![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Flag_of_the_Livonians.svg/640px-Flag_of_the_Livonians.svg.png&w=640&q=50)
Livonians
Ethnic group in the Baltics / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Livonians, or Livs,[7] are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language closely related to Estonian and Finnish. Initially, the last person to have learned and spoken Livonian as a mother tongue, Grizelda Kristiņa, died in 2013, making Livonian a dormant language.[8] In 2020, it was reported that newborn Kuldi Medne had once again become the only living person who speaks Livonian as their first language.[9] As of 2010, there were approximately 30 people who had learned it as a second language.
![]() | |
Total population | |
---|---|
c. 432–616 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Latvia (Livonian Coast) | |
![]() | 166 (2021)[1][2][3] |
![]() | 235 (2002)[4] |
![]() | 15 (2021)[5] |
![]() | 7 (2002)[6] |
![]() | 2 (2018) |
Languages | |
Livonian, Latvian | |
Religion | |
Lutheranism | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Baltic Finns Especially Finns, Estonians, Setos, Võros, Votians and Izhorians |
Historical, social and economic factors, together with an ethnically dispersed population, have resulted in the decline of Livonian identity, with only a small group surviving in the 21st century. In 2011, there were 250 people who claimed Livonian ethnicity in Latvia.[3]