Riga is the capital and the largest city of Latvia. With 639,630 inhabitants (2016), Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states, home to one third of Latvia's population and one tenth of the Baltic states' population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the Daugava. Riga's territory covers and lies between above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain. 

Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member. Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture during 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden. Riga hosted the 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, the 2006 IIHF Men's World Ice Hockey Championships and the 2013 World Women's Curling Championship. It is home to the European Union's office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC). 

In 2016, Riga received 2.3 million visitors. It is served by Riga International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in the Baltic states. Riga is a member of Eurocities, the Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC) and Union of Capitals of the European Union (UCEU). 

One theory about the origin of the name "Riga" is that it is a corrupted borrowing from the Liv "ringa" meaning loop, referring to the ancient natural harbour formed by the tributary loop of the Daugava River. The other is that "Riga" owes its name to this already-established role in commerce between East and West, as a borrowing of the Latvian "rija", for threshing barn, the "j" becoming a "g" in German — notably, Riga is called "Rie" by English geographer Richard Hakluyt (1589), and German historian Dionysius Fabricius (1610) confirms the origin of "Riga" from "rija". Another theory could be that Riga was named after Riege, the German name for the River Rīdzene, a tributary of the Daugava.
Is it the smallest airport?
the largest and busiest airport