Riga - Four regional presidents were to visit Latvia Tuesday to help the small Baltic republic celebrate 90 years since it first declared its independence from Russia.

President Valdis Zatlers of Latvia will be joined by presidents Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania and Lech Kaczynski of Poland, who will speak at the Latvian freedom monument in the capital, Riga.

The extensive programme of public celebrations, under way for several days, will conclude with a fireworks display over the River Daugava.

Other events to mark the occasion have included attempts to stage the world's longest contiguous folk dance and to weave the longest rag rug ever recorded.

Monday night saw thousands of locals and tourists wandering the streets of the capital in spite of winter temperatures, to view specially illuminated landmarks.

Latvia has spent less than half the period since its 1918 declaration of independence as a sovereign state, having endured periods of occupation by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. It won its independence for a second time in 1991.

The festivities have provided some respite for a public that has seen the national economy go into recession and thousands of jobs lost after more than a decade of spectacular growth.

US President George W Bush and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are among several world leaders who have sent congratulations. (dpa)