Latvian language
The history of the Latvian language (cf. below) has placed it in a peculiar position for a language of its size whereby it is spoken by a large number of non-native speakers as compared to native speakers. The immigrant and minority population in Latvia is 700,000 people: Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, and others. The majority of immigrants came to Latvia between 1940–1991; supplementing pre-existing ethnic minority communities (Latvian Germans, Latvian Jews). In a recent survey, 60% of Latvia's ethnic minorities described their knowledge of Latvian as fluent. Fluency in Latvian is prevalent among the younger generations of the minorities.
Russians in Latvia
Another issue of contention for some Russians and Russian speakers in Latvia (most notably Social Democratic Party "Harmony", Latvian Russian Union, Russian School Defense Staff and For the Native Language!) is the status of the Russian language as Latvian is defined by the Law on State Language as the only official language in Latvia.