Latvians

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Latvians

ETHNOMYMS: Latvieši, Latvji, Letten, Letts

Orientation

Identification. Latvians are one of two Baltic ethnolinguistic groups (the other is Lithuanians). Their name for their country is "Latvija" or "Latvijas Republika." Latvians call themselves "Latvieši" or "Latvji."

Location. Latvia spans an area of 64,600 square kilometers and is located between 55°40′23′' and 58°40′23′' N and 20°587′' and 28° 1430" E. The country is more than twice as long between the eastern border and western seashore (450 kilometers) as it is from the northern to the southern border (210 kilometers). On the west and northwest, the country is bounded by the Baltic Sea. On the north, east of the Gulf of Riga, is Estonia. Russia is to the east of Latvia, Belarus to the southeast, and Lithuania to the south. Latvia is located in the central part of the Baltic Sheet, a geological formation underlying Scandinavia and the Russian plain. The terrain is characterized by gently rolling hills. The mean elevation is 89 meters above sea level; 75 percent of the countryside is lower than 120 meters above sea level. The highest hill is Gaizinš, 312 meters.

Latvia has 777 rivers longer than 10 kilometers. Its greatest river, Daugava (Düna), is 1,020 kilometers long, but only 357 kilometers of it flows through the country. Most rivers freeze for two to three-and-a-half months during an average winter. Most of the major rivers flow northward, and floods during the spring thaw are common. There are 2,500 lakes larger than 5 hectares, covering about 1.6 percent of the country's surface. Of these, 16 are greater than 10 square kilometers and represent approximately half of the area covered by lakes. Latvia is located in the turf-podzol soil area.

Climate. The climate is influenced by the Atlantic's Gulf Stream, the Baltic Sea, and the country's latitude. In December, the sun rises 9° to 10° above the horizon, and days are six to seven hours long. In June, the sun rises to 55° and days are seventeen to eighteen hours long. There are four seasons—fall (September to mid-December), winter (mid-December to mid-March), spring (mid-March to the end of May), and summer (June to the end of August). The annual growing season is 200 days, but only July and August are completely frost-free. The climate is warmer, moister, and the growing season 10 days longer in the west than in the east. Eastern Latvia has twice as many days with snow as the western part, 130 and 65 days respectively. The highest temperature recorded is 36° C; the lowest is —42.2° C. January temperatures average between —6.6° C in the east and —2.8° C in the west. July temperatures average between 16.7° C in the west and 17.6° C in the east. Annual precipitation averages between 60 and 80 centimeters, with 20 percent occurring as snow. Precipitation is minimal in February and maximal in August. Because of the predominantly cloudy weather, the country receives only 37 percent of possible sunshine.

Demography. Worldwide there are 1,620,000 Latvians. Of these, 1,388,000 live in Latvia, and some 232,000 reside outside of the country. The largest concentrations of Latvians abroad are in the United States (86,000), the former Soviet Union (71,000), the ten West European countries (30,000), Australia (25,000), and Canada (20,000). Latvians comprise only 52 percent of their country's 2,680,000 population. The largest ethnic minority is the Great Russians (34 percent of the total population). Other minorities (Belarussians, Ukrainians, Poles, Lithuanians, etc.) together constitute H percent of the total. Latvians predominate in rural areas (71.5 percent of rural inhabitants) but account for only 44 percent of the urban population. Latvians make up only 36.5 percent (332,000) of Riga's population; the Great Russians constitute the largest ethnic group in the city (431,000 or 47.3 percent). Only in Ogre (pop. 29,926), the ninth-largest city, do Latvians have a slight majority. In the fourth-largest city, Jelgava (pop. 74,704), Latvians fall just short of a majority (49.7 percent).

The ethnic composition is the result of World War II and postwar population policies. In 1935, 77 percent of the population was Latvian. During World War II, a significant number of Latvia's residents were killed or deported, or left voluntarily. By the war's end, the percentage of Latvians rose to 80 percent. After World War II, the Soviet government recruited immigrants for Latvia. As a result, the proportion of ethnic Latvians decreased to the current level.

Linguistic Affiliation. Latvian, Lithuanian, and the now-extinct Old Prussian make up the Baltic Branch of the Indo-European Language Family, a part of the Nostratic Macro-Family. Latvian uses the Latin alphabet. Spelling of foreign words is modified to reflect Latvian phonemic values. The literary language is based on the dialect spoken in the middle of the country. With the advent of mass media and compulsory universal education, local dialects are disappearing. Most Latvians are bilingual; 68.3 percent of Latvians in Latvia report knowing Russian, and most Latvians residing outside the country are bilingual.

History and Cultural Relations

It is generally held that the ancestors of modern Latvians entered Latvia during the second millennium b.c. They were farmers and raised livestock. Extensive written documents about events and individuals in Latvia begin in the twelfth century. At that time, most of the peoples of Latvia were pagans, and the country was inhabited by four Baltic tribes (Kursi or Courlanders; Latgali, from whom the Latvian ethnonym has been derived; Sēļi; and Zemgaļi) and a Finno-Ugric tribe, the Livs, who, since they were the first indigenous people contacted by Westerners, provided the early name, Livonia, that was used for the Latvian and Estonian area.

Riga was founded by Germans in AD. 1201 as a base for commerce, missionizing, and military conquest. Latvia's thirteenth-century history is one of interactions and wars between the indigenous tribes and the Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, Germans, Catholic ecclesiastical authorities, Germanic crusading orders, and merchants. By 1300 Germans had gained political and economic control over the country by conquest, and the people were converted to Christianity. For the next several centuries Latvia's neighbors (i.e., Lithuanians, Poles, Russians, and, later, Swedes) attempted to annex the country, and the locals resisted these efforts.

In the late sixteenth century, Livonia was partitioned. Only the duchy of Kurland and Zemgale (1562-1795) retained independence under Polish-Lithuanian suzerainty. In 1721 the country was conquered by czarist Russia, although the duchy of Kurland and Zemgale maintained a separate status for a while. Starting in the thirteenth century, rural Latvians were gradually reduced in legal status, until by 1458 most had become serfs. Latvians living in cities retained free status but were not numerous. Legal vestiges of the serf status were abolished in 1861.

On 18 November 1918, as World War I ended, Latvians declared independence. A war of independence was fought against both Germany and Russia. The war against Germany ended with a peace treaty on 15 July 1920, and the war against the Federal Socialist Republic of the Russian Soviets was concluded by a peace treaty on 11 August 1920. By then Latvia had lost 25 percent of its pre-World War I population, 25 percent of its farm buildings were completely or partially destroyed, 29 percent of its arable land lay fallow, and its industry had virtually disappeared. A period of rebuilding followed; by 1940 per-capita income approximated that of Finland, Hungary, and Italy, and Latvia was emerging as a democratic republic with a constitution based on those of France, Germany, and Switzerland.

After an armed coup d'état on 15 May 1934, however, Latvian Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis instituted a dictatorship. The German-Soviet nonaggression treaty of 23 August 1939 assigned Latvia to the Soviet sphere of influence. Projecting an uncertain future, the Latvian government transferred its gold reserves to Western banks and issued extraordinary powers to the Latvian minister in London. On 17 June 1940 Latvia was occupied and on 5 August 1940 incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Latvian SSR. The country's economic, political, and social structures were transformed to the Soviet pattern. This culminated on the night of 13-14 June 1941, when 15,600 individuals were deported to labor camps.

On 22 June 1941 Germany attacked the Soviet Union and occupied Latvia until 8 May 1945. The return of Soviet rule to Latvia meant the reimposition of a harsh totalitarian political and economic system with tens of thousands of new political prisoners being sent to the gulag. With the advent of Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika, the Soviet Union began to disintegrate, and on 21 August 1991, the Supreme Council of Latvia declared the Republic of Latvia independent again. On 17 September 1991, Latvia was admitted as a member of the United Nations.

Latvia is on the border of Western European and Russian cultural areas. Between 1200 and 1945, the predominant influences on Latvian culture were Western European. The majority of Latvians were members of religions stemming from the West—Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism. The predominant influences in the fine arts, education, and science were Western. Between 1940 and 1991, the Soviet Union made a determined effort to sever West European ties and to reorient Latvian culture toward the Russian. Literary and scientific works, for example, had to be translated from Russian versions rather than from the original language. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Western orientation is resurgent.

Settlements

Before World War II, some street villages with associated strip fields could still be found in the east. In the rest of the country, scattered single farms were the norm. The farmstead consisted of separate structures surrounding an open farm yard with the house fronting the road. Beginning on 17 June 1940 private farms were nationalized and confiscated, and state and collective farms were formed. After World War II, new rural settlements with apartment houses and large farm buildings were built. The country has been urbanized; 71 percent of the population lives in cities. Riga (pop. 915,106) is the country's capital and the seat of the Lutheran and Roman Catholic bishops. The next two largest cities—Daugavpils (pop. 126,680) and Liepāja (pop. 114,462)—are barely one-seventh that size. Latvia has three cities with 50,000 to 75,000 inhabitants (Jelgava, Jūrmala, and Ventspils) and twenty-six cities with 5,000 to 43,000 inhabitants. The vast majority of city dwellers live in apartments. Because of the proximity of services, the center of the city is considered to be the most desirable residential area.

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. Of the total population, 54.7 percent are employed. Of this percentage, three-quarters work in goods production and one-quarter in service. Between 1945 and 1991, Latvia's economy was an integral part of the Soviet Union's. This resulted in relative stagnation of the agricultural sector and overexploitation of forest resources. Industry is dependent on energy, labor, and raw materials imported from elsewhere, and the products manufactured are exported. The industrial sector employs 30.7 percent of all those employed. Heavy industry produces 54 percent of the country's gross national product; light industry, 19 percent; and agricultural and food processing, 25.4 percent. Among industrial products are diesel engines and generators, electrical railroad and street cars, radios, telephone equipment, other electrical and electronic items, pharmaceuticals, and textiles. Of all those employed, 15.1 percent work in agriculture. Farming has been mechanized and requires energy from outside sources. Most land is farmed by large state and collective farms. The private farming sector is just resuming. The agricultural emphasis is on animal husbandry to produce eggs, meat, and milk, and on field crops (e.g., barley, flax, oats, peas, potatoes, rye, sugar beets, and wheat). Economic restructuring according to market principles began in mid-1990, but only 1 percent of the labor force is thus far employed in the nonstate sector. Latvia has very little mineral wealth and no coal, natural gas, or oil. Its economy in the future probably will be based on farming, forestry, light industry, and service.

Trade. There is strife between the people who constituted the power structure under the autocratic Soviet regime with its command economy and those attempting to establish a market economy with private ownership. In order to retain their status and influence, the former struggle to establish a neocolonial situation; the latter attempt to open the economy to private entrepreneurs. Still present is the old Socialist trade network, with government-owned stores and distribution network, and farmers' markets. Simultaneously, newly established private manufacturing and retail establishments vie for resources.

Division of Labor. Legally there is equality between the genders. In fact, men occupy the more prestigious and better-remunerated jobs. Women employed outside the home are still responsible for the "second shift" of family shopping and household chores; they receive little or no help from the men and do without the convenience of modern appliances. There is also an ethnic division of labor. Latvians predominate in agriculture, forestry, printing, and communication; non-Latvians are concentrated in industry (Russians make up more than 41 percent of industrial workers), sea and railroad transportation, and white-collar jobs.

Land Tenure. All real estate was acquired by the Soviet government and was owned by "the people" (i.e., the government). Since 13 June 1991, there has been an effort to return real property to its former owners or their heirs. Private owners' rights over property and duties toward society are in the process of being established.

Kinship, Marriage, and Family

Kinship. The kinship system and terminology are of the Eskimo type. The most common kin unit is the nuclear family, although there are also stem extended families. Kinship beyond the nuclear and small extended family is recognized, but it is not an important principle for organizing society, except that truncated kindreds may assemble for weddings and funerals.

Marriage. In Latvia, the majority (67.8 percent of men and 56 percent of women) of those 16 years of age and older are married. The ideal is a monogamous marriage for life, but many people engage in serial monogamy. In recent years, there have been 10,000 to 11,000 divorces annually. The preferred residence is neolocal, but, owing to a housing shortage, many couples live with their parents. Most families (72.5 percent) consist of members of the same ethnic group.

Domestic Unit. For Latvians in Latvia, the average family size is 3.09. In Latvia, the predominant family type (74.4 percent of all families) is a married couple either with children (55 percent of all families) or without children. One-fifth of these families have another relative, usually a parent of one of the spouses, living with them. Single-parent families are becoming common (the number has increased 20 percent in the past ten years) because of the rising rates of divorce and births to single mothers.

Inheritance. Inheritance is governed by law. Testamentary disposition and an ambilineal inheritance from parents to children, grandchildren, and other lineal descendants is recognized.

Socialization. The family stresses tenderness and a moral code of loyalty to its members, relatives, and friends. The mother is seen as nurturant and affectionate; the father is the disciplinarian. The father is conceptualized as the head of the family, whereas the mother is its heart. Peer groups (for youth) and circles of friends (for adults) stress loyalty, helpfulness, and strong emotional support among their members. The Soviet schools advocated a Communist-oriented "official message"—loyalty and obedience to the state, hard and selfless work—whereas the students stressed loyalty to schoolmates and rivalry against teachers and adults. The official and ubiquitous Soviet government propaganda affected the local population's worldview.

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. Between 1940 and 1991, the Soviet state severely curtailed the activities and membership of any organization or social unit not directly controlled by it. When Latvia regained independence, many organizations such as the Communist party, Communist youth organizations, and the secret police (KGB) were abolished or collapsed because of a lack of support by their members. New groups are encountering organizational difficulties—small memberships, lack of public awareness regarding their goals and activities, and a lack of leaders with organizational and administrative experience. For the individual, personal relationships are important elements in manipulating the political and economic systems. These connections are marshaled to gain access and to influence people in a position to grant favors.

Political Organization. The political system is in transition from a repressive totalitarian government to a democracy. There is a battle between the old Soviet nomenklatura who used to run the country and nationalistically and democratically inclined people who were barred from positions of authority by the Communist regime. There is no agreement regarding the rights and duties of the various administrative and political bodies and offices or on how their personnel are to be selected. Making the task of building institutions more difficult are the public's distrust of politicians and centralized authorities and skepticism regarding their ability to solve society's problems. There is also the ethnic factor. Latvians perceive a real danger of becoming a minority in their own country and feel they have been abused and have suffered greatly for the past fifty years. The Russians resent the recent changes because these reduce the privileges they had enjoyed as an occupying and dominating nationality in a colonial situation. Most likely what will eventually emerge will be a system consisting of a parliament (probably unicameral), a president, and a government headed by a prime minister.

Social Control. Social control has its formal and informal aspects. Among the family, peer group, and circle of friends, emotional withdrawal and social isolation are common sanctions. Physical violence may occur when psychological pressures do not result in desired behavior. Police and other legal armed forces exist in the country, but their duties are not clear and their competencies overlap. No reliable statistics are available regarding criminal activities.

Conflict. Many wars have touched Latvian territory and caused much destruction and death. Except for the 1918—1920 war for independence, Latvians have not conducted wars since 1300. They have, however, participated in the wars and armies of others. During World War II, both the Soviet and German governments drafted Latvians for their respective militaries. Civilian ethnic relations in Latvia were not characterized by mass physical violence, lynchings, pogroms, or riots. Latvians who did participate in such activities (e.g., crimes against humanity during and after World War II) did so individually or as members of armed units formed by and at the direction of foreign governments.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs and Practices. Religion in Latvia has been politicized, making it difficult to know what the current belief system is. The population was converted by "fire and sword" to Roman Catholicism by a.d. 1300. In the sixteenth century most Latvians converted to Lutheranism. Those living in the part of Latvia incorporated into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, however, remained Catholic. In the nineteenth century, some seeking economic advantage joined the Russian Orthodox church. Between 1940 and 1991, the Communist Soviet government actively opposed religious activities and encouraged atheism. As a result the "mainstream" churches' (i.e., Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Russian Orthodox) leadership and membership have declined, and their moral and ideational influence has eroded. The culture has become secularized. Many individuals are not so much atheistic as agnostic. One recent development is active proselytizing by charismatic and Pentecostal churches, sects, and cults.

Arts. Production of authentic folk arts and crafts has almost fallen into desuetude. Current production is a commercialized fine art on folk-art themes. This decline applies to the performing arts as well. An important part of Latvian performing arts are song festivals organized in Latvia and other countries with significant Latvian populations. These events feature folk music performed by choirs of hundreds and dances by folk-dance troupes. Because of Russian political domination of the country for the past three centuries, Latvian artists and popular culture have been influenced by the artistic fashions and trends of Russia. But, except for the Soviet period, Latvian fine arts and popular culture have been more oriented toward Western Europe. During the Soviet period, the government promoted propagandistic art and suppressed art styles and artists deemed undesirable. Now Latvians are once again exploring other styles and approaches.

Medicine. The medical-care delivery system consists of clinics, hospitals, sanatoria, and dispensaries and pharmacies staffed by physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and support staff. Because of the general economic breakdown and lack of resources, however, the medical system is in a state of virtual collapse. Although there seems to be an adequate number of physicians, there is a shortage of trained support staff and a critical lack of medicines, vaccines, equipment, and supplies. Medical workers, too, are trying to make the change from a system that discouraged initiative and forbade private enterprise to one featuring these characteristics. The need for medical services is acute, life expectancy is decreasing, and birth defects are increasing.