonia under Karl XI of Sweden: serfdom was abolished, peasants were offered education as well as military, administrative or ecclesiastical careers, and nobles had to transfer domains to the king in the Great Reduction.
The territory in turn was conquered by the Russian Empire during the Great Northern War and, following the Capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710, formed the Governorate of Livonia. Formally, it was ceded to Russia in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, together with Swedish Estonia and Swedish Ingria.
 ![Location of Latvia (dark green)– in Europe (green & dark grey)– in the European Union (green) – [Legend]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/EU-Latvia.svg/250px-EU-Latvia.svg.png) Latvia, 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). The country has a temperate seasonal climate .
 Latvia is a democratic parliamentary republic established in 1918. The capital city is Riga , the European Capital of Culture 2014 . Latvian is the official language. Latvia is a unitary state , divided into 118 administrative divisions , of which 109 are municipalities and 9 are cities.
Latvians and Livs are the indigenous people of Latvia. 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 . Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant Lutheran , except for the Latgale region in the southeast, which has historically been predominantly Roman Catholic . The Russian population has also brought a significant portion of Eastern Orthodox Christians.
The Republic of Latvia was founded on 18 November 1918. However, its de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II . In 1940, the country was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union , invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941, and re-occupied by the Soviets in 1944 to form the Latvian SSR for the next fifty years. The peaceful Singing Revolution , starting in 1987, called for Baltic emancipation of Soviet rule. It ended with the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia on 4 May 1990, and restoring de facto independence on 21 August 1991.
Latvia is a democratic and developed country and member of the European Union , NATO, the Council of Europe , the United Nations , CBSS , the IMF , NB8, NIB , OSCE and WTO . Latvia was invited to join the OECD in 2016. For 2014, Latvia was listed 46th on the Human Development Index and as a high income country on 1 July 2014. It used the Latvian lats as its currency until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014.
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