This article is about the ethnic group called Latvians or Letts. For the inhabitants of Latvia, seeDemographics of Latvia.
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ABalto-Finnic-speaking tribe known as theLivs settled among the northern coast of modern day Latvia. TheGermanic 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.[citation needed]
The Latin form,Livonia, gradually referred to the whole territory of modern-day Latvia as well as southernEstonia, which had fallen under Germanic influence. Latvians andLithuanians are the only surviving members of theBaltic branch of theIndo-European family.[citation needed]
Latvian lifestyle is deeply influenced by regional traditions, with distinct practices across areas likeCourland,Zemgale,Vidzeme,Latgale, andSelonia. Traditionally, livelihoods focused on agriculture, animal husbandry, and fishing, with crafts such as wood, leather, and amber work playing significant roles. Rural living was centered around one-room houses made of pine or spruce logs, and settlements varied by region, including clustered villages and street-like layouts. Latvian traditional clothing varies by region, with women often wearing tunic-style shirts and embroidered scarves, while men wore simple tunics and checkered pants. The Latvian lifestyle emphasizes a strong connection to nature, family, and cultural traditions, with holidays likeJāņi andChristmas celebrated with music, feasting, and family gatherings.[53]
In 1649, sparse settlement of the Latvian speakingKursenieki spanned fromMemel toDanzig.
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 byGermanic,Scandinavian, andRussian 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 toc. 9000 BC, suggesting that the first settlers were hunters that stayed almost immediately following the end of thelast ice age. Colonizers from the south arrived quickly, driving many of the hunters northward as polar ice caps melted further, or east, into modern-dayRussia,Belarus, andUkraine. TheRoman authorTacitus 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 untilPapal intervention via theGermanic,Teutonic Order colonizedKurzeme (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 theGospel ofChristianity throughout "uncivilized", "Pagan lands". Though these attempts toChristianize the population failed, and the Teutonic Order eventually redeployed southward, to the region of what was once known asEast Prussia.[citation needed]
Most of the Christian Latvians claim to belong to theEvangelical Lutheran Church, but inLatgale andAlsunga Municipality theRoman Catholic Church is predominant, a small minority of Latvians belong to theLatvian Orthodox Church and other religious congregations.[50] In the late 18th century, a small but vibrantHerrnhutist movement played a significant part in the development of Latvian literary culture before it was absorbed into the mainstream Lutheran denomination.
Latvians' ancestral language,Latvian, has been recorded since at least the 16th century.[59] It developed into a distinct language by the 9th century. It is part of a distinct linguistic branch of Indo-European languages: theBaltic languages.
Another notable language of Latvia is the nearly extinctLivonian language, a member of the Baltic-Finnic sub-branch of the Uralic language family, which enjoys protection by law. TheLatgalian language (a dialect of Latvian) is also protected by Latvian law as a historical variation of the Latvian language.[citation needed]
Paternal haplogroupsR1a andN1a1-Tat are the two most frequent, reaching 39.9% each among ethnic Latvians.[60] R1a is associated with spread ofIndo-European languages. R1a of Latvians is predominantly M558, and compared to other populations likeSouth Slavs andWest Slavs, Latvians also have the highest concentration of M558 among R1a. N1a1-Tat mutation originated inNortheast Asia and had spread throughout theUrals into Europe, where it is currently most common amongFinno-Ugric,Baltic andEast 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% andI1 (M253) in 6.3% of the samples analyzed.[61] In lower levels, 2.5% ofI2b (M223) and 0.6%I2a (P37.2) – haplogroups historically associated withwestern hunter-gatherers – were found as well.
^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.ISSN1469-1809.PMID26411886.S2CID13050610.
