U.S. English Foundation Research

LATVIA

Language Research

Latvians occasionally refer to themselves by the ancient name of “Latviji”, which may have originated from the “Latve” river. A small Finno-Ugric tribe known as the Livs settled among the Latvians and changed the name to “Latvis”.

Historically, Latvia always has had a fairly large Russian, Jewish, German and Polish minority, but post war emigration, deportations and Soviet russification policies from 1939-1989 dropped the percentage of ethnic Latvians in Latvia from 73% to 52%. In an attempt to preserve the Latvian language and avoid ethnic Latvians becoming a minority in their own country, Latvia's strict Language Law and draft Citizenship Law have caused many non-citizen resident Russians concern over their ability to assimilate. This despite the fact that Latvia legally guarantees universal human and civil rights regardless of citizenship.

CITIZENSHIP

About 60 % of all minorities in Latvia cannot trace their roots to pre – World War II Latvia. Post-war immigrants and their direct descendants did not qualify for automatic citizenship. They were permanent resident “non-citizens”, who had to undergo naturalization to acquire Latvian citizenship. As non-citizens, they could not vote or stand for an office in the state or local elections, could not work in the civil service, faced some restrictions in employment in the private sector and needed visas for traveling abroad. Candidates for citizenship had to pass a Latvian language test and examinations on Latvia's history and Constitution.

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Updated (May 2002)

DAUGAVPILS

Daugavpils, the country's second biggest city, located in Latgale (Eastern part of Latvia), is inhabited predominantly by Russian speakers. Founded in 1275 by Livonian knights, the city changed its name in 1656 to Borisoglebov, in 1893 to Dvinsk, and in 1920 received its current name.

In 1893, Jews constituted the majority of the city's population – 46 percent and were followed by Russians - 28 percent, Poles - 16 percent, Germans - 4 percent, Belarussians and Latvians - 2 percent each, and Tatars - 1 percent

In 1920, only 145 ethnic Latvians resided in Daugavpils, out of 30,000 people. During the Latvian independence, in 1920-1940, the Latvian population of Daugavpils substantially increased due to growing numbers of state bureaucrats sent from Riga. Before 1934, several languages were freely used in Daugavpils, and even after 1934 Russian was still widely used

Nowadays only approximately 15 percent of the residents are ethnic Latvians (Russians - 56 percent, Poles - 15 percent, Belarussians – 9 percent). However, more than 2/3 of the city residents are citizens of Latvia, one of the highest proportions among Latvia's towns.

According to the language legislation of Latvia, no special rules exist in the areas inhabited by minorities historically or in substantial numbers. Thus, the language rules in Daugavpils are absolutely the same as elsewhere in Latvia, including e.g. prohibition to address the municipality in any language besides the state one.

Of course, it would be difficult to expect that in areas like Daugavpils the State Language law will be implemented exactly the same way as in overwhelmingly Latvian-speaking regions. Local governments cannot provide enough money for qualitative Latvian language training, the more so that Latgale is the poorest and most economically depressed region. Under these circumstances it would be more fruitful to spend money from the state budget for teaching Latvian, rather than hiring new language inspectors.

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Updated (February 2003)

THE LATGALIAN LANGUAGE

The language is spoken by the population of Latgale (Latgola, a region of Eastern Latvia). Latgalian is the Baltic language, closely related to Latvian and Lithuanian, although the exact nature of this “closeness” is under debate. Some Latgalian language activists consider it to be a separate, independent language, while many Latvian linguists claim it is a regional dialect of Latvian.

The language dates back to the 12th Century. At the beginning of the 20th Century, Latgalian, just like Latvian itself, did not have an official status, although books and periodicals were published in both languages. During the first parliamentary era (1920-1934), Latgalian functioned alongside Latvian in Latgale. During the dictatorship of Karlis Ulmanis (1934-1940) Latgalian lost its status and Latgalians were expected to completely assimilate into the mainstream Latvian culture. At the beginning of the Soviet rule, Latgalian was recognized as one of the Baltic languages and used in regional newspapers, but since the sixties it was completely abandoned in favor of Latvian.

Currently, Latgalian has a dubious legal status: while the state does not accept this language in public administration or as a mean of instruction in schools, the Latgalian written language is acknowledged only as a “historical form of the Latvian language” and state support to its preservation and development has been declared (Section 3, par. 4 of the State Language Law). About 150,000 individuals still speak Latgalian as their mother tongue.

Source: Report on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities in the Republic of Latvia prepared by the Latvian Human Rights Committee (F.I.D.H.), Riga 2002, http://www.minelres.lv/coe/report/Latvia_NGO.htm

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Updated (May 2004)

UKRAINIANS

According to the results of the survey entitled “Ukrainians in Latvia” about the attitude of the Ukrainian minority towards the issues of naturalization and Latvia's accession to the EU, Ukrainians join in the integration process very slowly. Only 16.3 percent of them have naturalized until now, which is the lowest naturalization level among the Latvian minorities.

At the same time, 46 percent of Ukrainians support integration, but 61 percent believe that the process of integration has not started yet.

Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, March 24, 2004

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Updated (May 2005)

THE UKRAINIANS

The majority of Ukrainians entered Latvia after World War II and especially after 1959 as workers and Soviet army officers. The number of Ukrainians rose from 0.1 percent (around 1,800 people) of the population in 1935, to 3.5 percent (around 92,100 people) in 1989. Following Latvian independence a part of the Latvian Ukrainian population moved back to Ukraine.

The Ukrainians in Latvia live mainly in urban areas. About 80 percent of them reside in the towns of Liepaja, Daugavpils and Riga.

According to 2004 data from the Board for Citizenship and Migration Affairs, approximately 59,400 Ukrainians (some 2.6 percent of the total population) currently live in Latvia.

The Ukrainian language can be used in state and local government institutions; courts and institutions constituting the judicial system; State or local government undertakings and companies in which the greatest share of capital is owned by the State or a local government; however, only when a translation into Latvian is ensured. Employees of private institutions, organizations, companies, and self-employed persons also have to use the official language, if they perform specific public functions and in record-keeping and documents, if their activities affect the lawful interests of the public (public security, health, morality, health care, protection of consumer rights and employment rights, safety at work place and public administration supervision). Still, Article 114 of the Latvian Constitution grants Ukrainians the right to preserve and develop their language and their ethnic and cultural identity.

With the exception of some emergency situations (that lack any definition) the official language has to be used in communication with public authorities. Documents in Ukrainian (and other foreign languages) can only be accepted when a notary-certified translation into the state language is attached. It is not clear to what extent Ukrainian is used in oral communication with public authorities.

In 2000, about 17,000 Ukrainians living in Latvia (27 percent of their total number) declared Ukrainian to be their mother tongue. These people used Ukrainian on a daily basis. For 4 percent of Ukrainians Latvian was their mother tongue and for 68 percent it was Russian (whereas 96 percent had knowledge of Russian). This high percentage was caused by the "Russification" campaign during the Soviet period which contributed significantly to the reduction of mother tongue skills. However, it needs to be stressed that the number of Ukrainians declaring Russian as their mother tongue in 1989 was 'only' 49.3 percent and has thus increased by more than 15 percent since Latvian independence. This increase could be linked to Ukrainians identifying themselves more overtly as Russians within the new Latvian state-political constellation.

source: The Euromosaic Study, Ukrainian in Latvia, http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/lang/languages/langmin/euromosaic/lat4_en.html

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Updated (August 2006)

NATURALIZATION

The naturalization process has always had an important role to play in furthering social integration. Following the liberalization of the Law on Citizenship in autumn of 1998, the number of naturalization applications rose almost fourfold. The Law provides for the granting of citizenship within a one-year time frame, however, in practice, the procedure takes no more than three to six months. Children born to non-citizens in Latvia after the restoration of Latvia's independence in 1991 are automatically entitled to Latvian citizenship.

On 30 April 2004, the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration in co-operation with the Ministry for Children and Family Affairs sent a letter to parents of the 15,000 children born after 1991 inviting them to register their children as citizens of Latvia and also explaining the due procedure. This initiative stimulated increased activity on the part of these parents. Since the beginning of the initiative and until 30 June 2006, 4,117 applications were received and consequently 3,816 children obtained citizenship, which is a considerable increase compared to the year 2003 when only 356 children were registered as citizens. During 2005, 1,510 children obtained Latvian citizenship. Altogether 5,330 children, who were born in Latvia after August 21, 1991 and whose parents are non-citizens or stateless persons, have been granted Latvian citizenship.

Interest in naturalization and the rate at which citizenship is granted remains consistently high. Since September 2003, the number of applications for naturalization has doubled (2,422 applications during the period from September to December 2002 compared to 5,159 applications during the same period in 2003). A total number of 2,440 applications for naturalization were received in November 2004, and this is the highest number of applications received during one month in the history of the Naturalisation Board. The number of applications has also remained very high during 2005, as is indicated by the 19,807 applications received during the year. During the first six months of 2006, there were 6,482 applications, with 1,209 received in January, 1,289 in February, 1,256 in March and 1,020 in April, 936 in May and 722 in June. Significant factors leading to an increase in the number of naturalized persons are the public campaigns carried out by the Government and Latvia's joining the European Union. Since the start of the naturalization process in 1995 and until 30 June 2006, altogether 117,624 applications for naturalization were received and 115 201 persons, including 12,792 minors, were granted Latvian citizenship by order of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The major portion of all applicants for citizenship consists of Russian residents and represents 68.2 percent of the total. Due to the successful naturalization process, in 2004, citizens of Russian nationality outnumbered non-citizens of Russian nationality for the first time. In 2006, some 54 percent or 351,876 individuals among those residents of Russian nationality in Latvia had obtained citizenship.

Table 1.: Number of persons granted Latvian citizenship by order of the Cabinet of Ministers

YEAR	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Number of Persons	984	3,016	2,992	4,439	12,427	14,900	10,637	9,844	10,049	16,064	19,169

The Government has adopted a number of legislative and proactive measures to sustain the naturalization process and encourage non-citizens to apply for citizenship. In the eleven-year period, since the beginning of the naturalization process in 1995, the number of non-citizens has decreased from 29 percent 18 percent. A record high number of naturalized citizens were registered during the past two years. There were 19,169 new citizens registered in 2005 and 16,064 in 2004. During the previous periods, in 2003 and 2002, citizenship was granted to 10,049 and 9,844 persons respectively.

In certain cases, the naturalization examinations have been simplified. Since June 2001, graduates of national minority schools who have passed the Latvian language exam are not required to take the language test for naturalization. Applicants who have reached the age of 65 only need to take the oral part of the language test.

On 16 September 2003, the Latvian government decided to broaden even more the number of groups eligible for paying a reduced naturalization fee so that naturalization is more accessible to applicants with a low income. At present, retired persons, students and persons with special needs are eligible for a reduced naturalization fee (less than 5 EUR). In June 2001, the Government reduced the standard naturalization fee by a third and broadened the number of groups eligible for paying a reduced naturalization fee. On average around 40 percent of applicants for citizenship pay either a reduced state fee or are fully exempt from it.

In co-operation with international partners, the Latvian government provides Latvian language courses free of charge for persons wishing to become citizens. The Latvian Society Integration Foundation has agreed to ensure continuity of this process.

An Information Centre has been established at the Naturalization Board to disseminate information on the requirements for naturalization among non-citizens in Latvian and Russian languages. Projects such as brochures and TV advertisements encouraging people to naturalize and a toll-free information hotline, as well as visitors' days offered by regional offices of the Naturalization Board, informing potential applicants about the requirements for naturalization, among others, contribute to the sustainability of the process.

The Government additionally continues to support an extensive campaign of information on Latvian citizenship and naturalization, providing information on obtaining Latvian citizenship and encouraging non-citizens to apply. As part of the campaign, information has been disseminated to non-citizens through television and radio advertisements, the Internet, newspapers and personal contact. Information days on citizenship issues have been organised and an Internet page has been created in Russian. Commencing in 2006, the Naturalization Board is implementing a new initiative, a series of informative events – information days for national minorities organizations. An information day has already taken place at the Latvian-Lithuanian cultural organization. Further informative co-operation is planned with other organizations of national minorities.

In searching out new opportunities to promote the naturalization process, the Naturalization Board organizes information days for companies that employ a large number of non-citizens, for example, during 2006; information days on issues concerning the obtaining of citizenship were held at the sanatorium Belorusija in Jurmala for workers of the Olainfarm pharmaceutical factory.

State officials, including the President, the Prime Minister and ministers have made public statements on several occasions encouraging non-citizens to naturalize.

The effectiveness of the naturalization process is confirmed by the continuously high pass rates achieved in naturalization tests - more than 90% of applicants pass on their first attempt.

A good example of this success is the obtaining of citizenship by a person holding refugee status. In December 2004, a Latvian passport was presented to a person who had lived in Latvia as a refugee since 1998 and had obtained citizenship through the naturalization process. This is the first case in Eastern Europe of a refugee being naturalized.

The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities has stated that Latvia has fulfilled all his recommendations regarding citizenship. The European Union has welcomed the amendments made to the Law on Citizenship and the continuing process of naturalization.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia: Citizenship in Latvia (Fact sheet), August 9, 2006 http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/policy/4641/4642/4651/

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Updated (October 2006)

	Citizens	Non-citizens	Foreigners, Stateless persons	TOTAL	TOTAL %
Latvians	1,245,995	1,882	1,105	1,348,982	58.9 %
Lithuanians	18,182	11,238	1,704	31,124	1.4 %
Estonians	1,529	629	373	2,531	0.1 %
Belarussians	30,239	53,673	2,097	86,007	3.8 %
Russians	359,633	268,779	22,017	650,429	28.4 %
Ukrainians	15,934	38,542	3,788	58,264	2.5 %
Poles	40,860	13,691	588	55,139	2.4 %
Jews	6,519	3,463	404	10,386	0.5 %
Others	26,291	13,830	5,940	46,061	2.0 %
TOTAL	1,845,182	405,727	38,014	2,288,923	100.0 %

Information of the Population Registry, Office of the Citizenship and Migration Affairs, data as of 16 August 2006

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Updated (July 2007)

INDIGENOUS LIVONIAN LANGUAGE

Even though only a few people speak Livonian as their mother tongue, this Finno–Ugric language has experienced a small revival over the past few years.

The Livonians who referred to themselves as raandalists (“coast dwellers”) have populated the Baltic coastline for centuries. They made their living from fishing and established trading contacts with other neighboring tribes in areas what is nowadays Latvia. Over time, they started leaving their villages, moving to cities and assimilating with other ethnic groups.

By the 19th century, there were only around 2,000 of them left. After Latvia became independent country in 1991, Livonians were recognized as an indigenous ethnic group, whose language and culture must be protected and developed. The Livonian language was reintroduced in the primary schools in the villages of the Livonian Coast, not as an optional subject, but as a mandatory one.

Today, a Livonian youth group meets regularly in the Latvian capital, Riga. Their language skills vary – some have only been learning it for a few months; others started speaking it as children with their grandparents. The group organizes trips to Mazirbe, a town on the Latvian coast where there is a Livonian cultural center (the House of the Livonian People), or to camps in which they speak only Livonian to each other.

The Latvian Government also helps to preserve this indigenous language – it supports Livonian language activities and provides funds for a state program called “Livonians in Latvia”.

Source: Deutsche Welle, News–Europe, June 17, 2007 by Christiane Wolters http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2610591,00.html

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