Latvia, or officially the Republic of Latvia, is a small northern European state that borders on Russia in the east of its territory. At one time, Latvia was even part of the Soviet Union (namely, from 1940 to 1991). Perhaps that is why the Russians so often visit this country as tourists. We are so interested in the way of life of Latvians, their culture, language, in the end. In addition, when planning a tourist trip, you need to know what language is spoken in Riga, the capital of Latvia, and in the state as a whole.
It is better to get acquainted with all the sights, which are many in Latvia, with amazing cuisine, with the mentality of Latvians, directly coming to this small country, because we all know: it’s better to see, try, feel once, than hear a hundred times. But what language is spoken in Latvia and Riga, the capital of the state, let's understand.
A little about Riga
To answer the question of what language is spoken in Riga, it is worth a little talk about this ancient city. The capital of Latvia was founded in 1201. Now Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states; The population of the city is approximately 640 thousand people. Compared to other European capitals, Riga is a tiny city. However, for a long time it was a Hanseatic city, that is, it was a member of the political and economic union of large European cities, which means it was a developed, advanced city. The geographical position of the city also contributed to this - it is located in the center of Latvia on the Daugava River.
These facts determined what language is spoken in Riga, or rather, influenced the fact that in the city there are a lot of representatives of different languages. Those who speak the languages of the indigenous population of Latvia, for example, the Latgalian and the Libyan languages, also live here. The status of the capital played a role in the fact that in Riga there are a lot of foreigners who contributed their own language to the city's linguistic composition: Russian, Ukrainian and others.
Population
Latvia can rightfully be called a multinational state. Despite its small size, the country has become native to more than ten nationalities. Of course, the vast majority of the population are Latvians. According to the census of the two thousandth year, their number was 57 percent, and in 2011 - already 62 percent. This suggests that previously migrated to other European countries, the USA, Latvians are gradually returning to their homeland. With other nationalities, the opposite trend is observed - there is an outflow of non-indigenous inhabitants. So, the number of Russians in Latvia in 2000 amounted to almost thirty percent, and after eleven years - three percent less. In addition to Latvians and Russians, the most numerous nationalities living in Latvia, in this country there are many Belarusians (3.3 percent of the total population), Ukrainians (2.2 percent of the inhabitants), the same number of Poles in Latvia and a little less than Lithuanians (1 , 2 percent), Jews and Gypsies, there are about 0.3 percent, Germans and Estonians, and even less.
Therefore, the most logical answer to the question of what language is spoken in Riga would be Latvian, but not so simple.
Official language
It is clear that such a mottled national composition of the state determines its heterogeneous linguistic composition. It is not surprising that in everyday life, at home, with native speakers, a person will speak it. Therefore, there is no definite answer what language is spoken in Riga. The likelihood that if, being in the capital of Latvia, you will contact a passerby in Russian and he will understand you, it is quite high. However, the only official language in the Republic of Latvia is Latvian. The law on the state language was adopted in Latvia on September 1, 2000. According to him, legal proceedings, education, official mass media ... - the Latvian language is used in all important areas of life in Latvia.
In this light, it is interesting to know that only eighty percent of the country's population speak the official state language. Based on this, we can conclude that which language is popular in Riga and which is legal - these are two different issues.
There is an article in the same law that regulates the protection and preservation of the Livonian language, the language of autochthons - the indigenous population of the eastern part of Latvia. Thus, Libyan, along with Latvian, is considered the native language of the state.
Russian language in Latvia
According to opinion polls, eighty percent of the population of Latvia speak Russian. Including seventy percent of Latvians living in the country. However, in everyday life only 34 percent of residents use the great and mighty, mainly Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians. The rather high popularity of the Russian language is explained, firstly, by the territorial proximity of the countries, and secondly, by the fact that Latvia has been a part of the USSR for more than a dozen years, which means that the Russian language has been in the official status there for quite some time in order to take root the minds of people. In 2012, a referendum was even held in Latvia, the issue of which was the assignment of the status of the second state language to the Russian language. But an insufficient number of voters supported this idea - only 25 percent.
Language policy of Latvia
Now the Latvian authorities are fighting the spread of the Russian language and are trying in every possible way to popularize the Latvian language. Bans are introduced on bilingual schools, teaching in which is conducted in Russian too. When choosing a foreign language study, the emphasis is on English, French and other languages of Western Europe.