This holiday is celebrated on 18 November. If the day is on the weekend, then the following Monday is a holiday. This day is Latvia's National Day. It is also known as Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia and locally as 'Latvijas Republikas proklamēšanas diena'. Latvian Independence Day commemorates declaration of independence of the Republic of Latvia from German and Russian occupation on November 18, 1918 after the end of the First World War.

The People's Council of Latvia proclaimed independence in the building that today houses the National Theatre in Rīga.

The country remained an independent state until the Second World War, when forces from the Soviet Union occupied the country on 17 June 1940. Like the other Baltic republics, full independence from Soviet Russia occurred on 21 August 1991. The restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia was proclaimed on 4 May 1990.

This second independence declaration is commemorated in the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia holiday on 4 May each year.

Many festive events take place through the country on Latvia's National Day, including a nationally televised address to the people by the President of the Republic of Latvia. In recent years this speech is given before large crowds in the square by the Freedom Monument in Rīga.

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Sources: The Latvian Institute