Editing Latvian language (section)

== Non-native speakers ==
The history of the Latvian language (see below) has placed it in a peculiar position for a language of its size, whereby many non-native speakers speak it compared to native speakers. The immigrant and minority population in Latvia is 700,000 people: [[Russians]], [[Belarusians]], [[Ukrainians]], [[Polish people|Poles]], and others. The majority of immigrants settled in Latvia between 1940 and 1991;{{citation needed|date=September 2011}} supplementing pre-existing ethnic minority communities ([[Latvian Germans]], [[Latvian Jews]], [[Latvian Russians]]). The trends show that the proficiency of Latvian among its non-native speakers is gradually increasing. In a 2009 survey by the [[Latvian Language Agency]] 56% percent of respondents with Russian as their native language described having a good knowledge of Latvian, whereas for the younger generation (from 17 to 25 years) the number was 64%.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://valoda.lv/en/wp-content/uploads/monitorings%20eng.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/https://valoda.lv/en/wp-content/uploads/monitorings%20eng.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live|title=Language situation in Latvia: 2004–2010|publisher=[[Latvian Language Agency]]|date=2012|isbn=978-9984-815-81-7|pages=18–20}}</ref>

The increased adoption of Latvian by minorities was brought about by its status as the country's only official language and other changes in the society after the [[fall of the Soviet Union]] that mostly shifted linguistic focus away from [[Russian language|Russian]]. As an example, in 2007, universities and colleges for the first time received applications from prospective students who had a bilingual secondary education in schools for minorities. Fluency in Latvian is expected in a variety of professions and careers.