Latvians
This is about the ethnic group called Latvians or Letts.
Latvians (Latvian: latvieši;
Livonian: leţlizt) are a Baltic ethnic
group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate
geographical region. They are also known as Letts, although this term is
obsolescent. The Latvian people share a common Latvian language.
History
A Finnic-speaking tribe known as the Livs settled among the
Latvians and modulated the name to "Latvis," meaning
"forest-clearers," which is how medieval German, Teutonic settlers
also referred to these peoples. The Germanic settlers referred to the natives
as "Letts" and the nation to "Lettland", naming their
colony Livonia
or Livland.
The Latin form, Livonia, gradually referred to the whole territory of
the modern-day Latvia as
well as southern Estonia,
which had fallen under minimal Germanic influence. Latvians and Lithuanians are
the only surviving members of the Baltic branch of the Indo-European family.
Genetics
Paternal haplogroups N1c-Tat and R1a are the two most
frequent, reaching 39.9% each among ethnic Latvians. N1c-Tat mutation probably
originated in South Siberia eight to nine thousand years ago and had spread
through the Urals into the Europe where it is
currently most common among Finno-Ugric and Baltic people. Balts, however,
differ from Finno-Ugrics by the predominance of the N1c-L550 branch of N1c-Tat.
Haplogroup R1a is associated with the spread of Indo-European languages.
A recent autosomal study has shown that among other European
populations, Latvians are genetically related to Lithuanians, followed
distantly by Estonians.
Culture
Influences
In 1649 settlement of the Latvian speaking Kursenieki
spanned from Memel (Klaipėda) to Danzig (Gdańsk).
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 by Germanic, Scandinavian, and Russian
traditions. Latvians have an ancient culture that has been archaeologically
dated back to 3,000 B.C. Latvians maintained a considerable connection and
trade with their neighbors, and near ethnic cousins the Finno-Ugrians,
otherwise known contemporarily as Estonians and eventually Finns as well. The
first indications of human inhabitants on the lands of modern Latvia date
archaeologically to ~9,000 B.C., suggesting that the first settlers were
hunters that stayed almost immediately following the end of the last Ice Age.
Colonizers from the south arrived quickly, driving many of the hunters
northward and polar ice caps melted further, or east, into modern-day Russia, Belarus,
and Ukraine.
The Roman author Tacitus 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 until Papal intervention via the Germanic, Teutonic
Order colonized Kurzeme (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 the Gospel of Christianity
throughout "uncivilized", "Pagan lands." Though these
attempts to Christianize the population failed, and the Teutonic Order
eventually redeployed southward, to the region of what was once known as East Prussia.
South-Eastern Latvia (Latgale), due to having a relatively
large ethnic Russian population, has maintained a large Russian influence.
Religion
The Basilica of the Assumption in Aglona, the most important
Roman Catholic church in Latvia
Most of the religious Latvians belong to the Evangelical Lutheran
Church, but in Eastern
Latvia (Latgale) the Roman Catholic Church is predominant, a small
minority of Latvians belong to the Latvian Orthodox Church and other religious
congregations. In the late 18th century, a small but vibrant Herrnhutist
movement played a significant part in the development of Latvian literary
culture, before it was absorbed into the mainstream Lutheran denomination.
Language
The national language of the Latvian people is Latvian.
Latvian is part of a unique linguistic branch of Indo-European languages: the Baltic
languages.
Revised: 16 March 2016
