Why is it that in a small country with many top models and beauty queens, women here have such a hard time getting married?

Beautiful country with capital known as 'Paris of the North' .

Latvia, full name is the Republic of Latvia , is a country located on the Baltic Sea coast between Lithuania and Estonia, also known as the 3 Baltic countries. Latvia has a long history in Europe but has a rather modest area of ​​only about 64,000km ² , the population in 2021 is 1.8 million people.

The country joined the European Union in 2004 and had the highest economic growth rate in Europe just two years later. Latvia joined the eurozone in early 2014 after efforts to curb inflation and cut debt. In 2021, the country's GDP was $38.87 billion.

The three small Baltic states are all classified as high-income economies by the World Bank, and regularly rank in the world's top 40 on the Human Development Index (HDI).

Latvia is best described as: a vast land of unspoiled natural greenery, with only one real city in the middle: the capital Riga . Riga is also the largest city in the Baltic region, an important economic and financial center with a population of 600,000. With its impressive architectural style and rich cultural and artistic heritage, the city is known as the "Paris of the North" , was awarded the title of European Capital of Culture in 2014 and recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

Impressive architecture of the capital Riga. (Photo: ST).

Panoramic view of the famous capital Riga of the Republic of Latvia. (Photo: ST).

The iconic Riga Freedom Monument in the city center. (Photo: ST).

A place where beautiful and highly educated women still have difficulty getting married

What makes this country famous is that it has one of the highest sex ratio imbalances in the world. According to Statistics Times, the country's sex ratio in 2021 was 85.60 males/100 females. Currently, Latvia has 140,000 more women than men and ranks 6th out of 201 countries/territories in terms of female to male ratio.

Latvia's gender imbalance is among the highest in the world. (Photo: ST).

The Riga Central Statistical Office attributes this to the large number of men killed in World War II , which caused the male population in Latvia to drop to a low level and was slow to recover. This is coupled with a life expectancy gap , with Latvian women living on average 10 years longer than men, compared to just 5 years in Europe. Walking on the streets of Latvia, you can see many female taxi drivers, which is not common in other European countries.

Latvian girls are considered to have attractive looks , with an average height of 1.7m, a delicate face and white skin. Because of this advantage, Latvian beauties are always highly appreciated in international beauty contests and easily pursue jobs such as models and actors.

The attractive beauty of Latvian women. (Photo: ST).

Kate Alexeeva, Miss Universe Latvia 2022. (Photo: ST).

The above reality leads to a consequence that it is very difficult for girls to get married, especially when Latvian women have a high level of education, so they are interested in choosing a suitable partner who is an excellent man. However, even when some people lower their standards, the journey to find a suitable partner is still quite difficult. Many people even choose to study abroad, work abroad to marry foreigners, but there are also people who accept to live happily single.

Although it is difficult to get married, the divorce rate in this country is also at 48.6/100 couples, ranked 13th among European countries in 2020, according to Statista statistics.