Inhabitants

Latvians have inhabited this land for two thousand years. Latvian nation has been formed because of merging the tribes of ancient Balts - latgaļi (Latgalls), zemgaļi (Semigalians), sēļi (Selonians) and kurši (Couronians) with the Baltic Finns, the ancestors of today’s Fins and Estonians, and the Livs. Today there are approximately 1 565 000 Latvians in the world, from them 1,39 million live in Latvia (according to population census in 1989), in Russian Federation 47 000, in Ukraine 7000, in Lithuania 4000, in Estonia, Belarus and Kazakhstan 3000 people in each accordingly. In other places in the world (the Western Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, etc) there are approximately 1 356 081 Latvians. In the beginning of the 21st century in Latvia there are approximately 664 092 Russians, 88 998 Belorussians, 59 403 Ukrainians, 56 798 Polish, 31 840 Lithuanians, 9 820 Jews, 8 403 Gypsies, 3 696 Germans, 2970 Tatars, 2670 Armenians 2530 Estonians and 136 representatives of other nations. In spite of the multicultural influence, Latvians have managed to preserve their national identity, culture and language.