According to the 1897 Imperial Russian Census, there were 505,994 (75.1%) speakers of Latvian in the Governorate of Courland [21] and 563,829 (43.4%) speakers of Latvian in the Governorate of Livonia, making Latvian-speakers the largest linguistic group in each of the governorates.
From 1940 to 1991 Latvia was a republic of the Soviet Union. On Aug. 21, 1991, the Latvian government declared independence, which the Soviet Union recognized shortly thereafter, and the 1922 constitution was restored. Latvia has a unitary form of government.
Persons violating Latvian laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested, or imprisoned. Penalties for possessing, using, or trafficking illegal drugs in Latvia are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines.
Latvian is a Baltic language related to Lithuanian and Old Prussian with about 2 million speakers mainly in Latvia. It is a Statutory national language in Latvia and is spoken as a native language by 1.3 million people.
To add further intrigue to the Latvian language, it’s worth noting that Latvian has three traditional dialects: Middle, Livonianized dialect and Upper Latvian dialects.
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By 1989, about 56% of the Latvian population identified as native Latvian speakers, down from 80% of the population in 1935. Currently, native Latvia speakers account for 60% of the country’s total population.