The culture of Latvia combines traditional
Latvian and
Livonian heritage with influences of the
country's varied historical heritage.
History
The area of Latvia has been inhabited since 9000 BC.
Baltic tribes
The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages.
One of the features of Baltic languages is the number ...
, the ancestors of present-day
Latvians
Latvians ( lv, latvieši) are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common La ...
, arrived around 3000 BC. In the 13th century after the conquest of today's Latvia,
Baltic Germans
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declin ...
settled here and gradually became the upper class and rulers of Latvia, while
Latvians
Latvians ( lv, latvieši) are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common La ...
and
Livonians
The Livonians, or Livs ( Livonian: ''līvlizt''; Estonian: ''liivlased''; Latvian: ''līvi'', ''lībieši''), are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language c ...
lost their positions finally becoming
serfs in the 16th century. This caused the
Germanisation of the educated inhabitants of other nationalities, yet preserved some local traditions. In the 19th century, when serfdom was abolished, a Latvian nationalist movement,
the First Latvian National Awakening
The First Latvian National Awakening or the First Awakening ( lv, Pirmā Atmoda) was a cultural and national revival movement between 1850 and 1880 among the Young Latvians, a group of well-educated Latvians, who, opposed to the Baltic German dom ...
, begun. Led by "
Young Latvians", it encouraged Latvians to become artists and scholars, while preserving their cultural heritage and the
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
. The movement was countered by a period of
Russification, followed by the leftist movement
New Current
The New Current ( lv, Jaunā strāva) in the history of Latvia was a broad leftist social and political movement that followed the First Latvian National Awakening (led by the Young Latvians from the 1850s to the 1880s) and culminated in the 190 ...
at the beginning of the 20th century; it is regarded as a period in which Latvian culture thrived. This caused the second "Latvian National Awakening", leading ultimately to the proclamation of an independent
Latvia in 1918.
On 15 May 1934,
Kārlis Ulmanis
Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis (; 4 September 1877 – 20 September 1942) was a Latvian politician. He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre-World War II Latvia during the Interwar period of independence from November 1918 to ...
seized power in a
coup d'etat and established an authoritarian regime, which lasted only until the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and Soviet occupation in 1939–40. In cultural terms, however, this period is seen as a "
golden age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...
" for Latvia. During the war, with a period of
German occupation
German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
from 1941 to 1945, Latvia lost its ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' independence as it was occupied by the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
and became the
Latvian SSR. Soviet rule ended in 1991 during the third "
Latvian National Awakening
The Latvian National Awakening ( lv, latviešu r latvjutautas atmoda) refers to three distinct but ideologically related National revival movements:
* the '' First Awakening'' refers to the national revival led by the Young Latvians from the 1 ...
" and the restoration of independence.
People
![Latvian song festival by Dainis Matisons, 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Latvian_song_festival_by_Dainis_Matisons%2C_2008.jpg)
The majority of inhabitants are
Latvians
Latvians ( lv, latvieši) are a Baltic ethnic group and nation native to Latvia and the immediate geographical region, the Baltics. They are occasionally also referred to as Letts, especially in older bibliography. Latvians share a common La ...
.
There is a culturally and linguistically distinct subgroup, the
Latgalians
Latgalians (, nds, Letti, Lethi, modern ; variant translations also include Latgallians, Lettigalls or Lettigallians) were an ancient Baltic tribe.
They likely spoke the Latvian language, which probably became the ''lingua franca'' in present-d ...
, who inhabit the
Latgale region in eastern Latvia. Another
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
group are the
Livonians
The Livonians, or Livs ( Livonian: ''līvlizt''; Estonian: ''liivlased''; Latvian: ''līvi'', ''lībieši''), are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language c ...
, whose
Finnic Livonian language
The Livonian language ( liv, līvõ kēļ, link=no or ; et, liivi keel, link=yes) is a Finnic language whose native land is the Livonian Coast of the Gulf of Livonia, located in the north of the Kurzeme peninsula in Latvia. Although its last ...
is nearly extinct. The largest minority group is the
Slavic people, notably
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
. Other well known minorities are
Romani people
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...
,
Baltic Germans
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declin ...
and
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, whose population decreased significantly after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, as well as
Lithuanians and
Estonians
Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language.
The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to oth ...
.
Languages
National Dress
![Dziesmu un deju svētku pasākumi 2018 (42410779204)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Dziesmu_un_deju_sv%C4%93tku_pas%C4%81kumi_2018_%2842410779204%29.jpg)
There are two distinct types of Latvian national costume, based on the historic period in which they arose: the "ancient dress" period from the 7th to 13th century, and the "ethnic" or "ethnographic dress" period from the 18th and 19th centuries.
One iconic feature of Latvian women's folk dress is the traditional Latvian belt, a wide sash with a woven geometric pattern. Different regions of Latvia have their own distinct patterns and colors.
The best known is the
Lielvārde
Lielvārde (; german: Lennewarden), population 5885, is a town in Ogre Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava river, 52 km southeast of Riga.
History
The area was a contact zone between the Finnic L ...
sash, or josta, a wide, red and white woven sash with a complicated pattern.
Originating at a time before clothing had pockets, the sash was practical as it helped keep garments together and could be used for attaching items like keys or a knife.
The sashes include signs and graphic symbols similar to ancient pictographs from Asia, and some scholars believe that these convey ancient coded information.
The
Lielvārde
Lielvārde (; german: Lennewarden), population 5885, is a town in Ogre Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava river, 52 km southeast of Riga.
History
The area was a contact zone between the Finnic L ...
sash is so iconic that it appears in the nation's passports.
In modern times, national costumes are most often worn during the Song and Dance Festivals that take place every four years in Riga and on Midsummer Night, a popular national holiday celebrated on 23 June in Latvia.
Folklore
Latvians have the rich heritage of traditional folklore, especially folk songs, or
Dainas. Dating back well over a thousand years, more than 1.2 million texts and 30,000 melodies of folk songs have been identified.
Culture Canon
Launched in 2007 and now complete, the Latvian Culture Canon was selected by a series of groups of experts in the areas of architecture and design, cinema, literature, music, stage art, national traditions and visual arts. It contains a total of 99 works.
Cuisine
Religion
Until the 12th century, Latvians were naturalists or otherwise known as pagans,
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
arrived in the 12th and 13th century and was the most influential religion in the region until the arrival of Communism in the 20th century when all religions were banned. Today the majority of Latvians are part of the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
Church with large
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and Orthodox Christian minorities.
Art
*
Cinema of Latvia
Cinema of Latvia dates back to 1910 when the first short films were made. The first cinematic screening in Riga took place on May 28, 1896. By 1914 all major cities in Latvia had cinemas where newsreels, documentaries and mostly foreign-made sho ...
Literature
Music
![Latvian Song festival 2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Latvian_Song_festival_2008.jpg)
Choir traditions are very strong in Latvia. Alongside many professional choirs, there are tens of thousands of Latvians who are part of different amateur choirs. Once every five years the Latvian National Song and Dance Festival takes place with around 20,000 singers taking part in it.
The 2014 World Choir Games took place in Riga.
In summer 2019 Latvia hosted the inaugura
Riga Jurmala Music Festival a new festival in which world-famous orchestras and conductors performed across four weekends during the summer. The festival took place at the
Latvian National Opera
The Latvian National Opera and Ballet (LNOB) is an opera house and opera company at Aspazijas boulevard 3 in Riga. Its repertoire includes performances of opera and ballet presented during the season which lasts from mid-September to the end of Ma ...
, the Great Guild, and the Great and Small Halls of the Dzintari Concert Hall. This year features the
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (german: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestr ...
, the
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is an Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert venue ...
, the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...
and the Russian National Orchestra.
[https://riga-jurmala.com]
Regions
![Latvian regions and latvians](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Latvian_regions_and_latvians.png)
Latvia is divided into several cultural and historical regions:
Vidzeme
Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in ...
,
Latgale,
Courland,
Zemgale
Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, ( lv, Zemgale; german: Semgallen; lt, Žiemgala; pl, Semigalia; liv, Zemgāl) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located in the south of the Daugava river and the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. ...
and
Sēlija
Selonia ( lv, Sēlija; lt, Sėla), also known as Augšzeme (the "Highland"), is one of the Historical Latvian Lands encompassing the eastern part of the historical region of Semigallia ( lv, Zemgale) as well as a portion of northeastern Lithuani ...
.
Architecture
A form of traditional architecture in Latvia is
log houses
A log house, or log building, is a structure built with horizontal logs interlocked at the corners by notching. Logs may be round, squared or hewn to other shapes, either handcrafted or milled. The term " log cabin" generally refers to a sm ...
. The position of houses differs among regions. In western Latvia, single farms are more popular and in villages, the houses are positioned in a circle around a central square. In eastern Latvia, villages are more popular and houses are positioned along the main street. This is seen as an influence of nearby Russia.
See also
*
Latvian Gambit
The Latvian Gambit (or Greco Countergambit) is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. e4 e5
:2. Nf3 f5
It is one of the oldest chess openings, having been analysed in the 17th century by Gioachino Greco, after whom it is sometimes ...
(in Chess)
References
External links
*
{{Culture of Europe