Latvia - International trade of raw materials (SITC 2+4): Trade balance was EUR1850.70 Million in December of 2022, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Latvia - International trade of raw materials (SITC 2+4): Trade balance - last updated from the EUROSTAT on July of 2025. Historically, Latvia - International trade of raw materials (SITC 2+4): Trade balance reached a record high of EUR1850.70 Million in December of 2022 and a record low of EUR699.40 Million in December of 2012.

Although it was not a united country until 1871, industrialization across Germany began in the early 1800s, and it quickly saw Germany emerge as a Great Power in Europe. German industrialization was largely driven by coal and steel production, of which Germany had rich deposits, and these were used in construction and infrastructure to modernize the country. The mechanization of agriculture also fed into this, as many people from rural regions flocked to cities in search of work. Many of the coal and iron deposits were located in Germany's west, particularly around the Rhine and Ruhr regions, and industry here benefitted from strong rail and water transport networks. Today, with over five million inhabitants, the Ruhr region is the most populous metropolitan area in the country, largely due to these developments. While Germany was among the most advanced nations in the world by the end of the 19th century, industrial output grew higher still in the 20th; between 1896 and 1913, industrial output in Germany doubled. Interwar turmoil After the First World War, Germany lost its resource rich territories of Alsace-Lorraine and the Saarland, while the Rhine and Ruhr regions were also occupied by France, and much of its industrial output was sent to other countries as war reparations. Hyperinflation in 1923 also saw the collapse of the German economy, and it was not until the late-1920s that economic recovery from the war truly began, although this was also short-lived. As Germany had been dependent on financial aid from the U.S. in order to recover and meet its reparation payments, the Great Depression in the U.S. had dire consequences for the German economy. From 1929 until 1932, industrial output fell once more, and many historians point to this economic difficulty as a catalyst for the rise of nationalism and fascism in Germany. The Nazi Party then ascended to power in 1933, the year the Depression ended, and the economy was restructured to support a war of expansion. Among other factors, this involved tax breaks for large businesses, allowing cartels to control local business, increasing average working hours, and prioritizing industrial employment by importing food from the east. The strength of Germany's industry then allowed the Axis powers to take control of most of Europe during the Second World War, but it was ultimately defeated by 1945. Post-war split Following the war, Germany was split into two separate states; commonly referred to as East and West Germany. The west was a liberal democracy with a free-market economy, while the east was a communist state with a command economy, yet both became leaders in their respective trading blocks during the Cold War. When looking at industrial growth over the next three decades, using output in 1963 as a benchmark, East Germany's output grew over nine times larger from 1949 to 1975, whereas West Germany's grew by a factor of six. It is important to remember, however, that the west was larger, more populous, and starting from a more industrially developed point than the east, therefore it was consistently more advanced. The West also had fewer restrictions placed on it from other nations after the war, and it played a leading role in European integration; whereas the East was influenced more heavily by the USSR and it had less trade with other advanced nations, which hindered its technological development. West Germany's output took a hit in the 1970s due to the 1973-1975 Recession, whereas the East's economy was protected as it had little trade with the U.S. and its partners. However, the West quickly recovered and economic stagnation in the East throughout the 1980s would contribute to the eventual collapse of the Eastern Bloc, and Germany was officially reunified in 1990.

It is presumed that the first humans migrated from Siberia to North America approximately twelve thousand years ago, where they then moved southwards to warmer lands. It was not until many centuries later that humans returned to the north and began to settle regions that are now part of Canada. Despite a few short-lived Viking settlements on Newfoundland around the turn of the first millennium CE, the Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot), became the first European to explore the coast of North America in the late 1400s. The French and British crowns both made claims to areas of Canada throughout the sixteenth century, but real colonization and settlement did not begin until the early seventeenth century. Over the next 150 years, France and Britain competed to take control of the booming fur and fishing trade, and to expand their overseas empires. In the Seven Year's War, Britain eventually defeated the French colonists in North America, through superior numbers and a stronger agriculture resources in the southern colonies, and the outcome of the war saw France cede practically all of it's colonies in North America to the British.

Increased migration and declining native populations

The early 1800s saw a large influx of migrants into Canada, with the Irish Potato Famine bringing the first wave of mass-migration to the country, with further migration coming from Scandinavia and Northern Europe. It is estimated that the region received just shy of one million migrants from the British Isles alone, between 1815 and 1850, which helped the population grow to 2.5 million in the mid-1800s and 5.5 million in 1900. It is also estimated that infectious diseases killed around 25 to 33 percent of all Europeans who migrated to Canada before 1891, and around a third of the Canadian population is estimated to have emigrated southwards to the United States in the 1871-1896 period. From the time of European colonization until the mid-nineteenth century, the native population of Canada dropped from roughly 500,000 (some estimates put it as high as two million) to just over 100,000; this was due to a mixture of disease, starvation and warfare, instigated by European migration to the region. The native population was generally segregated and oppressed until the second half of the 1900s; Native Canadians were given the vote in 1960, and, despite their complicated and difficult history, the Canadian government has made significant progress in trying to include indigenous cultures in the country's national identity in recent years. As of 2020, Indigenous Canadians make up more than five percent of the total Canadian population, and a higher birth rate means that this share of the population is expected to grow in the coming decades.

Independence and modern Canada

Canadian independence was finally acknowledged in 1931 by the Statute of Westminster, putting it on equal terms with the United Kingdom within the Commonwealth; virtually granting independence and sovereignty until the Canada Act of 1982 formalized it. Over the past century, Canada has had a relatively stable political system and economy (although it was hit particularly badly by the Wall Street Crash of 1929). Canada entered the First World War with Britain, and as an independent Allied Power in the Second World War; Canadian forces played pivotal roles in a number of campaigns, notably Canada's Hundred Days in WWI, and the country lost more than 100,000 men across both conflicts. The economy boomed in the aftermath of the Second World War, and a stream of socially democratic programs such as universal health care and the Canadian pension plan were introduced, which contributed to a rise in the standard of living. The post war period also saw various territories deciding to join Canada, with Newfoundland joining in 1949, and Nunavut in 1999. Today Canada is among the most highly ranked in countries in terms of civil liberties, quality of life and economic growth. It promotes and welcomes immigrants from all over the world and, as a result, it has one of the most ethnically diverse and multicultural populations of any country in the world. As of 2020, Canada's population stands at around 38 million people, and continues to grow due to high migration levels and life expectancy, and a steady birth rate.