Introduction
Riga [key], city (2011 provisional pop. 657,424), capital of Latvia, on the Daugava (Western Dvina) River near its entry into the Gulf of Riga. A major Baltic port, it is also a rail junction, a military base, and an industrial and cultural center. Among Riga's industries are machine building, metalworking, shipbuilding and repairing, woodworking, food processing, and the manufacture of diesel engines, streetcars, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electrical apparatus, radio and telephone equipment, meteorological instruments, textiles, building materials, and paper.
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