Latvians
latvieši
Total population
c. 1.7 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
 Latvia 1,187,891 (2021)[2][3]
Other significant population centers:
 United Kingdom124,000 (2020)[4][5][6]
 United States85,723(2019)[7]
 Germany53,000(2021)[8]
 Canada30,725 (2016)[9]
 Brazil25,000 (2002)[10][11][12]
 Australia23,233 (2021)[13]
 Ireland19,933 (2016)[14]
 Russia18,979 (2010)
 Norway11,723 (2019)[15]
 Sweden10,323 (2022)[16]
Other countries
(fewer than 10,000)
 Ukraine5,079 (2001)[17]
 Luxembourg4,000
 Denmark3,799 (2012)[18]
 Spain3,711 (2011)[19]
 Estonia3,329 (2020)[20]
 Finland3,232 (2020)[21]
 Italy2,689 (2014)[22]
 France2,602 (2016)[23][24]
 Lithuania2,300 (2012)[25]
 Belarus1,549 (2009)
 Portugal1,502 [26]
 Netherlands1,400 (2002)[27]
 Kazakhstan1,123 (2009)[28]
  Switzerland736 (2006)[29]
 Belgium679 (2008)[30]
 Iceland654 (2013)[31]
 Venezuela300[32]
 Poland293 (2011)[33]
 Czech Republic193 (2011)[34]
 Austria152 (2002)[35]
 Uzbekistan1,800[36]
 Greece69 (2006)[37]
 Kyrgyzstan82 (2009)[38]
 Croatia14 (2011)[39]
 Israel4,000[40]
 Chile3,000
Languages
Latvian and its dialects
Religion
Predominantly Lutheran,[41]
Roman Catholic and Latvian Orthodox minorities
Related ethnic groups
Other Balts

Latvians (Latvian: latvieši) are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts,[42][43] especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common Latvian language, culture, history and ancestry.

History

A Balto-Finnic-speaking tribe known as the Livs settled among the northern coast of modern day Latvia. The Germanic settlers derived their name for the natives from the term Liv. They referred to all the natives as "Letts" and the nation as "Lettland", naming their colony Livonia or Livland.

The Latin form, Livonia, gradually referred to the whole territory of modern-day Latvia as well as southern Estonia, which had fallen under a minimal Germanic influence. Latvians and Lithuanians are the only surviving members of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European family.

Genetics

Paternal haplogroups R1a and N1a1-Tat are the two most frequent, reaching 39.9% each among ethnic Latvians.[44] R1a has originated in Eastern Europe and is associated with spread of Indo-European languages. R1a of Latvians is predominantly M558 and compared to other populations also has the highest concentration of M558 among R1a. N1a1-Tat mutation originated in East Asia and had spread through the Urals into Europe where it is currently most common among Finno-Ugric, Baltic and Eastern-Slavic peoples. Latvians and Lithuanians have a predominance of the L550 branch of N1a1-Tat.

N1c1a was present in 41.5%, R1a1a-M558 in 35.2% and I1 (M253) in 6.3% of the samples analyzed.[45] In lower levels, 2.5% of I2b (M223) and 0.6% I2a (P37.2) was found as well.

Culture

Influences

In 1649, sparse settlement of the Latvian speaking Kursenieki spanned from Memel to Danzig.

Latvians share a common language and have a unique culture with traditions, holidays, customs and arts. The culture and religious traditions have been somewhat influenced by Germanic, Scandinavian, and Russian traditions. Latvians have an ancient culture that has been archaeologically dated back to 3000 BC. Latvians maintained a considerable connection and trade with their neighbors. The first indications of human inhabitants on the lands of modern Latvia date archaeologically to c. 9000 BC, suggesting that the first settlers were hunters that stayed almost immediately following the end of the last ice age. Colonizers from the south arrived quickly, driving many of the hunters northward as polar ice caps melted further, or east, into modern-day Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. The Roman author Tacitus remarked upon the "Aestii" peoples, thought to be inhabitants of the modern Baltic lands, suggesting that they were abound with formidable, yet peaceful and hospitable people. The Latvian peoples remained relatively undisturbed until Papal intervention via the Germanic, Teutonic Order colonized Kurzeme (Courland in English, Kurland in German), beginning in the first half of the 13th century. Papal decrees ordered the Teutonic Order to spread the "Word of the Lord" and the Gospel of Christianity throughout "uncivilized", "Pagan lands". Though these attempts to Christianize the population failed, and the Teutonic Order eventually redeployed southward, to the region of what was once known as East Prussia.

South-Eastern Latvia (Latgale), due to having a relatively large ethnic Russian population, has maintained a large Russian influence.

Religion

The Basilica of the Assumption in Aglona, the most important Roman Catholic church in Latvia.

Paganism was the main religion before territory of Latvia was invaded by Christian Teutonic Order (see: Latvian mythology).[46][47][48] Latvians still celebrate traditional feasts (Jāņi).[49] Dievturība is a neopagan movement which claims to be a modern revival of the ethnic religion of the Latvians before Christianization in the 13th century.[46][50]

Most of the Christian Latvians belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, but in Latgale and Alsunga Municipality the Roman Catholic Church is predominant, a small minority of Latvians belong to the Latvian Orthodox Church and other religious congregations.[41] In the late 18th century, a small but vibrant Herrnhutist movement played a significant part in the development of Latvian literary culture before it was absorbed into the mainstream Lutheran denomination.

Language

Latvians' ancestral language, Latvian, has been recorded since at least the 16th century.[51] It developed into a distinct language by the 9th century. It is part of a distinct linguistic branch of Indo-European languages: the Baltic languages.

Another notable language of Latvia is the nearly extinct Livonian language, a member of the Baltic-Finnic sub-branch of the Uralic language family, which enjoys protection by law. The Latgalian language (a dialect of Latvian) is also protected by Latvian law as a historical variation of the Latvian language.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to People of Latvia.

References

  1. ↑ "latviai". latviai (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  2. ↑ "Population by ethnicity in regions, cities, 21 development centres and municipalities at the beginning of the year by Ethnicity, Territorial unit, Indicator and Time period". Oficiālās statistikas portāls. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  3. ↑ "ISG08. Latviešu skaits Latvijā un Rīgā gada sākumā". Data.csb.gov.lv. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  4. ↑ "Population of the UK by country of birth and nationality - Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  5. ↑ Population by country of birth and nationality, Annual Population Survey, Office of National Statistics, 2014] Archived August 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ BNS (13 June 2011). "TVNET :: Ārvalstīs - Lielbritānijā pašlaik dzīvo 39 tūkstoši viesstrādnieku no Latvijas". Tvnet.lv. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  7. ↑ https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=PEOPLE%20REPORTING%20ANCESTRY&t=Ancestry&d=ACS%201-. Retrieved 2023-11-15. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ "Bevölkerung in Privathaushalten nach Migrationshintergrund im weiteren Sinn nach ausgewählten Geburtsstaaten".
  9. ↑ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2017-10-25). "Ethnic Origin (279), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3), Generation Status (4), Age (12) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  10. ↑ "Um atalho para a Europa". Epoca. Editora Globo S.A. 24 June 2002. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Brazilian Embassy in Stockholm". Brazilianembassy.se. Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "A Millenarian Migration: Varpa". Lituanus.org. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  13. ↑ ABS. "ABS Statistics". Stat.data.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "All non-Irish nationals in Ireland - CSO - Central Statistics Office". www.cso.ie. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  15. ↑ "Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by country background. 1 January 2019". Statistics Norway (in Norwegian).
  16. ↑ "Population statistics - Foreign-born by Country of birth, sex and year of immigration 31 December 2022". Statistiska Centralbyrån. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  17. ↑ "State statistics committee of Ukraine - National composition of population, 2001 census". 2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). p. 3. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  18. ↑ "StatBank Denmark". Statbank.dk. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  19. ↑ "Población extranjera por sexo, edad (grupos quinquenales) y país de nacionalidad". Ine.es. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  20. ↑ "Population by ethnic nationality". Statistics Estonia. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  21. ↑ "Befolkning 31.12. Efter Område, Bakgrundsland, Kön, År och Uppgifter".
  22. ↑ "Statistiche demografiche ISTAT". Demo.istat.it. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  23. ↑ "Présentation de la Lettonie".
  24. ↑ Archived December 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  25. ↑ "Gyventojų skaičius metų pradžioje. Požymiai: tautybė - Rodiklių duomenų bazėje". Db1.stat.gov.lt. Archived from the original on 2012-09-06. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  26. ↑ "OCMA: majority of Latvian immigrants live in Britain, Ireland and Germany". 25 September 2018.
  27. ↑ "Demografie van de allochtonen in Nederland" (PDF). Cbs.nl. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  28. ↑ Ethnic composition, religion and language skills in the Republic of Kazakhstan Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  30. ↑ "Bevolking per nationaliteit, geslacht, leeftijdsgroepen op 1/1/2008" (in Dutch). Statbel.fgov.be. Archived from the original on 2011-11-20. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  31. ↑ "Frontpage - Hagstofa". Hagstofa. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  32. ↑ "Latvijas Republikas un Venecuēlas Bolivāra Republikas divpusējās attiecības". Mfa.gov.lv. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  33. ↑ "Ludnosc Stan i struktura demograficzno-spoteczna" (PDF). Stat.gov.pl. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  34. ↑ Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine
  35. ↑
  36. ↑ "Latvian | Joshua Project".
  37. ↑ "Error" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-07-22. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  38. ↑ Population and Housing Census 2009. Chapter 3.1. Resident population by nationality (PDF) (in Russian), Bishkek: National Committee on Statistics, 2010, retrieved 2021-12-14
  39. ↑ "1. POPULATION BY ETHNICITY – DETAILED CLASSIFICATION, 2011 CENSUS". Croatian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
  40. ↑ "Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination". 10 February 2014.
  41. 1 2 "Tieslietu ministrijā iesniegtie reliģisko organizāciju pārskati par darbību 2011. gadā" (in Latvian). Archived from the original on 2012-11-26. Retrieved 2012-07-25.
  42. ↑ "Lett - definition of Lett in English - Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries - English. Archived from the original on July 16, 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  43. ↑ "Definition of LETT". Merriam Webster. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  44. ↑ Kasperavičiūtė, D.; Kučinskas, V.; Stoneking, M. (2004). "Y Chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA Variation in Lithuanians" (PDF). Annals of Human Genetics. 68 (5): 438–452. doi:10.1046/j.1529-8817.2003.00119.x. PMID 15469421. S2CID 26562505. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2010-05-20. Kasperaviciute et al. 2004 (link broken)
  45. ↑ Pliss, Liana; Timša, Līga; Rootsi, Siiri; Tambets, Kristiina; Pelnena, Inese; Zole, Egija; Puzuka, Agrita; Sabule, Areta; Rozane, Sandra; Lace, Baiba; Kucinskas, Vaidutis (November 2015). "Y-Chromosomal Lineages of Latvians in the Context of the Genetic Variation of the Eastern-Baltic Region". Annals of Human Genetics. 79 (6): 418–430. doi:10.1111/ahg.12130. ISSN 1469-1809. PMID 26411886. S2CID 13050610.
  46. 1 2 Žemaitis, Augustinas. "Dievturība (neo-paganism)". OnLatvia.com. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  47. ↑ "Latvian mythology". Skyforger.lv. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  48. ↑ Smogorzewski, Kazimierz Maciej. "Latvia - History". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  49. ↑ Ruduša, Daina. "Time to Get in Touch With Our Pagan Roots". Latvia.eu. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  50. ↑ Stasulane, Anita (March 2019). "A Reconstructed Indigenous Religious Tradition in Latvia". Religions. 10 (3): 195. doi:10.3390/rel10030195.
  51. ↑ Vīksniņš, Nicholas (1973). "The Early History of Latvian Books". Lituanus. 19 (3). Retrieved 3 September 2019.
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