LATVIA
Population

Cities in LATVIA

Riga

Population

The population of Latvia in July 2017 was 1,944,643. This means that there are about 30 people living per km2. Latvians made up 62% of the population in 2017. Currently, 25% of the population is of Russian origin. However, their number has been declining since independence. Other groups are Belarusians (3.3%), Ukrainians (2.2%), Poles (2.1%) and Lithuanians, Estonians, Germans and Lijflanders. In 2017, 68% of the population lived in cities. The main cities are Riga (approximately 637,000 inhabitants), Daugavpils, Liepaja, Jurmala, Jelgava and Ventspils.

Latvia has had negative population growth since 1991: -1.08% in 2017. The birth and death rates in 2017 were 9.7 and 14.5 for every 1,000 inhabitants respectively. The average Latvian lives to be 74.4 years old in 2017.

About 200,000 Latvians live abroad, especially in the United States (about 100,000), Great Britain, Australia, Canada and Germany.

Of the 5% of Jews who lived there before World War II, only a small community of 5,000 remains.

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Sources

Baister, S. / Latvia
Bradt Publications

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania : country studies
Federal Research Division, Library of Congress,

Williams, N. / Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania
Lonely Planet

CIA - World Factbook

BBC - Country Profiles

Last updated March 2024
Copyright: Team The World of Info