LATVIA

Latvians occasionally refer to themselves by the ancient name of "Latviji," which may have originated from a "Latve" river that presumably flowed through what is now eastern Latvia. A small Finno-Ugric tribe known as the Livs settled among the Latvians and modulated the name to "Latvis," meaning "forest-clearers," which is how medieval German settlers also referred to these peoples. The Latin form, "Livonia," gradually referred to the whole of modern-day Latvia as well as southern Estonia, which had fallen under German dominion. Latvians and Lithuanians are the only directly surviving members of the Baltic peoples and languages of the Indo-European family.

POPULATION GRAPH

Population:
2,259,810 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 13.6% (male 157,451/female 150,184)
15-64 years: 69.6% (male 764,910/female 808,848)
65 years and over: 16.7% (male 123,952/female 254,465) (2007 est.)
Median age:
total: 39.6 years
male: 36.6 years
female: 42.7 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate:
-0.648% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:
9.43 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:
13.64 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate:
-2.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.048 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.946 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.487 male(s)/female
total population: 0.862 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 9.16 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 11.08 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 7.13 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.6 years
male: 66.39 years
female: 77.1 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate:
1.28 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.6% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
7,600 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
less than 500 (2003 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Latvian(s)
adjective: Latvian
Ethnic groups:
Latvian 57.7%, Russian 29.6%, Belarusian 4.1%, Ukrainian 2.7%, Polish 2.5%, Lithuanian 1.4%, other 2% (2002)
Religions:
Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox
Languages:
Latvian (official) 58.2%, Russian 37.5%, Lithuanian and other 4.3% (2000 census)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.8%
male: 99.8%
female: 99.8% (2003 est.)