Latvian: Language and People in English

In English, "Latvian" functions as both:

1. Adjective: "Latvian language," "Latvian cuisine," "Latvian independence"
2. Noun (language): "I'm learning Latvian" — the official language of Latvia
3. Noun (people): "Latvians" (preferred plural) or "Latvian" (collective) — the Baltic ethnic group native to Latvia (~1.2M in Latvia, ~1.5M worldwide)

Language Profile

• Family: Indo-European → Baltic → Eastern Baltic (with Lithuanian)
• Speakers: ~1.5M native (1.2M Latvia, 150K diaspora — US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Sweden)
• Status: Official in Latvia; EU official language (2004)
• Script: Latin (33 letters: adds ā, č, ē, ģ, ī, ķ, ļ, ņ, š, ū, ž)
• Features: 7 cases, 3 genders, pitch accent, no articles, rich inflection

People

• Ethnogenesis: Balts (Corded Ware) → Curonians, Semigallians, Selonians, Latgallians → Latvians
• History: Livonian Crusade (1200s), German rule, Polish-Lithuanian, Swedish, Russian Empire, independence 1918, Soviet 1940/44–91, restored 1991
• Culture: Dainas (folk songs, 1.2M+ collected), Song & Dance Festival (UNESCO), Jāņi (midsummer), rye bread, amber

Latvian ≠ Lithuanian (sister languages, not mutually intelligible). ≠ Russian (widely spoken in Latvia, but Slavic).