Latvian language
Latvian ("Latviešu valoda" ) is a Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region. It is the language of Latvians and the official language of Latvia as well as one of the official languages of the European Union. It is sometimes known in English as Lettish, and cognates of the word remain the most commonly used name for the Latvian language in Germanic languages other than English. There are about 1.3 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and 100,000 abroad. Altogether, 2 million, or 80% of the population of Latvia, speak Latvian. Of those, 1.16 million or 56% use it as their primary language at home. The use of the Latvian language in various areas of social life in Latvia is increasing.
Language policy in Latvia
Before the losses of the Latvian government in the cases "Podkolzina v. Latvia" (ECHR) and "Ignatāne v. Latvia" (UN HRC), a certain level of command in Latvian was asked for eligibility to Parliament and local councils. In practice, this had led to re-examinations of various candidates, at least sometimes unexpected, which prevented Ignatāne and Podkolzina (representatives of the Equal Rights party in the 1997 local and 1998 parliamentary elections) from participation. As of 2011, candidates do not need to prove language proficiency, but elected members of Saeima and local councilors can be deprived of mandate for insufficient command of Latvian.