 Students of the school at the Latvian embassy in Moscow, 2019 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 8,516, including 371Latgalians (modern) (2021 Census)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Moscow,Bashkortostan,Siberia | |
| Languages | |
| Russian,Latvian | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherLatvians |
InRussia,Latvians are a small ethnic minority scattered across its various regions. In the2021 census, 8,516 individuals in Russia identified as ethnic Latvian,[1] down from 18,979 in 2010, previously from 28,520 in 2002.
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There have been several waves of migration of Latvians to Russia following the annexation of the Latvian lands by theRussian Empire in the 18th century.
A Latvian Lutheran church existed in St. Petersburg since 1849.[2]
During the 19th century, many landless Latvian peasants moved eastwards, establishing settlements inSiberia and the Urals. Thousands of Latvians migrated to Russia as refugees during theFirst World War. A number of LatvianBolshevik politicians and activists settled down in Russia after theRussian Civil War and became members of the Soviet state leadership.
According to the results of theFirst All-Union Census of the Soviet Union of 1926, more than 151,000 ethnic Latvians lived in theUSSR. Numerous Latvian cultural organizations, publishing houses and schools were created in various regions of the USSR. The largest and most influential organization wasPrometejs Society, headquartered in Moscow.[3]
In the 1930s, thousands of Latvians facedrepressions by the regime ofJoseph Stalin. Starting from November 1936, theNKVD carried out the so-called "Latvian Operation", a mass campaign of repressions targeting specifically persons of Latvian origin. First of all, the targets were activists of Latvian organizations, formerRed Latvian Riflemen, immigrants from independentLatvia, and even senior governmental officials and prominent communist revolutionaries likeJānis Rudzutaks,Jukums Vācietis,Jānis Bērziņš, and others. More than 21,300 persons were sentenced during the operation, of which 16,575 were executed.[4] In total, about 70,000 ethnic Latvians in the USSR were killed during the repressions of the 1930s.[5]
After theSoviet re-occupation of Latvia in 1944 and establishment of theLatvian SSR, a few Latvians migrated within the USSR, in particular to Moscow andLeningrad. DuringPerestroika in the 1980s, new organizations of the Latvian diaspora have been established in major cities. Many Latvians went back from Russia to Latvia following thecollapse of the Soviet Union and the restoration of the independence of Latvia.[citation needed]
An autonomous Latvianmunicipality exists in the Russian republic ofBashkortostan – theArch-Latvian Selsoviet. Latvian settlers came to the region in the 19th century.[6] The Latvian municipality was established in the 1920s, during the ethnic emancipation of the early Soviet years (known askorenization). The LatviankolkhozJaunā dzīve ('New Life') was established there in 1929. Today, Latvians make up approximately 300 out of almost 2000 inhabitants of the municipality.
In theSiberiankrai ofKrasnoyarsk, the villageNizhnyaya Bulanka (Russian:Нижняя Буланка;Latvian:Lejas Bulāna) was founded by Latvian settlers in 1859. Today the village has less than 100 inhabitants.[citation needed]
Since the 1990s, there is a number of Latvian organizations and Latvian Lutheran parishes in Russia, primarily in major cities such as Moscow,Saint Petersburg,Omsk,Tomsk,Smolensk and others.[7]The Moscow Latvian choir, Tālava, was established in 1993.[8]
Several Latvian communists are buried in theKremlin Wall Necropolis inMoscow:Pēteris Stučka,Arvīds Pelše,Jānis Lepse,Jānis Valdovskis,Oto Vērzemnieks,Jānis Zvejnieks, as well as theRiga-born scientistMstislav Keldysh.
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