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A
Balto-Finnic-speaking tribe known as the
Livs settled among the northern coast of modern day Latvia. The
Germanic settlers derived their name for the natives from the term Liv. They referred to all the natives as "Letts" and the nation as "Lettland", naming their colony Livonia or Livland.
The Latin form, Livonia, gradually referred to the whole territory of modern-day Latvia as well as southern
Estonia, which had fallen under a minimal Germanic influence. Latvians and
Lithuanians are the only surviving members of the
Baltic branch of the
Indo-European family.
Genetics
Paternal haplogroups
R1a and
N1a1-Tat are the two most frequent, reaching 39.9% each among ethnic Latvians.[44] R1a has originated in
Eastern Europe and is associated with spread of
Indo-European languages. R1a of Latvians is predominantly M558 and compared to other populations also has the highest concentration of M558 among R1a. N1a1-Tat mutation originated in
East Asia and had spread through the
Urals into Europe where it is currently most common among
Finno-Ugric, Baltic and
Eastern-Slavic peoples. Latvians and Lithuanians have a predominance of the L550 branch of N1a1-Tat.
N1c1a was present in 41.5%, R1a1a-M558 in 35.2% and
I1 (M253) in 6.3% of the samples analyzed.[45] In lower levels, 2.5% of
I2b (M223) and 0.6%
I2a (P37.2) was found as well.
Culture
Influences
Latvians share a common language and have a unique culture with traditions, holidays, customs and arts. The culture and religious traditions have been somewhat influenced by
Germanic,
Scandinavian, and
Russian traditions. Latvians have an ancient culture that has been archaeologically dated back to 3000 BC. Latvians maintained a considerable connection and trade with their neighbors. The first indications of human inhabitants on the lands of modern Latvia date archaeologically to
c. 9000 BC, suggesting that the first settlers were hunters that stayed almost immediately following the end of the
last ice age. Colonizers from the south arrived quickly, driving many of the hunters northward as polar ice caps melted further, or east, into modern-day
Russia,
Belarus, and
Ukraine. The
Roman author
Tacitus remarked upon the "
Aestii" peoples, thought to be inhabitants of the modern Baltic lands, suggesting that they were abound with formidable, yet peaceful and hospitable people. The Latvian peoples remained relatively undisturbed until
Papal intervention via the
Germanic,
Teutonic Order colonized
Kurzeme (Courland in English, Kurland in German), beginning in the first half of the 13th century. Papal decrees ordered the Teutonic Order to spread the "Word of the Lord" and the
Gospel of
Christianity throughout "uncivilized", "Pagan lands". Though these attempts to
Christianize the population failed, and the Teutonic Order eventually redeployed southward, to the region of what was once known as
East Prussia.[citation needed]
South-Eastern Latvia (
Latgale), due to having a relatively large ethnic Russian population, has maintained a large Russian influence.
Most of the Christian Latvians belong to the
Evangelical Lutheran Church, but in
Latgale and
Alsunga Municipality the
Roman Catholic Church is predominant, a small minority of Latvians belong to the
Latvian Orthodox Church and other religious congregations.[41] In the late 18th century, a small but vibrant
Herrnhutist movement played a significant part in the development of Latvian literary culture before it was absorbed into the mainstream Lutheran denomination.
Language
Latvians' ancestral language,
Latvian, has been recorded since at least the 16th century.[51] It developed into a distinct language by the 9th century. It is part of a distinct linguistic branch of Indo-European languages: the
Baltic languages.
Another notable language of Latvia is the nearly extinct
Livonian language, a member of the Baltic-Finnic sub-branch of the Uralic language family, which enjoys protection by law. The
Latgalian language (a dialect of Latvian) is also protected by Latvian law as a historical variation of the Latvian language.[citation needed]