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The culture of Latvia combines traditional Latvian and Livonian heritage with influences of the country's varied historical heritage. Latvia is divided into several cultural and historical regions: Vidzeme, Latgale, Courland, Zemgale and Sēlija.
The area of Latvia has been inhabited since 9000 BC. Baltic tribes, the ancestors of present-day Latvians, arrived around 3000 BC. In the 13th century after the conquest of today's Latvia, Baltic Germans settled here, and gradually became the upper class and rulers of Latvia, while Latvians and Livonians lost their positions, becoming serfs in the 16th century. This caused the Germanisation of the educated inhabitants of other nationalities, yet some local traditions were preserved. In the 19th century, when serfdom was abolished, a Latvian nationalist movement, the First Latvian National Awakening, begun. Led by "Young Latvians", it encouraged Latvians to become artists and scholars, while preserving their cultural heritage and the language. The movement was countered by a period of Russification, followed by the leftist movement New Current 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.[ citation needed ]
On 15 May 1934, Kārlis Ulmanis seized power in a coup d'état and established an authoritarian regime, which lasted only until the outbreak of World War II and Soviet occupation in 1939–40. In cultural terms, however, this period is seen as a "golden age" for Latvia. During the war, with a period of German occupation from 1941 to 1945, Latvia lost its de facto independence as it was occupied by the USSR and became the Latvian SSR. Soviet rule ended in 1991 during the third "Latvian National Awakening" and the restoration of independence.[ citation needed ]
The majority of inhabitants are Latvians. [1] There is a culturally and linguistically distinct subgroup, the Latgalians, who inhabit the Latgale region in eastern Latvia. Another indigenous group are the Livonians, whose Finnic Livonian language is nearly extinct. The largest minority group is the Slavic people, notably Russians. Other well known minorities are Romani people, Baltic Germans and Jews, whose population decreased significantly after the Second World War, as well as Lithuanians and Estonians.
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. [2]
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. [3]
The best known is the Lielvārde sash, or josta, a wide, red, and white woven sash with a complicated pattern. [4] 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. [2] The sashes include signs and graphic symbols similar to ancient pictographs from Asia, and some scholars believe that these convey ancient coded information. [4] The Lielvārde 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. [5]
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. [6]
Launched in 2007 and is 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. [7]
Until the 12th century, Latvians were naturalists or pagans. Christianity arrived in the 12th and 13th century and became 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 Church, with large Catholic and Orthodox Christian minorities. [8]
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 inaugural 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 Great Guild, and the Great and Small Halls of the Dzintari Concert Hall. This year features the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Russian National Orchestra. [9]
A form of traditional architecture in Latvia is log houses. 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. Riga is home to one of the highest concentrations of Art Nouveau architecture in the world. [10]
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi), with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian, one of the only two surviving Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population.
The history of Latvia began around 9000 BC with the end of the last glacial period in northern Europe. Ancient Baltic peoples arrived in the area during the second millennium BC, and four distinct tribal realms in Latvia's territory were identifiable towards the end of the first millennium AD. Latvia's principal river Daugava, was at the head of an important trade route from the Baltic region through Russia into southern Europe and the Middle East that was used by the Vikings and later Nordic and German traders.
Riga is the capital, primate, and the largest city of Latvia, as well as the most populous city in the Baltic States. Home to 609,489 inhabitants, the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga metropolitan area, which stretches beyond the city limits, is estimated at 860,142. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Baltic Sea. Riga's territory covers 307.17 km2 (118.60 sq mi) and lies 1–10 m (3–33 ft) above sea level on a flat and sandy plain.
Liepāja is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an important ice-free port.
Rēzekne is a state city in the Rēzekne River valley in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called The Heart of Latgale. Built on seven hills, Rēzekne is situated 242 kilometres east of Riga, and 63 kilometres west of the Latvian-Russian border, at the intersection of the Moscow – Ventspils railway and Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railways. It is the 7th largest city in Latvia.
Traditional Latvian music is often set to traditional poetry called dainas, featuring pre-Christian themes and legends, drone vocal styles, and Baltic psaltery.
The Livonians, or Livs, are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language closely related to Estonian and Finnish. Initially, the last person to have learned and spoken Livonian as a mother tongue, Grizelda Kristiņa, died in 2013, making Livonian a dormant language. In 2020, it was reported that newborn Kuldi Medne had once again become the only living person who speaks Livonian as their first language. As of 2010, there were approximately 30 people who had learned it as a second language.
Historical Latvian Lands or formerly Cultural regions of Latvia are several areas within Latvia formally recognised as distinct from the rest of the country. These are: Kurzeme (Courland), Zemgale, Latgale, Vidzeme, and Sēlija (Selonia). While some of these regions are seen purely as culturally distinct, others have historically been parts of different countries and have been used to divide the country for administrative and other purposes.
Latgalian is an Eastern Baltic language, although it is sometimes considered a dialect of Latvian. The Latvian language law classifies it as a "historical form of Latvian". It is mostly spoken in Latgale, the eastern part of Latvia. The 2011 Latvian census established that 8.8% of Latvia's inhabitants, or 164,500 people, speak Latgalian daily. 97,600 of them live in Latgale, 29,400 in Riga and 14,400 in the Riga Planning Region.
Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava river and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory is split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic tribe. They are noted for their long resistance (1219–1290) against the German crusaders and Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades. Semigallians had close linguistic and cultural ties with Samogitians.
Kokle or historically kokles (kūkles) is a Latvian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery along with Lithuanian kanklės, Estonian kannel, Finnish kantele, and Russian krylovidnye gusli. The first possible kokles related archaeological findings in the territory of modern Latvia are from the 13th century, while the first reliable written information about kokles playing comes from the beginning of the 17th century. The first known kokles tune was notated in 1891, but the first kokles recordings into gramophone records and movies were made in the 1930s. Both kokles and kokles playing are included in the Latvian Culture Canon.
In Latvia, Russians have been the largest ethnic minority in the country for the last two centuries. The number of Russians in Latvia more than quadrupled during the Soviet occupation of Latvia when the size of the community grew from 8.8% of the total population in 1935 (206,499) to 34.0% in 1989 (905,515). It started to decrease in size again after Latvia regained independence in 1991 falling to 23.7% at the beginning of 2023.
Vidzeme 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 north-central Latvia north of the Daugava River. Sometimes in German, it was also known as Livland, the German form from Latin Livonia, though it comprises only a small part of Medieval Livonia and about half of Swedish Livonia. Most of the region's inhabitants are Latvians (85%), thus Vidzeme is the most ethnically Latvian region in the country.
Lielvārde, 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.
The Latvian Song and Dance Festival is one of the largest amateur choral and dancing events in the world, and an important event in Latvian culture and social life.
Miķelis Krogzemis, better known by his pen name Auseklis was a poet from the Russian Empire who wrote in Latvian and prominent member of the Young Latvians movement.
The Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia is an open-air museum located just outside Riga, the capital of Latvia, on the lightly wooded shores of Jugla Lake.
The First Latvian National Awakening or the First Awakening 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 dominance in Livonia and Courland Governorates, created the basis for the modern Latvian nation state. It was influenced by the European romantic nationalism movements of Young Germans and Czech National Revival. Most of their efforts were spent on educating Latvians, criticizing Germans and removing the stigma from Latvian language, traditions and culture.
Kristaps Gulbis is a Latvian sculptor and artist known for numerous contemporary art projects in more than 25 countries. His works have been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the Museum of Modern Art in Hokaido, Japan, and at metropolitan sites in London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Riga, Moscow and other European cities, as well as in New York, Seoul, and Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The visual art projects curated, directed and managed by Gulbis have been set in England, Hungary, Germany, Latvia, Estonia and elsewhere in Europe.
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