Latvia / Lithuania

Latvia and Lithuania stamps available at Io Collezionista. Latvia and Lithuania are two of the three present day Baltic republics, the third being Estonia, which gained independence in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union. Both joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, replacing their national currencies, the lats and the Lithuanian litas respectively, with the euro. One of the distinguishing features of the Baltic countries is the wide take up of new technologies and of the Internet, which in Latvia in particular has reached 70% of the population, one of the highest figures in Europe, opening the way to innovative startups and to the arrival of many investors.