Population of Latvia
The indigenous population of Latvia is Latvians and Fenno-Ugrian Lives (Livonians). The existing ethnic composition is the result of post-war massive migrations. The following comparison can be made – 77 % of the population were Latvians in 1935, whereas in 1989 this number had decreased to 52 %. Population was 2,248,374 in 2010, and the population dispersal is the following: 68 % live in cities and towns and 32 % – in rural areas.
Latvian language
Latvian is a Baltic language belonging to the Indo-European language family. The only language closely related to the Latvian language is Lithuanian. Latvian has been recognised as one of the most ancient and relatively unchanged languages in the world. It is the native language of approximately 1.5 million people.
Russian and English are also quite common in
Latvia, but German, French and Scandinavian languages are rather rare. Latvian is the only official language in Latvia; however, there are several mechanisms in place to provide people who do not know Latvian language with effective legal protection.
The ethnic composition of Latvia is the following: 59.4 % are Latvians, 27.6 % – Russians, 3.6 % –Belarusians, 2.5 % – Ukrainians, 2.3 % – Poles, 1.3 % – Lithuanians, 3.3 % – other nationalities.
Education in Latvia
Latvia has a relatively high per capita ratio in respect to education. The state ensures free primary education and offers a large number of higher education programs. Foreign students from the Member States of the European Union pays for education the same amount as domestic students, and the Latvian education is highly regarded abroad. There are also funded schools for language minority groups in Latvia where the subjects are taught bilingually – in Latvian and the respective foreign language.
Government and election
Latvia is a democratic, parliamentary republic. The legislative power is vested in the Parliament or Saeima consisting of 100 members (deputies). The Parliament is elected every four years, and the elections are general, equal, direct, secret and based on proportional representation. Only citizens at least 18 years old have the right to vote. The election threshold is 5 %, because there are not many parties in Latvia. The President, who is appointed by the Parliament, signs the laws, nominates a candidate for the Prime Minister post (head of the executive power) and has a representative role. The Parliament appoints the Prime Minister who then accordingly appoints other ministers. The ground for work of the Cabinet of Ministers is the confidence in the Prime Minister expressed by the Parliament. The third branch of power is the judicial power. It is a three-tier judicial system consisting of district courts, regional courts and the Supreme Court. There is also a Constitutional Court (Satversme Court) in Latvia that exists outside the three-tier system.
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