Latvia
The largest religion is Christianity, although only 7% of population attend religious services regularly.[9] The largest groups in 2006 are:
- Lutheran — 400,000[citation needed]
- Roman Catholic — 450,000[10]
- Eastern Orthodox — 350,000[11]
According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005,[12] 37% of Latvian citizens responded that "they believe there is a god", whereas 49% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 10% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force".
Lutheranism was much stronger before the Soviet occupation, when it was a majority religion, but since then Lutheranism in all the Baltic States has declined to a much greater extent than Roman Catholicism has. The country's Orthodox Christians belong to the Latvian Orthodox Church, a semi-autonomous body within the Russian Orthodox Church. There are 182 known Muslims living in Latvia though the total number is estimated to be much larger: from 500 to 5,000. There are also Jews (9,743 in 2006) in Latvia.[citations needed]
There are more than 600 Latvian neopagans, Dievturi (The Godskeepers), whose religion is based on Latvian mythology.[13] About 40% of the total population is not affiliated with a specific religion.[citations needed]
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Culture
Between the thirteenth and nineteenth century, Baltic Germans, many of whom were originally of non-German ancestry but had been assimilated into German culture, formed the upper class.[citation needed] They developed a distinct cultural heritage, characterised by both Latvian and German influences. It has survived in German Baltic families to this day, in spite of their dispersal to Germany, the USA, Canada and other countries in the early 20th century. However, most indigenous Latvians did not participate in this particular cultural life.[citation needed] Thus, the mostly peasant local pagan heritage was preserved, partly merging with Christian traditions, for example in one of the most popular celebrations today which is Jāņi, a pagan celebration of the summer solstice, celebrated on the feast day of St. John the Baptist.[citations needed]
In the nineteenth century Latvian nationalist movements emerged promoting Latvian culture and encouraging Latvians to take part in cultural activities. The nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century is often regarded as a classical era of Latvian culture. Posters show the influence of other European cultures, for example, works of artists such as the Baltic-German artist Bernhard Borchert and the French Raoul Dufy.[citations needed]
After incorporation into the USSR, Latvian artists and writers were forced to follow the Socialist realism style of art. During the Soviet era, music became increasingly popular, with the most popular being songs from the 1980s. At this time, songs often made fun of the characteristics of Soviet life and were concerned about preserving Latvian identity. This aroused popular protests against the USSR and also gave rise to an increasing popularity of poetry. Since independence, theatre, scenography and classical music have become the most notable branches of Latvian culture.[citations needed]
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International rankings
- Environmental Sustainability Index: 15/146
- Reporters Without Borders World-wide press freedom index: 12/168
- Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index: 49/163
- Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom: 39/157
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See also
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Bibliography
- Dreifelds, Juris (1996). Latvia in Transition. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521555371.
- Rutkis, Jānis (ed.) (1967). Latvia: Country & People. Stockholm: Latvian National Foundation.
- Švābe, Arveds (1949). The Story of Latvia: A Historical Survey. Stockholm: Latvian National Foundation.
- (1982) These Names Accuse: Nominal List of Latvians Deported to Soviet Russia, second edition, Stockholm: Latvian National Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-07-30.
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References
- ^ Data: 3000 BC to 1500 BC. The European Ethnohistory Database. The Ethnohistory Project. Retrieved on 2006-08-06.
- ^ The Crusaders. City Paper (2006-03-22). Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
- ^ (Latvian)Constitution of the Republic of Latvia with amendments and revisions (Official english translation) (Retrieved on 24 December 2006)
- ^ Microsoft Word - Denmark - decentralization.doc
- ^ List of species. Nature of Latvia. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
- ^ Growth rate of real GDP per capita. Eurostat. Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
- ^ a b The Breakdown of the Residents of Latvia as to Nationality. Latvia Board for Citizenship and Migration Affairs (2007-04-01). Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
- ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia "The Russian language is robust in Latvia, as Russian-speakers are a majority or plurality in many cities, almost all Latvians speak Russian as well as Latvian and culture and media from Russia have a strong presence in Latvia. Indeed, the legacy of Soviet Russification policy was still evident in the results of the 2000 census in Latvia, which showed that knowledge of Russian is still more widespread than knowledge of Latvian in Latvia: 81% of all inhabitants know Russian, while only 79% know Latvian."
- ^ Eunice K. Y. Or (2004-09-23). Trust in Religious Institutions does not convey to Church Attendance. Christian Today. Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
- ^ Reliģisko organizāciju locekļu skaits (Latvian). Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ Na Łotwie działa ponad 1,2 tys. wspólnot religijnych (Polish). Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
- ^ Eurobarometer on Social Values, Science and technology 2005 - page 11. Retrieved on 2007-05-05.
- ^ Statistics of approved parishes in Latvia (Latvian). Reliģiju Enciklopēdija. The Latvian Bible Society (2004-01-01). Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
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