[lg policy] Language policy in Latvia

[Harold Schiffman]

Language policy in Latvia
>>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Articles 4 and 114 of the Constitution of Latvia form the foundation
for language policy in Latvia, declaring Latvian to be the official
state language and affirming the rights of ethnic minorities to
preserve and develop their languages. Latvian, the Latgalian dialect,
and the endangered Livonian language are considered indigenous and all
other languages foreign, including Russian (the first language for
more than one third of the population). Other significant minority
foreign languages include Belarusian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Polish,
and Romani.

The preamble to the State Language Law includes as its goals "the
integration of national minorities into Latvian society while
respecting their right to use their mother tongue or any other
language; the increase of the influence of the Latvian language in the
cultural environment of Latvia by promoting a faster integration of
society."
Legal framework

The official language (valsts valoda, literally state language) in
Latvia is Latvian; this status has been explicitly defined since 1988.
In 1992 amendments to the 1989 Law on Languages strengthened the
position of Latvian. All other languages, except the endangered
Livonian language, are defined as foreign languages in Section 5 of
the State Language Law of 1999.

Source

Description above from the Wikipedia article Language policy in
Latvia, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors here.
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