Riga

Latvia

Riga, officially Riga State City, is the capital, primate, and largest city of Latvia and the second most-populous city in the Baltics. Home to 588,911 inhabitants, the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga metropolitan area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 847,162. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Baltic Sea.

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Country: Latvia
Population: 742,572
Latitude: 56.95° N
Longitude: 24.1° E

Which way is Riga from…

From Paris, Riga lies at 50° to the north-east, 1,703 km as the crow flies.

Paris	50° north-east	1,703 km
London	59° north-east	1,676 km
New York	38° north-east	6,756 km
Madrid	38° north-east	2,713 km
Rome	22° north	1,866 km
Montreal	40° north-east	6,321 km
Saint-Denis, Réunion	343° north	9,136 km

Bearings as the crow flies (great circle), measured from north. From somewhere else, the bearing changes: that’s the whole game.

Oùcécap’s take

Riga holds no trap from London: aim north-east, at 59°, 1,676 km away. New York is another story: a flat map would point you east, at 76°, but the compass says 38°, north-east. The shortest route passes south of Greenland and Iceland, then crosses Sweden. One landmark: from Riga, Tallinn and then Helsinki line up to the north, both at 7°.