Editing Demographics of Latvia (section)

==Languages==
{{see also|Language policy in Latvia|Russian language in Latvia}}
{| style="float:right;"
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| {{bar box
|title=Main language spoken at home in Latvia, 2011 census<ref name="Census">{{cite web |url=http://www.csb.gov.lv/sites/default/files/publikacijas/nr_13_2011gada_tautas_skaitisanas_rezultati_isuma_12_00_lv.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=23 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114002352/http://www.csb.gov.lv/sites/default/files/publikacijas/nr_13_2011gada_tautas_skaitisanas_rezultati_isuma_12_00_lv.pdf |archive-date=14 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
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|bars=
{{bar percent|[[Latvian language|Latvian]]|#9E3039|62.1}}
{{bar percent|[[Russian language|Russian]]|Blue|37.2}}
{{bar percent|Other|grey|0.7}}
}}
|}
* official: [[Latvian language|Latvian]]<ref name="Official Language Law">{{cite web |url=http://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/14740-official-language-law |title=Official Language Law |author=Saeima |work=Likumi.lv |publisher=[[Latvijas Vēstnesis]] |date=21 December 1999 |access-date=26 June 2020 |archive-date=23 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823143730/https://likumi.lv/ta/en/en/id/14740-official-language-law |url-status=live }}</ref>
* considered indigenous in some legislation: [[Livonian language|Livonian]], [[Latgalian language|Latgalian]]<ref name="Official Language Law"/>
* other languages registered as main language spoken at home by at least 500 speakers in 2011 census (in declining order): [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Romani language|Romani]], [[Tatar language|Tatar]], [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Estonian language|Estonian]], [[German language|German]]<ref name="Census"/>
* other languages widely spoken: [[English language|English]] (46%)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf|title=SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 386 Europeans and their Languages|website=Ec.europa.eu|access-date=7 November 2017|archive-date=6 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106183351/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Latvian Sign Language]] (legally recognised and supported)<ref name="Official Language Law"/> and [[Russian Sign Language]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Meulder|first=Maartje De|date=2015|title=The Legal Recognition of Sign Languages|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/sls.2015.0018|journal=Sign Language Studies|volume=15|issue=4|pages=498–506|doi=10.1353/sls.2015.0018|s2cid=146701917|issn=1533-6263}}</ref>

In the 2011 [[census]], 1,164,894 persons in Latvia reported Latvian as their main language spoken at home; 698,757 respondents listed Russian as their main language spoken at home,<ref name="Census"/> representing 37.2% of the total population, whereas Latvian was recorded as the main language spoken at home for 62.1%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.csb.gov.lv/Table.aspx?layout=tableViewLayout1&px_tableid=TSG11-07.px&px_path=tautassk_11__2011.gada%20tautas%20skait%C4%AB%C5%A1anas%20gal%C4%ABgie%20rezult%C4%81ti&px_language=lv&px_db=tautassk_11&rxid=992a0682-2c7d-4148-b242-7b48ff9fe0c2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227144111/http://data.csb.gov.lv/Table.aspx?layout=tableViewLayout1&px_tableid=TSG11-07.px&px_path=tautassk_11__2011.gada%20tautas%20skait%C4%AB%C5%A1anas%20gal%C4%ABgie%20rezult%C4%81ti&px_language=lv&px_db=tautassk_11&rxid=992a0682-2c7d-4148-b242-7b48ff9fe0c2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 February 2014 |title=Latvijas statistikas datubāzes |access-date=23 February 2014}}</ref> Latvian was spoken as a second language by 20.8% of the population, and 43.7% spoke Russian as a second language.<ref>LR CSP preses izlaidums: [http://dev.eurac.edu:8085/mugs2/do/blob.doc?type=doc&serial=1022597092498 2000. Gada Tautas Skaitīšana Latvijā; 07.11.2000.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060911011214/http://dev.eurac.edu:8085/mugs2/do/blob.doc?type=doc&serial=1022597092498 |date=11 September 2006}}{{in lang|lv}}</ref> In total, 71% of ethnic Latvians said they could speak Russian, and 52% of Russians could speak Latvian in the 2000 census.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vvk.lv/index.php?sadala=129&id=389|title=Valsts valoda{{Snd}} Statistiska|website=Vvk.lv|access-date=7 November 2017|archive-date=11 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011121119/http://www.vvk.lv/index.php?sadala=129&id=389|url-status=live}}</ref>
{| style="float:right;"
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| {{bar box
|title=Main language spoken at home in Latvia, end 2017 data<ref name="end 2017 data"/>
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|width=250px
|bars=
{{bar percent|[[Latvian language|Latvian]]|#9E3039|64.0}}
{{bar percent|[[Russian language|Russian]]|Blue|34.6}}
{{bar percent|Other|grey|1.4}}
}}
|}
In August 2019, the Central Statistical Bureau published new data indicating that Latvian was the native language of 60.8% of Latvia's population per 1 January 2018, a 2.6% increase compared to the 2000 census. 62.2% of the population was 'ethnically Latvian'. The percentage of native Latvian speakers increased in all [[Statistical regions of Latvia|statistical regions]], especially in the Rīga capital region and Pierīga region around it (4.6%). The number of native Russian speakers dropped in all regions; in Latgale, the number of native Russian speakers also dropped, although their percentage remained the same at 55.5%, the highest of the country. Compared to the 2011 census, the share of people speaking Latvian at home rose by 1.9%, while the number of Russian home speakers dropped by 2.6%. 90.7% of ethnic Russians indicated they spoke Russian at home, while 8.5% of them indicated they spoke Latvian at home. Inter-linguistic marriage was an important factor why, for example, some non-native Latvian speakers who married native Latvian speakers switched to speaking Latvian at home. The percentage of Russian home speakers gradually increased with age from 30.0% amongst 0–4-year-olds to 44.2% amongst 55–64-year-olds, while Latvian home speakers gradually decreased with age from 69.2% amongst 0–4-year-olds to 55.0% amongst 55–64-year-olds, indicating that children in Latvia are increasingly being raised and educated in Latvian.<ref name="end 2017 data">{{cite web |url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/society/latvian-is-the-mother-tongue-of-608-of-the-population-of-latvia.a327656/ |title=Latvian is the mother tongue of 60.8% of the population of Latvia |work=lsm.lv |publisher=[[Public Broadcasting of Latvia]] |date=5 August 2019 |access-date=26 June 2020 |archive-date=17 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117165919/https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/society/latvian-is-the-mother-tongue-of-608-of-the-population-of-latvia.a327656/ |url-status=live }}</ref>