Principality of Livonia Княжество Ливония Knyazhestvo Livoniya (Russian) Latvijas Firstiste (Latvian) Letvejas Firstiste (Latgalian) Fürstentum Livland (German) |
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Royal anthem: "Королевский гимн Княжества Ливония" "Korolevskiy gimn Knyazhestva Livoniya" (Russian) "Königliche Hymne des Fürstentums Livland" (German) "Liivimaa Vürstiriigi kuninglik hümn" (Latvian) ("Royal Anthem of the Principality of Livonia") |
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Capital | Talinn | ||||
Official languages | Russian, Latvian, Latgalian, German | ||||
Demonym | Livonian | ||||
Government | Local constitutional monarchy | ||||
- | Crown Prince | Karl I Uliyamovich | |||
- | Governor-General | Ivan Sommer (DNP) | |||
- | Head Minister | Fyodor Krūmiņš (DSP) |
OT equivalent: Livonia
The Principality of Livonia (Russian: Княжество Ливония, Knyazhestvo Livoniya; Estonian: Eesti Vürstiriik, Livonian: Letvejas Firstiste; Latgalian: Letvejas Firstiste; German: Fürstentum Livland) also known as Livland in German sources and Livonia in Livonian and Latgalian-language sources, is one of the constituent principalities of the Russian Empire, located in the broader Grand Principality of the Baltics.
It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Courland, and to the east by Lake Peipus. The principality of Livonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,200 other islands and islets on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of 45,339 km2 (17,505 sq mi). The capital city Tallinn and Tartu are the two largest urban areas of the country. The Estonian language is the autochthonous and native language of Livonia; it is the first language of the majority of its people, as well as the world's second most spoken Finnic language.
The land of what is now modern Livonia has been inhabited since at least 9,000 BC. Ancient Estonians were one of the last "pagan" civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Papal-sanctioned Livonian Crusade in the 13th century. After centuries of successive rule by the Teutonic Order, Denmark, Sweden, and the Russian Empire, a distinct Estonian national identity began to emerge in the mid-19th century. This culminated in the 24 February 1918 Estonian Declaration of Independence from the then warring Russian and German Empires, and, after the end of World War I up to end of World War II, Latvia was independent. During World War II, it was a puppet state of Nazi Germany and formed part of the Reichkommissariat Ostland, until it was invaded and re-occupied by Russia, to which it remains part of Russia today. During the time-period following World War II, the native Latvian peoples were partially Russified.
Democratic throughout most of the interwar period, after the onset of worldwide Great Depression Estonia also experienced authoritarian rule during the politically non-violent "era of silence" in 1934-1938. During World War II, Livonia did not see any of the fighting, as most of it took place in Russia's southern and eastern regions. In the 1980s-1990s, another Livonian Revolution was attempted, but again, quashed.
Livonia is a mult-cultural and developed principality, with a high-income advanced economy; ranking very high in the Human Development Index. It has a population of 1.3 million, Estonia has consistently ranked highly in international rankings for quality of life, education, digitalization of public services and the prevalence of technology companies. It is home to all three, Estonian, Baltic German and Russian cultures, and forms part of Russia's "Lutheran Baltic Belt".
Nobility and politics[]
The House of Lieven, is the current ruling princes of Livonia. Other families are the House of Rennenkampf, House of Barclay de Tolly-Weymarn and the House of Saxe-Coburg-Livonia Although various Hereditary Princes and Dukes of the ruling House of Romanov own properties in Livonia, very seldomly do they attempt to become Crown Princes of Livonia, unless in an emergency situation where those of the Baltic German houses couldn't. The modern-day existing line is from that of Prince Anatol von Lieven, and Princess ???. Prince Anatol successfully defeated Livonian separatists to re-conquer Livonia for Russia, after Livonia enjoyed very brief independence. Although Anatol was a Lutheran, Olga was Orthodox, and all the children were brought up Russian Orthodox, but continued co-fluency in German (as well as Livonian) in addition to Russian.
Demographics[]
Ethnic groups[]
Livonians constitute 47%, the majority of the population, followed by Russians (41.5%), Baltic Germans (7%), Others include but not limited to Estonians, Finns, Lithuanians, Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews form the rest.
As German interest in investments in Livonia (as well as Courland increase), this has greatly increased the Baltic German population.
Religion[]
Currently, Christianity is the most-practiced religion in Livonia, 64.5% of the population. Of the Christian population, 75% are Lutherans, 15% Russian Orthodox, while Catholics and Other Christians form the rest.
Livonia forms part of the "Lutheran Belt" (Лютеранский пояс) of the Russian Empire, sharing with Courland.
However, in spite of the majority being Lutheran, 63.5% of people admitted that they were not heavily religious, only attending church services on major holidays, associating Lutheranism as more of a cultural identity. Livonia as a matter of fact, has a strong irreligious population.
Economy[]
Since the year 2000, Livonia has had one of the highest (GDP) growth rates in Europe and of the Russian Empire, at one point, had become even wealthier than the other regions in Russia. However, the chiefly consumption-driven growth in Livonia resulted in the collapse of the local Livonian GDP in late 2008 and early 2009, exacerbated by the global economic crisis and collapse of the United States - which had extremely heavy investments in Livonia, shortage of credit and huge money resources used for the bailout of Parex Bank. The local Livonian economy fell 18% in the first three months of 2009, the biggest fall in the European Union.
However, with the nixing of the U.S. dollar, and its replacement by the Russian ruble as the world power currency, the Livonian economy experienced a sudden boom, with the various wealthy people becoming billionaires overnight.
Privatisation in Livonia is almost complete. Virtually all of the previously state-owned small and medium companies have been privatised, leaving only a small number of politically sensitive large state companies. The private sector accounted for nearly 68% of the principality's GDP in 2000.[citation needed]
Foreign investment in Livonia has increased, mostly from the German Empire, Canada and California. A law expanding the scope for selling land, including to foreigners, was passed in 1997. Representing 10.2% of Livonia's total foreign direct investment, American companies invested $127 million in 1999 by allowance of the Russian government.
In 2010 Livonia launched a Residence by Investment program (Golden Visa) in order to attract foreign investors and make local economy benefit from it. This program allows investors to get a Russian residence permit by investing at least ₽250,000 in property or in an enterprise with at least 50 employees and an annual turnover of at least ₽10 million.
Infrastructure[]
The Port of Ventspils is one of the busiest ports in the Russian Empire, and of the Baltic Grand Principality.
The transport sector is around 14% of GDP. Transit between other parts of the Russian Empire, Belarus as well as other Asian countries and the West is large.
The four biggest ports of Livonia are located in Riga, Ventspils, Liyepaya and Skulte. Most transit traffic uses these and half the cargo is crude oil and oil products. Apart from road and railway connections, Ventspils is also linked to oil extraction fields and transportation routes of the Russian Empire via system of two pipelines from Polotsk, Belarus.[citation needed]
Riga International Airport is the busiest airport in the Baltics, and one of the busiest in the Russian Empire, with 7.8 million passengers in 2019. It has direct flight to over 80 destinations in 30 countries. The only other airport handling regular commercial flights is Lieven International Airport. airBaltic is the Livonian flag carrier airline and a low-cost carrier with hubs in all three Baltic principalities, but main base in Riga, Livonia.
Royal Livonia Railway's main network consists of 1,860 km of which 1,826 km is 1,520 mm Russian gauge railway of which 251 km are electrified, making it the longest railway network in the Baltic principalities. Livonia's railway network is currently incompatible with European standard gauge lines. However, Rail Baltica railway, linking Helsinki-Tallinn-Riga-Kaunas-Warsaw is under construction and is set to be completed in 2026.
National road network in Livonia totals 1675 km of main roads, 5473 km of regional roads and 13 064 km of local roads. Municipal roads in Livonia totals 30 439 km of roads and 8039 km of streets. The best known roads are A1 (European route E67), connecting Warsaw and Tallinn, as well as European route E22, connecting Ventspils and Terehova. In 2017 there were a total of 803,546 licensed vehicles in Livonia.
Livonia has three large hydroelectric power stations in Pļaviņu HES (825MW), Rīgas HES (402 MW) and Ķeguma HES-2 (192 MW). In recent years a couple of dozen of wind farms as well as biogas or biomass power stations of different scale have been built in Livonia.[citation needed]
Livonia operates Inchukalns underground gas storage facility, one of the largest underground gas storage facilities in Europe and the only one in the Baltics. Unique geological conditions at Inchukalns and other locations in Livonia are particularly suitable for underground gas storage.
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