What language is spoken in Latvia?
Latvian language
Latvian (Latviešu valoda [ˈlatviɛʃu ˈvaluɔda]) is a Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region. It is the language of Latvians and the official language of Latvia as well as one of the official languages of the European Union. It is sometimes known in English as Lettish[1], and cognates of the word remain the most commonly used name for the Latvian language in Germanic languages other than English. There are about 1.3 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and 100,000 abroad. Altogether, 2 million, or 80% of the population of Latvia, speak Latvian.[4] Of those, 1.16 million or 56% use it as their primary language at home.[5] The use of the Latvian language in various areas of social life in Latvia is increasing.[6]
Language policy in Latvia
Articles 4 and 114 of the Constitution of Latvia form the foundation for language policy in Latvia, declaring Latvian to be the official state language and affirming the rights of ethnic minorities to preserve and develop their languages. Livonian language is recognized as "the language of the indigenous (autochthon) population" in the Official Language Law, but Latgalian written language is protected as "a historic variant of the Latvian language." All other languages are considered foreign by the law on state languages. Latvia provides national minority education programmes in Russian (the first language for more than one third of the population), Polish, Hebrew, Ukrainian, Estonian, Lithuanian, and Belarussian.