Latgalians

Latgalians 

the population of the historicocultural region of the Latvian SSR known as Latgalia (or Latgola); they speak the High Latvian dialect of the Latvian language.

The Latgalians are the descendants of the Latgals. The term “Latgalians” has been used in scholarly literature since the early 20th century. From ancient times, the Latgalians had especially close ties to the Slavic peoples, which is reflected in all aspects of their daily life and culture. As a result of special historical circumstances, including their separation under Polish rule (from 1629 to 1772) from other territories settled by Latvians and their slower socioeconomic development, the material and spiritual culture of the Latgalians has retained distinctive archaic elements, which are still often observed in modern times. The majority of religious Latgalians are Catholic. The unique local features in Latgalian culture are rapidly disappearing.

REFERENCES

Istoriia Latviiskoi SSR, 2nd ed. Riga, 1971.
Narody Evropeiskoi chasti SSSR, vol. 2. Moscow, 1964.
Latviešų etnogrāfija. Riga, 1969.