With a land area three times that of Wales, Latvia has a long Baltic Sea coastline on its western flank, though tightly hemmed in to the north, south and east by Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus and Russia. For a thousand years and more its economy relied on amber, gypsum, cheese, butter, beef, grains, root crops and timber. Most of them changed hands at the international trade centre and seaport of Riga, always one of the busiest in the Baltic region. Well served by rivers, forest trails and, of course, by Baltic shipping, Rigans and most of the hinterland inhabitants enjoyed relatively good living standards. Communication by mail in earlier centuries proved efficient, though invariably used as official services meeting the requirements of rulers, church authorities and, from the 16th century, merchants…
