Museum of the Occupation of Latvia

The House of the Blackheads (Latvian: Melngalvju nams, German: Schwarzhäupterhaus) is a building situated in the old town of Riga, Latvia. The original building was erected during the first third of the 14th century for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild for unmarried merchants, shipowners, and foreigners in Riga. Major works were done in the early 17th century, adding most of the Mannerist ornamentation. The sculptures were made by the workshop of August Volz. Additionally, it is the site of the first decorated Christmas tree, which was erected in 1510. The building was bombed to a ruin by the Germans on June 28, 1941 — a week after the launching of Operation Barbarossa — and the remains were demolished by the Soviets in 1948. It was rebuilt between 1996 and 1999 with funds provided by Valērijs Kargins, the president of Parex Bank. Part of the funds donated were from all the people who wanted to participate in the rebuilding process, by joining in the event ''I build the House of the Black Heads'', where by donating 5 lats (approximately 7-11 EUR) they could symbolically put a brick on the wall. There were more than 5,000 participants. The House of the Black Heads was officially opened on December 9, 1999. Today the House of the Blackheads is a museum. In the upper level are located grand ballrooms, where historically many luxurious events happened — welcoming ceremonies for kings, queens, presidents, and also many cultural events — balls, classical music concerts, theatre performances, and operas with many world famous guest-stars. On another floor it is possible to visit the historic cabinets — a temporary work-space for the President of Latvia, who moved the Presidential residence to the House of the Blackheads from 2012 to 2016, while the permanent location in Riga Castle was under reconstruction. The historical cellar is the only original part of the building which survived World War II and during the Soviet Occupation. Until the early 1990s it was buried underground and not visible. The historic cellar is one of the few places where it is possible to walk through an authentic underground of Old Riga, where the remains — wall fragments, floor and even the wooden stairs are original, and some of that is dated as far back as the 14th century. This was former storage for goods and part of it was space for a hypocaust or warm air furnace. Today there are interesting, interactive exhibitions relating to commerce in Riga and the history of the Brotherhood of Blackheads.

Riga Technical University (RTU) (Latvian: Rīgas Tehniskā universitāte) is the oldest technical university in the Baltic countries established on October 14, 1862. It is located in Riga, Latvia and was previously known as 'Riga Polytechnical Institute' and 'Riga Polytechnicum'. In 1958, the Riga Polytechnic Institute was established as a separate institution, separating the departments of engineering from the Latvian State University. Over the years, the Riga Polytechnic Institute evolved and expanded its academic offerings, becoming one of the leading technical universities in the region. In 1990, it was renamed Riga Technical University (RTU), and today, it has nine faculties and is the largest STEM oriented university in Latvia. In the 2022 QS EECA university rankings, RTU was ranked 57th among the universities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The siege of Riga in 1709–1710 was a military operation of the army of the Tsardom of Russia during the Great Northern War against the forces of the Swedish Empire defending the fortress of Riga. As a result of the operation, Riga was taken by Russian troops.

Riga (; Latvian: Rīga [ˈriːɡa] (listen), Livonian: Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is largest city in the Baltic states,and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The population of Rigas functional urban area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 920,643 (as of 2023). The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Baltic Sea. Riga's territory covers 307.17 km2 (118.60 sq mi) and lies 1–10 m (3.3–32.8 ft) above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain.Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member. Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture in 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden. Riga hosted the 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, the 2006 IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, 2013 World Women's Curling Championship and the 2021 IIHF World Championship. It is home to the European Union's office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). In 2017, it was named the European Region of Gastronomy. In 2019, Riga received over 1.4 million foreign visitors. The city is served by Riga International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in the Baltic states. Riga is a member of Eurocities, the Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) and Union of Capitals of the European Union (UCEU).

Northern District (Latvian: Ziemeļu rajons) is one of six administrative districts of Riga, the capital of Latvia.

The Riga Metro (Latvian: Rīgas metro) was a planned metro system in Riga, Latvia, during the time of the Soviet Union. Three lines with a total of 33 stations were planned to be built by 2021, however in the late 1980s, during the Singing Revolution, the whole project met with opposition and combined with the fall of the Soviet Union, construction, which was planned to begin in 1990, never took place. The population of the city has been declining due to emigration and negative population growth rate since 1990, making the prospects of a full metro system, even with EU funding, unrealistic in the near future. In fact, after the fall of the Soviet Union, possible construction of the metro system has seldom been publicly discussed, even dismissed as unnecessary.

The United Baltic Duchy (German: Vereinigtes Baltisches Herzogtum, Latvian: Apvienotā Baltijas hercogiste, Estonian: Balti Hertsogiriik), or alternatively the Grand Duchy of Livonia, was the name proposed during World War I by leaders of the local Baltic German nobility for a new monarchical state that never came into existence. The attempt to establish a new client state of the German Empire on the territory of what is now Latvia and Estonia was made in 1918, during the German occupation of the former Courland, Livonian and Estonian governorates of the Russian Empire which had ceased to exist after the Bolshevik coup in 1917. The unsuccessful proclamation of a pro-German duchy was first made in April 1918, after the Republic of Estonia had already formally declared full independence. The proposed ideas for the new state included the creation of a Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and of a Duchy of Estonia and Livonia, which would be in personal union with the Kingdom of Prussia.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2003 was the 48th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Riga, Latvia, following the country's victory at the 2002 contest with the song "I Wanna" by Marie N. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV), the contest was held at the Skonto Hall on 24 May 2003. The contest was presented by last year's winner Marie N and former contestant Renārs Kaupers.Twenty-six countries participated in the contest, beating the record of twenty-five first set in 1993. It saw the return of Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland after having been relegated from competing the previous year. Portugal also returned to the contest after being absent the previous year, while Ukraine participated in the contest for the first time. Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Macedonia and Switzerland were relegated due to their poor results in 2002. The winner was Turkey with the song "Everyway That I Can", performed by Sertab Erener who wrote it with Demir Demirkan. This was Turkey's first victory in the contest after 28 years of participation. Belgium, Russia, Norway and Sweden rounded out the top five. Further down the table, the United Kingdom achieved their worst result to date, finishing twenty-sixth (last place) with no points. However, they avoided relegation due to being one of the "Big Four" countries at the time. The host country Latvia placed twenty-fourth (third from last) – this was the first time since 1995 that the host entry did not place in the top 10, and it was, overall, the worst result for a host entry since 1992. This was the last contest to take place on one evening. The EBU revealed that it would be adding a semi-final show to the competition in order to accommodate the growing number of interested countries wishing to take part in the contest. This was also the last contest in which a relegation system was used to determine which countries would participate in the following year's contest. As the Belgian entry was sung in an imaginary language, this was also the first time the contest featured a song with no parts performed in English or a language native to the country.

Battle of Riga was a battle during the Latvian War of Independence that started on May 22, 1919, when the German commander Rüdiger von der Goltz with his troops tried to occupy Riga against Soviet Latvia.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Riga, Latvia.

Riga District (Latvian: Rīgas rajons) was an administrative division of Latvia, located in Semigallia and Vidzeme regions, in the centre of the country. The district had the two cities of Riga and Jūrmala with the Gulf of Riga to the north. Beginning from the west and counterclockwise to the east, Riga District had Tukums, Jelgava, Bauska, Ogre, Cēsis and Limbaži former districts as neighbours. The area of the district was 3,058 km² with a population of 159,247. Riga District was one of the largest regions of Latvia, it was strategically important and also had some of the most developed infrastructure in Latvia. It was a cross-point of 10 major motorways and a junction of 6 important railroad lines. Districts were eliminated during the administrative-territorial reform in 2009.

Siege of Riga by the Russian Army under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was the main event of the Russo-Swedish War. The fortifications of Riga consisted of a wall with ditch and 5 bastions around the old town. In 1652 Swedes had started construction of a new wall with 12 bastions around suburbs, but by 1656 the work had not been completed. The Russian vanguard consisting of the Vladimir v. Vizin reiters, Daniel Krafert infantry and Iunkmann dragoons approached Riga on August 20 and threw back the Swedes under count of Pärnu, Heinrich von Thurn into the city. Von Thurn was either killed, or captured in the action. The Swedes evacuated the suburbs and withdrew to the old town. A few days later, the main army under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich arrived on the ships on the Duna River, and laid siege to Riga. The Russian army occupied three camps, two on the east bank of the Duna in Riga's suburbs, and a Corps under Ordyn-Nashokin on the west bank of the Duna, opposite the Kobrun entrenchment. As Russia had no full-fledged navy to intercept reinforcements coming to the Swedish garrison across the Baltic, Riga managed to hold out until October, when foreign officers commanding a small Russian flotilla defected to the other side and the Russians had to lift the siege. In the aftermath of this reverse, the Swedes recaptured much of Ingria, took the Pskov Monastery of the Caves and inflicted a heavy defeat on the Russian general Matvey Sheremetev in battle of Walk in 1657. The events of the siege were recorded in an engraving by Adam Perelli that was first published in 1697 in Samuel Puffendorf's work, Konung Carl X Gustafs Bragder.