Geography of Latvia which Latvia contested after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Latvia encompasses 64,589 square kilometers and is an extension of the East European Plain. Its flat terrain differs little from that of its surrounding neighbors. Latvia's only distinct border is the Baltic Sea coast, which extends for 531 kilometers. Its neighbors include Lithuania on the south (453 kilometers of common border), Estonia on the north (267 kilometers), Russia on the east (217 kilometers), and Belarus on the southeast (141 kilometers). Prior to World War II, Latvia bordered eastern Poland, but as a result of boundary changes by the Soviet Union,
Latvia–Russia relations time, often replacing those who were deported. The high influx of Russians and the removal of Latvian as the official language caused further deteriorations in the Latvia-Russian relations between citizens. In 1991, Latvia regained independence from the USSR through the Latvian independence and democracy poll, 1991. On April 2004 Latvia expelled Second Secretary of the Russian Embassy in Rīga Pyotr Uzhumov, who had allegedly trying to gather information on Latvia's defence forces, for activities "incompatible with his diplomatic status" to which Russia responded by expelling first secretary of the Latvian Embassy in Moscow. In 2007, the border treaty between the