Brīvā Latvija is a weekly newspaper for Latvians living outside Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

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

Émigré

Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....

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

Displaced person

A displaced person is a person who has been forced to leave his or her native place, a phenomenon known as forced migration.- Origin of term :...

 camps), based in West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

. 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 economical reasons to Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

, where the editorial office also later moved.