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.
Politics of Latvia
Latvian is the sole state language in Latvia; while the threatened Livonian language is recognized as "the language of the indigenous (autochthon) population". The Latgalian written language is also protected "as a historic variant of the Latvian language." All other languages are considered foreign by the law on state languages. Two parliamentary parties, Harmony Centre and ForHRUL, have requested that Russian (26.9% of inhabitants, according to the 2011 census, are Russians) be given official status.