Latgalian language
Originally Latgalians were a tribe living in modern Vidzeme and Latgale. It is thought that they spoke the Latvian language, which later spread through the rest of modern Latvia, absorbing features of the Old Curonian, Semigallian, Selonian and Livonian languages. The Latgale area became politically separated during the Polish–Swedish wars, remaining part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as the Inflanty Voivodeship, while the rest of Latvians lived in lands dominated by Baltic German nobility. Both centuries of separate development and the influence of different prestige languages likely contributed to the development of modern Latgalian as distinct from the language spoken in Vidzeme and other parts of Latvia.
Russian language in Latvia
On September 9, 2011 NGO "Native Language" submitted a petition to the Central Election Commission signed by 12,516 people on making Russian the second state language in Latvia. From November 1 to November 30, 2011, the Central Election Commission held an official signature gathering, during which 187,378 of the required 154 379 signatures were collected and the proposal was sent to Saeima.