Government

parliamentary republic

System	parliamentary republic
Capital	Riga
Head of state	President Edgars RINKEVICS (since 8 July 2023)
Head of government	Prime Minister Evika SILINA (since 15 September 2023)
Legislature	legislature name: Parliament (Saeima); legislative structure: unicameral; number of seats: 100 (all directly elected); electoral system: proportional representation; scope of elections: full renewal; term in office: 4 years; most recent election date: 10/1/2022; parties elected and seats per party: New Unity (VIENOTIBA) (26); Union of Farmers and Greens (ZZS) (16); United List - Latvian Green Party, Latvian Regional Alliance, Liepāja Party (15); National Alliance of All for Latvia!” - “For Fatherland and Freedom / LNNK” (NA) (13); For Stability! (11); Progressives (10); Latvia First (9); percentage of women in chamber: 31%; expected date of next election: October 2026
Judiciary	highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the Senate with 36 judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 7 judges); judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges nominated by chief justice and confirmed by the Saeima; judges serve until age 70, but term can be extended 2 years; Constitutional Court judges - 3 nominated by Saeima members, 2 by Cabinet ministers, and 2 by plenum of Supreme Court; all judges confirmed by Saeima majority vote; Constitutional Court president and vice president serve in their positions for 3 years; all judges serve 10-year terms; mandatory retirement at age 70; subordinate courts: district (city) and regional courts
Constitution	history: several previous (pre-1991 independence); after independence was restored in 1991, parts of the 1922 constitution were reintroduced on 4 May 1990 and fully reintroduced on 6 July 1993; amendment process: proposed by two thirds of Parliament members or by petition of one tenth of qualified voters submitted through the president; passage requires at least two-thirds majority vote of Parliament in each of three readings; amendment of constitutional articles, including national sovereignty, language, the parliamentary electoral system, and constitutional amendment procedures, requires passage in a referendum by majority vote of at least one half of the electorate
Independence	18 November 1918 (from Soviet Russia); 4 May 1990 (declared from the Soviet Union); 6 September 1991 (recognized by the Soviet Union)
Administrative divisions	36 municipalities ( novadi , singular - novads ) and 7 state cities ( valstpilsetu pasvaldibas , singular - valstspilsetas pasvaldiba ); municipalities: Adazi, Aizkraukle, Aluksne, Augsdaugava, Balvi, Bauska, Cesis, Dienvidkurzeme, Dobele, Gulbene, Jekabpils, Jelgava, Kekava, Kraslava, Kuldiga, Limbazi, Livani, Ludza, Madona, Marupe, Ogre, Olaine, Preili, Rezekne, Ropazi, Salaspils, Saldus, Saulkrasti, Sigulda, Smiltene, Talsi, Tukums, Valka, Valmiera, Varaklani, Ventspils; cities: Daugavpils, Jelgava, Jurmala, Liepaja, Rezekne, Riga, Ventspils

Departments

TODO. Ministries and authoritative sites, to be filled out.

Hierarchy

How power is wired. The diagram below carries the generic template; refine the boxes and edges to match the current regime.

        flowchart TD
  HoS["Head of State"]
  HoG["Head of Government"]
  Leg["Legislature"]
  Jud["Judiciary"]
  Cab["Cabinet"]
  Foreign["Foreign Affairs"]
  Interior["Interior"]
  Defense["Defense"]
  Finance["Finance"]
  Justice["Justice"]

  HoS --> HoG
  HoG --> Cab
  Cab --> Foreign
  Cab --> Interior
  Cab --> Defense
  Cab --> Finance
  Cab --> Justice
  HoS -.- Leg
  HoS -.- Jud
    

Resources

Public-facing portals the people use day to day. Operators monitor these for policy changes, official notices, and civil-registry data.

Resource	Site	Purpose
National portal	to be filled	One-stop government services for citizens.
Tax / revenue	to be filled	Income tax, VAT, customs.
Civil registry	to be filled	Births, deaths, marriages, national ID.
Immigration	to be filled	Visas, residency, naturalisation.
Health	to be filled	Public health, advisories, vaccination records.
Education	to be filled	Curricula, school directories, transcripts.
Statistics	to be filled	Census, economic indicators, opendata.
Police / emergency	to be filled	Reporting, missing persons, emergency contacts.