Population Data. – According to the last census, carried out on February 10, 1930, Latvia has 1,900,045 residents, and is thus the twenty-fifth state in Europe by population, slightly lower than Lithuania, much higher than Estonia. The density which corresponds to 28.9 residents per km2, it is also intermediate between the density of Lithuania (38.1) and that of Estonia (23.9); the same can be said for the annual increase (on average 13,360 people in the five-year period 1921-25 and 10,492 in the following one), which results from the difference between the births (1921-25: 21.8 per thousand; 1931: 19.3) and the dead (1921-25: 14.6 per thousand; 1931: 14.0), for which Latvia is preceded by Lithuania, which has a very high birth rate, while it is far ahead of Estonia which instead marks figures among the lowest in Europe. The coefficient d ‘ the increase is very different from area to area and while it is only 1.6 per thousand in Riga and Livonia (1931), it rises to 12.9 in Letgallia (which has a very high birth rate, 26.9 per thousand). Without the losses caused by the war (emigration of workers to the interior of Russia, exodus of Germans, high mortality), Latvia, which in 1897 already had one million and 926 thousand residents and two and a half million in 1914, should have about 3 millions of residents. There is very little emigration (55,000 Latvians live in the United States, 3,500 in Canada, 15,000 in the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil) while internal migrations from the prolific Letgallia to Riga and the Jelgava region are considerable. 9 in Letgallia (which has a very high birth rate, 26.9 per thousand). Without the losses caused by the war (emigration of workers to the interior of Russia, exodus of Germans, high mortality), Latvia, which in 1897 already had one million and 926 thousand residents and two and a half million in 1914, should have about 3 millions of residents. There is very little emigration (55,000 Latvians live in the United States, 3,500 in Canada, 15,000 in the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil) while internal migrations from the prolific Letgallia to Riga and the Jelgava region are considerable. 9 in Letgallia (which has a very high birth rate, 26.9 per thousand). Without the losses caused by the war (emigration of workers to the interior of Russia, exodus of Germans, high mortality), Latvia, which in 1897 already had one million and 926 thousand residents and two and a half million in 1914, should have about 3 millions of residents. There is very little emigration (55,000 Latvians live in the United States, 3,500 in Canada, 15,000 in the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil) while internal migrations from the prolific Letgallia to Riga and the Jelgava region are considerable.
As for nationality (the census takes into account the taut ī ba “ethnic nationality”) minorities make up about a quarter of the total population, with Latvians now only 73.4% (about 68.8% in 1897). Fewer Latvians live in Letgallia (56.6%) and Riga (60.3), as well as in cities (62.4%). The district where the population is more mixed is that of Ilukste, on the left of the Daugava, near the Polish-Lithuanian border; Latvians are just 52.3%, against 18.4 Russians, 11.4 Poles, 9, 1 White Koreans, 5.8 Lithuanians; however, it must be taken into account that in 1897 (at the time of the last Russian census) the mixing was even greater. The largest minority, just over a tenth of the total population (10.7%), is made up of Russians, who live in large numbers in the border districts of Letgallia (mostly farmers) and in Riga (35,000: refugees and traders). They are followed by the Jews, who are now only 5 per cent (95 thousand, against 142 thousand in 1897, equal to 7.4%) and preferably live in the cities; in Riga they are 11.2% of the entire population, in Daugavpils 27% (but 46% in 1897), in Rēzekne 28.2, in Ludza 30.5, in Krāslava 36.2, while in the small towns of Preiḷi and Varakḷāni they make up over half of the population. The Germans come in fourth place, who are now about 70,000 (3.7%), against 135,000 in 1881 and 115,000 in 1897; the great majority of them live in cities, more than half in Riga, then in Courland, especially in Liepāja and Kuldīga; before the war they were large owners, industrialists, civil servants, doctors; now they are small owners and professionals. Then there are still 36 thousand Biancorussis, two thirds in Letgallia, 26 thousand Lithuanians, two thirds in Semigallia and a quarter in Riga, and a few thousand Estonians. A small part of these is made up of some groups of Livi, of tall stature, mostly fishermen and sailors, who live mixed with Latvians in 12 villages along a narrow coastal strip on both sides of Cape Kolkas.
The situation closest to Russia and the Poland of Letgallia is also reflected in the higher illiteracy: in 1930 only 67.1% of the population over the age of 10 knew how to read, compared to 95.3 in Riga and 95.4 in Livonia (closer to the conditions of Estonia). Throughout the state, 86.7 per hundred people could read in 1930. In the same year there were 2,083 primary schools (the school every 912 pop.) With nearly 200,000 students. Riga, which until 1919 had only had a Polytechnic, is now home to a large university, attended in the summer semester of 1931 by 8636 students (3066 in 1920, 5881 in 1923, 7086 in 1926, 8175 in 1929). Education appears to be more widespread among Germans and Latvians, less so among Poles and Russians.
As for professions, agriculture is also here, as in the other two Baltic states, by far prevalent (68.3% of active people), followed by industry (11.1), trade (4.8), traffic (2.5); then come the people employed in the defense of the state (2.5), in the administration (1.7) and in the free professions (1.3).
Distribution of the population and settlement. – The population is distributed in Latvia quite evenly. Above average densities (28.9 residents per sq. Km.) Occur in Letgallia, in the Riga-Jelgrava depression, in SW Courland; below average in Jekabpils district and NO Courland. Out of 19 districts 12 have a population between 15 and 20 residents per sq. km, three between 20 and 30, three between 30 and 40 and only one with more than 40 (Daugavpils). In many respects the settlement reflects the events of the country. Before the war, in the most commercially important places, where defense was easy and in the most picturesque places, castles and large country farms had sprung up, home to the German landowners; next to it there was also some industrial company and sometimes a school and a pharmacy, so that the castles usually had 100-150 residents and constituted the nuclei from which the cultivation of the vast possessions belonging to the nobles radiated. Latvian peasants, small owners, preferably resided in their wooden houses (maja), mostly isolated, quite large. After the war the physiognomy changed somewhat, because the possessions of the nobility were divided, their homes transformed into schools or public buildings and numerous new houses were built, mostly made of wood. Small is the number of villages (sadra or ciems), spread preferably in the peripheral areas, due to German or Russian influence. In the latter it is still common to conserve the common property. Centers with populations over 500 residents there are 58 in all, of which 22 in Livonia, 13 in Courland, 11 in Semigallia, 12 in Letgallia. In those with more than 2000 residents (there are 33) 34.9% of the population lived in 1930, a little less than in 1914 (40.3%), when Latvia had reached a moderate industrial development, a little more than in 1897 (29, 2, when the region was still predominantly agricultural. Among the major centers, in addition to Riga, the state capital, Liepāja, Daugavpils, Jelgava, Ventspils and Rēzekne, we can remember in Livonia Valmiera (pop. 8368), capital of the vast agricultural region of NE., Cēsis (pop. 7692), in the 15th century residence of the Master of Order of Livonia (large castle ruins), seat of the provisional Latvian government in 1918-19 and place of the last fight for the liberation of the country, Sloka (5285 residents), on the Lielupe, 30 km. to the West of Riga; in Courland Kuldīga (pop. 6921, including 1200 Germans), on the Veņta, an ancient fortress of the Order; in Semigallia Tukums (pop. 7658), at the NE limit. of the depression of Riga-Jelgava, Jekabpils (residents 5602) and Grīva (residents 5282) both on the left bank of the Daugava and finally in Letgallia Ludza (residents 5359, of which 1650 Jews and 1300 Russians), in the lake area, in 30 km. from the Russian border. in Courland Kuldīga (pop. 6921, including 1200 Germans), on the Veņta, an ancient fortress of the Order; in Semigallia Tukums (pop. 7658), at the NE limit. of the depression of Riga-Jelgava, Jekabpils (residents 5602) and Grīva (residents 5282) both on the left bank of the Daugava and finally in Letgallia Ludza (residents 5359, of which 1650 Jews and 1300 Russians), in the lake area, in 30 km. from the Russian border. in Courland Kuldīga (pop. 6921, including 1200 Germans), on the Veņta, an ancient fortress of the Order; in Semigallia Tukums (pop. 7658), at the NE limit. of the depression of Riga-Jelgava, Jekabpils (residents 5602) and Grīva (residents 5282) both on the left bank of the Daugava and finally in Letgallia Ludza (residents 5359, of which 1650 Jews and 1300 Russians), in the lake area, in 30 km. from the Russian border.