''Brīvā Latvija'' (Free Latvia; ) is a weekly newspaper for

Latvians Latvians () are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common Latvian language ...

living outside

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, aimed mainly at those residing in western Europe. It was founded in 1986 through the merger of two

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

newspapers: the UK-based ''Londonas Avīze'' (London News; founded 1942) and ''Latvija'' (Latvia; founded 1946 in postwar DP camps), based in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. ''BL'' is co-owned by the Latvian communities of western Europe. The Latvian communities in Britain, Germany, and Sweden each provide members for the newspaper's board. In the mid-1990s, after Latvia regained its independence, the printing of ''BL'' was moved for economic reasons to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, where the editorial office also later moved. This newspaper also uses the older

Latvian orthography The modern Latvian language, Latvian orthography is based on Latin script adapted to phonetic principles, following the Latvian phonology, pronunciation of the language. The standard alphabet consists of 33 letters – 22 unmodified Latin letters ...

, with the letters Ch, Ō, and Ŗ. Those letters have since been abandoned from use in the Latvian language.

See also