Latvia Trivia

What's the flag of Latvia?

• 
• 
• 
• 

Answer explanation

• - Carmine red with a white horizontal stripe.
  - Proportions 2:1:2

• - One of oldest flags (mentioned 12th century)

What's Latvia's favourite national sport?

• Basketball

• Football

• Ice Hockey

• Volleyball

Answer explanation

Latvia, Finland and Canada are only countries where Ice Hockey is the most popular sport.

Which one of these holidays is the most popular in Latvia and dates back to pre-Christianity?

• Halloween

• Christmas

• Spring Equinox

• Midsummer

Answer explanation

Summer solstice (or Jāņi) is a festival on 23rd and 24th of June.

What year was Latvia founded?

• 1896

• 1918

• 1946

• 1991

Answer explanation

Proclaimed on 18th of November 1918.

Which of these dishes are NOT a traditional part of Latvian cuisine?

• 
• 
• 
• 

Answer explanation

Cepelini is traditionally associated with Lithuanian cuisine.

Who are these people taking selfies?

• Presidents

• Ex-hockey coaches

• Latvian song composers

• All European Parlament members from Latvia

Answer explanation

Since Independence restoration in 1991, Latvia has had 7 presidents, with the current one - Edgars Rinkēvičš doing the selfie :)

Which of these festive traditions first originated in territory of Latvia?

• Christmas trees

• Easter egg roll

• Bonfires

• Trick-o-treating

Answer explanation

1510 – The first written record of a decorated Christmas Tree comes from Riga, Latvia.
Men of the local merchants’ guild decorated a tree with artificial roses, danced around it in the marketplace and then set fire to it.

With which one of these languages Latvian language has common roots?

• Russian/Slavic

• Hungarian/Uralic

• West Germanic

• Sanskrit

Answer explanation

Some examples:

valu - velns (devil)
vāyuḥ - air; vējš - wind
Dyaus - Dievs (God)
vīra - hero/son; vīrs - a man
avata - avota (spring water)
Kas tvam asi? - Kas tu esi? (What are you?)

What's the Latvian word for "ham"?

• mākoņains

• šķiņķis

• čābīgi

• ņuņņāt

Answer explanation

Trying to pronounce it is dangerous for your health :)

Latvia is quite a green country. What percentage of landmass is covered by forests?

• >30%

• >50%

• >60%

• >75%

Answer explanation

56% is covered by forests (top 5 in EU)
UK is 13%.