Latvia has a population of around 1.8 million — a significant decline from the 2.7 million counted at independence in 1991, due to emigration and a low birth rate. The population is concentrated in Riga, which accounts for roughly a third of the country's residents.
Latvians make up around 62% of the population. Russians are the largest minority at about 25%, a legacy of Soviet-era migration, and are concentrated in Riga and the eastern Latgale region. Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Poles make up most of the remainder.
The relationship between the Latvian-speaking majority and the Russian-speaking minority has been a defining tension in post-Soviet Latvian society. A substantial portion of Russian speakers long held "non-citizen" status — a distinctive legal category that has gradually diminished through naturalisation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sharpened Latvia's sense of national identity and accelerated a shift away from Russian in public life.
Latvians are by reputation reserved with strangers but warm once you've earned their trust — a temperament that fits neatly with the broader Baltic character. Latvian culture has deep roots in folk traditions, particularly the dainas — short lyrical folk songs that were central to cultural survival through centuries of foreign rule. The nationwide Song and Dance Festival, held every five years, draws tens of thousands of participants and is genuinely moving even for visitors who stumble into it by accident.