Editing Demographics of Latvia (section)

==Ethnic groups==
Latvia's indigenous population has been ravaged numerous times throughout history. The earliest such event occurred during the conquest of Latvia by [[Peter the Great]] in the [[Great Northern War]] with [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]].

In 1897, the first official census in this area indicated that Latvians formed 68.3% of the total population of 1.93 million; Russians accounted for 7.9%, Jews for 7.4%, Germans for 6.2%, and Poles for 3.4%. The remainder were Lithuanians, Estonians, Romani, and various other nationalities.

The demographics shifted greatly in the 20th century due to the world wars, the expulsion of the [[Baltic Germans]], the [[Holocaust]], and [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|occupation]] by the [[Soviet Union]]. Today, only the Russian minority, which has tripled in numbers since 1935, remains important. The share of ethnic Latvians fell from 75% (1,472,612) in 1935 to 52% (1,387,757) in 1989, after human loss in World War II and human deportation and other repressive measures.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right;"
|+ Population of Latvia according to ethnic group 1897–2023
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! rowspan="2" | Ethnic<br />group
! colspan="2" | census 1897<ref name="saknes">{{cite web |url=http://www.roots-saknes.lv/Ethnicities/ethnicities_statistics.htm |title=Ethnicities in region of Latvia. Statistics |publisher=roots-saknes.lv |access-date=2 January 2010 |archive-date=24 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524135837/http://www.roots-saknes.lv/Ethnicities/ethnicities_statistics.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
! colspan="2" | census 1925<ref name="saknes" />
! colspan="2" | census 1935<ref name="saknes" />
! colspan="2" | census 1959<ref>{{cite web |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_59.php |script-title=ru:Всесоюзная перепись населения 1959 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР |publisher=demoscope.ru |language=ru |access-date=2 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316172652/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_59.php |archive-date=16 March 2010}}</ref>
! colspan="2" | census 1970<ref>{{cite web |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_70.php |script-title=ru:Всесоюзная перепись населения 1970 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР |publisher=demoscope.ru |language=ru |access-date=2 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203151519/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_70.php |archive-date=3 December 2009}}</ref>
! colspan="2" | census 1979<ref>{{cite web |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_79.php |script-title=ru:Всесоюзная перепись населения 1979 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР |publisher=demoscope.ru |language=ru |access-date=2 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324145212/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_79.php |archive-date=24 March 2010}}</ref>
! colspan="2" | census 1989<ref>{{cite web |url=http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php |script-title=ru:Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР |publisher=demoscope.ru |language=ru |access-date=2 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316172713/http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/sng_nac_89.php |archive-date=16 March 2010}}</ref>
! colspan="2" | census 2000<ref name="csb">{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.lv/lv/latvia/integracija/integracijas-politikacopy/ |title=Integrācijas politika Latvijā: daudzpusīga pieeja |language=lv|date=10 April 2010 |access-date=26 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510003403/http://www.mfa.gov.lv/lv/latvia/integracija/integracijas-politikacopy/ |archive-date=10 May 2011}}</ref>
! colspan="2" | census 2011<ref name="csb.gov.lv"/>
! colspan="2" | census 2021<ref name="stat.gov.lv" />
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
! Number
! %
|-
| [[Latvian people|Latvians]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,318,112
| style="text-align:right;"| 68.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,354,126
| style="text-align:right;"| 73.4
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,472,612
| style="text-align:right;"| 75.5
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,297,881
| style="text-align:right;"| 62.0
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,341,805
| style="text-align:right;"| 56.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,344,105
| style="text-align:right;"| 53.7
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,387,757
| style="text-align:right;"| 52.0
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,370,703
| style="text-align:right;"| 57.7
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,285,136
| style="text-align:right;"| 62.1
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,187,891
| style="text-align:right;"| 62.7
|-
| [[Russians]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 152,681
| style="text-align:right;"| 7.9
| style="text-align:right;"| 193,648
| style="text-align:right;"| 10.5
| style="text-align:right;"| 206,499
| style="text-align:right;"| 10.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 556,448
| style="text-align:right;"| 26.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 704,599
| style="text-align:right;"| 29.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 821,464
| style="text-align:right;"| 32.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 905,515
| style="text-align:right;"| 34.0
| style="text-align:right;"| 703,243
| style="text-align:right;"| 29.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 557,119
| style="text-align:right;"| 26.9
| style="text-align:right;"| 463,587
| style="text-align:right;"| 24.5
|-
| [[Ukrainians|Ukrainian]]
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | —
| style="text-align:right;" | 512
| style="text-align:right;" | 0.03
| style="text-align:right;" | 1,844
| style="text-align:right;" | 0.09
| style="text-align:right;" | 29,440
| style="text-align:right;" | 1.4
| style="text-align:right;" | 53,461
| style="text-align:right;" | 2.3
| style="text-align:right;" | 66,703
| style="text-align:right;" | 2.7
| style="text-align:right;" | 92,101
| style="text-align:right;" | 3.5
| style="text-align:right;" | 63,644
| style="text-align:right;" | 2.7
| style="text-align:right;" | 45,798
| style="text-align:right;" | 2.2
| style="text-align:right;" | 42,282
| style="text-align:right;" | 2.2
|-
| [[Belarusians]]
| style="text-align:right;" | 79,523
| style="text-align:right;" | 4.1
| style="text-align:right;" | 38,010
| style="text-align:right;" | 2.1
| style="text-align:right;" | 26,867
| style="text-align:right;" | 1.4
| style="text-align:right;" | 61,587
| style="text-align:right;" | 2.9
| style="text-align:right;" | 94,898
| style="text-align:right;" | 4.0
| style="text-align:right;" | 111,505
| style="text-align:right;" | 4.5
| style="text-align:right;" | 119,702
| style="text-align:right;" | 4.5
| style="text-align:right;" | 97,150
| style="text-align:right;" | 4.1
| style="text-align:right;" | 68,202
| style="text-align:right;" | 3.3
| style="text-align:right;" | 58,632
| style="text-align:right;" | 3.1
|-
| [[Polish people|Poles]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 65,056
| style="text-align:right;"| 3.4
| style="text-align:right;"| 51,143
| style="text-align:right;"| 2.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 48,949
| style="text-align:right;"| 2.5
| style="text-align:right;"| 59,774
| style="text-align:right;"| 2.9
| style="text-align:right;"| 63,045
| style="text-align:right;"| 2.7
| style="text-align:right;"| 62,690
| style="text-align:right;"| 2.5
| style="text-align:right;"| 60,416
| style="text-align:right;"| 2.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 59,505
| style="text-align:right;"| 2.5
| style="text-align:right;"| 44,772
| style="text-align:right;"| 2.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 37,203
| style="text-align:right;"| 2.0
|-
| [[Lithuanian people|Lithuanians]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 26,033
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 23,192
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 22,913
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 32,383
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 40,589
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.7
| style="text-align:right;"| 37,818
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.5
| style="text-align:right;"| 34,630
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 33,430
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.4
| style="text-align:right;"| 24,479
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.2
| style="text-align:right;" | 21,517
|1.1
|-
| [[Romani people|Roma]]
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| —
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,870
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,839
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 4,301
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 5,427
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 6,134
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 7,044
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 8,205
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 6,489
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.3
| style="text-align:right;" | 4,838
|0.3
|-
| [[Jew]]s
| style="text-align:right;"| 142,315
| style="text-align:right;"| 7.4
| style="text-align:right;"| 95,675
| style="text-align:right;"| 5.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 93,479
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 36,592
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 36,680
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 28,331
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.1
| style="text-align:right;"| 22,897
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.9
| style="text-align:right;"| 10,385
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.4
| style="text-align:right;"| 6,437
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.3
| style="text-align:right;" | 4,372
|0.2
|-
| [[Germans]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 120,191
| style="text-align:right;"| 6.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 70,964
| style="text-align:right;"| 3.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 62,144
| style="text-align:right;"| 3.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,609
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.08
| style="text-align:right;"| 5,413
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,299
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,783
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,465
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,042
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| style="text-align:right;" | 2,447
|0.1
|-
| [[Estonians]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 17,990
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.93
| style="text-align:right;"| 7,893
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.4
| style="text-align:right;"| 7,014
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.4
| style="text-align:right;"| 4,610
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 4,334
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,681
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,312
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,652
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| style="text-align:right;"| 2,007
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
| style="text-align:right;" | 1,587
|0.1
|-
| [[Livonians]]
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"| —
| style="text-align:right;"| 1,268
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.07
| style="text-align:right;"| 944
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.05
| style="text-align:right;"| 185
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.01
| style="text-align:right;"| 48
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.0
| style="text-align:right;"| 107
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.0
| style="text-align:right;"| 135
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.01
| style="text-align:right;"| 180
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.01
| style="text-align:right;"| 250
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.01
| style="text-align:right;" | 202
|0.01
|-
| Others
| style="text-align:right;"| 7,486
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.39
| style="text-align:right;"| 5,504
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 3,398
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 8,648
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.4
| style="text-align:right;"| 13,828
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 16,979
| style="text-align:right;"| 0.7
| style="text-align:right;"| 29,275
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.1
| style="text-align:right;"| 24,824
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.1
| style="text-align:right;"| 26,640
| style="text-align:right;"| 1.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 68,665
| style="text-align:right;"| 3.6
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! style="text-align:left;"| Total
! colspan="2" | 1,929,387
! colspan="2" | 1,844,805
! colspan="2" | 1,950,502
! colspan="2" | 2,093,458
! colspan="2" | 2,364,127
! colspan="2" | 2,502,816
! colspan="2" | 2,666,567
! colspan="2" | 2,377,383
! colspan="2" | 2,070,371
! colspan="2" | 1,893,223
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: right;"
|+ Population of Latvia according to ethnic group 2021–2024
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! rowspan="2" | Ethnic<br />group
! colspan="2" |2021 statistics<ref name=":0" />
! colspan="2" |2022 statistics<ref name=":0" />
! colspan="2" |2023 statistics <ref name=":0" />
! colspan="2" |2024 statistics <ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=data.stat.gov |title=2024 Nationalities |url=https://data.stat.gov.lv/pxweb/en/OSP_PUB/START__POP__IR__IRV/IRE060/table/tableViewLayout1/ |website=PxWeb}}</ref>
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
!Number
!%
|-
| [[Latvian people|Latvians]]
|1,187,891
|62.74%
|1,181,534
|62.99%
|1,175,902
|62.45%
|1,171,070
|62.56%
|-
| [[Russians]]
|463,587
|24.49%
|454,350
|24.22%
|445,612
|23.66%
|437,587
|23.38%
|-
| [[Ukrainians]]
|42,282
|2.23%
|41,895
|2.23%
|56,675
|3.01%
|59,597
|3.18%
|-
| [[Belarusians]]
|58,632
|3.10%
|57,319
|3.06%
|55,929
|2.97%
|54,645
|2.92%
|-
| [[Polish people|Poles]]
|37,203
|1.97%
|36,276
|1.93%
|35,446
|1.88%
|34,782
|1.86%
|-
| [[Lithuanian people|Lithuanians]]
|21,517
|1.14%
|21,046
|1.12%
|20,530
|1.09%
|20,155        
|1.08%
|-
| [[Romani people|Roma]]
|4,838
|0.26%
|4,784
|0.26%
|4,677
|0.25%
|4,630        
|0.25%
|-
| [[Jew]]s
|4,372
|0.23%
|4,231
|0.23%
|4,076
|0.22%
|4,019        
|0.21%
|-
| [[Estonians]]
|1,587
|0.08%
|1,536
|0.08%
|1,478
|0.08%
|1,455        
|0.08%
|-
| '''Other ethnicities,''' 
'''including not selected'''

'''and not indicated ethnicity'''
|71,314
|3.77%
|72,786
|3.88%
|82,683
|4.39%
|83,942
|4.48%
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! style="text-align:left;" | Total
! colspan="2" |1,893,223
! colspan="2" |1,875,757
! colspan="2" |1,883,008
! colspan="2" |1,871,882
|}
<gallery mode="nolines" widths="360" heights="360">
File:Ethnic composition of Latvia.png|Ethnic composition of Latvia in 2024
File:Латвия.ру.png|Distribution of russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians in 2011
File:Latvijas novadi.rus.png|Distribution of russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians in 2011
File:Ethnic groups in Latvia.png|Number of ethnic Latvians and Russians 1925-2009
File:Smaller minorities in Latvia.jpg|Number of smaller ethnic minorities 1925-2009
</gallery>{{Clear}}