Frische Nehrung
Historically Vistula Spit was populated by Kursenieki people (also known as Kuršininkai), an Old Prussian tribe, related to modern day Latvians. This nearly extinct Baltic ethnic group once made Vistula Spit, costal zone of the Sambia Peninsula, and Curonian Spit their home. In 1649 Kuršininkai zone of settlement still spanned all the way from Memel (Klaipėda) to Danzig (Gdańsk) encompassing narrow littoral strip of territory best suitable for their lifestyle, cultural preferences and dominant economic activity (fishing). Majority of Kuršininkai were eventually assimilated by the Germans. Only on the Curonian Spit few scattered rural settlements survive to the present day. The Kuršininkai were considered Latvians until after World War I when Latvia gained independence from the Russian Empire, a consideration based on linguistic arguments. This was also the rationale for Latvian claims over the Curonian Spit, Memel, and other territories of East Prussia in the aftermath of the WWI. Those claims would be later dropped.