The President of Latvia is head of state

Head of State

A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...

 and Commander-in-Chief

Commander-in-Chief

A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...

 of the armed forces of the Republic of 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...

. Many presidents to date, but not Gustavs Zemgals

Gustavs Zemgals

Gustavs Zemgals was a Latvian politician and the second President of Latvia....

, Kārlis Ulmanis

Karlis Ulmanis

Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis was a prominent Latvian politician in pre-World War II Latvia during the Latvian period of independence from 1918 to 1940.- Education and early career :Ulmanis studied agriculture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and...

, Valdis Zatlers

Valdis Zatlers

Valdis Zatlers is a Latvian politician and former physician who served as the seventh president of Latvia from 2007 to 2011. He won the Latvian presidential election of 31 May 2007...

 and the current president Andris Bērziņš

Andris Bērziņš (Latvian President)

Andris Bērziņš is a Latvian businessman and politician. He is the President of Latvia, having won the presidential election held on 2 June 2011.From 1993 to 2004, Bērziņš was the President of Unibanka.- Early career :...

 have been elected for a second term. The term of office is four years. Before 1997 it was three years. In the event of the vacancy in the office of the President, the Speaker of the Saeima

Speaker of the Saeima

The Speaker of the Saeima is the speaker of the Parliament of Latvia, the Saeima. In the case when President of Latvia is not in the country or unable to perform their duties, the Speaker acts interim President....

 assumes the duties of the President. For example, after the restoration of Latvian independence, before a new President could be elected, Anatolijs Gorbunovs

Anatolijs Gorbunovs

Anatolijs Gorbunovs also formerly known as Anatoly Valeryanovich Gorbunov is a Latvian politician who served as the parliamentary speaker during the last years of Soviet regime in Latvia and during the first years after the country regained its independence...

 was acting president from 1991 to 1993.

#	Name	Picture	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	Jānis Čakste Janis Cakste Jānis Čakste was a Latvian politician and lawyer who served as the first head of independent Latvian state as the Chairman of Tautas Padome , the Speaker of the Constitutional Assembly , and as the first President of Latvia .- Youth :Čakste was born in the...		14 November 1922	14 March 1927	Democratic Center Party Democratic Center Party of Latvia The Democratic Center Party was a small centre political party in Latvia which was founded in September 1992. It took part in the 1993 parliamentary elections, obtaining 5 from 100 seats in the parliament, and in the 1994 local elections, obtaining seats in Riga, Jelgava and Jurmala. Leaders: Ints...
2	Gustavs Zemgals Gustavs Zemgals Gustavs Zemgals was a Latvian politician and the second President of Latvia....		4 August 1927	4 September 1930	Democratic Center Party Democratic Center Party of Latvia The Democratic Center Party was a small centre political party in Latvia which was founded in September 1992. It took part in the 1993 parliamentary elections, obtaining 5 from 100 seats in the parliament, and in the 1994 local elections, obtaining seats in Riga, Jelgava and Jurmala. Leaders: Ints...
3	Alberts Kviesis Alberts Kviesis Alberts Kviesis was a Latvian politician and the third President of Latvia.Alberts Kviesis was born in Kalnamuiža parish. Having received his primary education from his parents, he thereafter finished the Jelgava Gymnasium and from 1902 studied law at the Tartu University, from where he...		4 September 1930	4 November 1936	Latvian Farmers' Union Latvian Farmers' Union The Latvian Farmers' Union is a centrist agrarian political party in Latvia. Founded in 1917, it was the most influential right-wing political party between the two World Wars, during the period of Latvian independence from the Russian SFSR in 1918 until its annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940,...
4	Kārlis Ulmanis Karlis Ulmanis Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis was a prominent Latvian politician in pre-World War II Latvia during the Latvian period of independence from 1918 to 1940.- Education and early career :Ulmanis studied agriculture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and...  (took office after expire of Kviesis's term)		4 November 1936	21 July 1940	Latvian Farmers' Union Latvian Farmers' Union The Latvian Farmers' Union is a centrist agrarian political party in Latvia. Founded in 1917, it was the most influential right-wing political party between the two World Wars, during the period of Latvian independence from the Russian SFSR in 1918 until its annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940,...
Latvian SSR Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by...  (1940 - 1991)
5	Guntis Ulmanis Guntis Ulmanis Guntis Ulmanis is a Latvian politician and was the fifth President of Latvia from 1993 to 1999.-Early life:Guntis Ulmanis was born in Riga on September 13, 1939. His grandfather was the brother of then-President and Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis. In 1941 Guntis Ulmanis and his family were exiled...		8 July 1993	8 July 1999	Latvian Farmers' Union Latvian Farmers' Union The Latvian Farmers' Union is a centrist agrarian political party in Latvia. Founded in 1917, it was the most influential right-wing political party between the two World Wars, during the period of Latvian independence from the Russian SFSR in 1918 until its annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940,...
6	Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga Vaira Vike-Freiberga Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was the sixth President of Latvia, the first female President of Latvia and the first female leader in eastern Europe. She was elected President of Latvia in 1999 and re-elected in 2003.Dr...		8 July 1999	8 July 2007	Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
7	Valdis Zatlers Valdis Zatlers Valdis Zatlers is a Latvian politician and former physician who served as the seventh president of Latvia from 2007 to 2011. He won the Latvian presidential election of 31 May 2007...		8 July 2007	8 July 2011	Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
8	Andris Bērziņš Andris Bērziņš (Latvian President) Andris Bērziņš is a Latvian businessman and politician. He is the President of Latvia, having won the presidential election held on 2 June 2011.From 1993 to 2004, Bērziņš was the President of Unibanka.- Early career :...		8 July 2011	Incumbent	Union of Greens and Farmers Union of Greens and Farmers Union of Greens and Farmers is a green/agrarian and conservative political alliance in Latvia. It consists of two political parties: Latvian Farmers' Union and the Green Party of Latvia . It is the third-largest party in the Saeima....

See also

• Lists of office-holders